The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, the most famous being the discovery of America and the first global circumnavigation by Elcano. For several centuries, it played a crucial logistical role in the expansion and consolidation of the Spanish Empire, and defended a vast trade network across the Atlantic Ocean between the Americas and Europe, and the Manila Galleon across the Pacific Ocean between the Philippines and the Americas.
A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and they generally range in size. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, police, or customs, and may be intended for marine, estuarine, or river environments.
Navantia is a Spanish state-owned shipbuilding company, which offers its services to both military and civil sectors. It is the fifth-largest shipbuilder in Europe and the ninth-largest in the world with shipyards around the globe. The heir to the segregation of the military assets of the IZAR Group in 2005, Navantia designs, builds and supports all types of surface vessels, submarines and systems. In addition, it is expanding into new markets diversifying its product, such as renewable energy, the offshore industry and all kinds of services that it requires by the naval industry.
The Gibraltar Squadron is a unit of the British Royal Navy. It is the only seagoing Royal Naval unit based in Gibraltar, attached to British Forces Gibraltar. It currently includes two Cutlass-class fast patrol boats with a maximum speed of up to 41-knots. The first new vessel of this class, HMS Cutlass, arrived in Gibraltar in November 2021, followed by the second vessel, HMS Dagger, in March 2022. The squadron also uses three Pacific 24 rigid-hulled inflatable boats, crewed by a team of 26 people. The 2021 defence white paper indicated that henceforth, one River-class offshore patrol vessel, HMS Trent, would also be permanently based in Gibraltar for operations in the Mediterranean and in the Gulf of Guinea.
HMS Pursuer is an Archer-class P2000 patrol and training vessel of the Royal Navy.
The Battle of Cape Spartel was a naval battle of the Spanish Civil War that broke the Republican blockade of the Strait of Gibraltar, securing the maritime supply route to Spanish Morocco for the Nationalists early in the war. The action occurred on 29 September 1936 between two Nationalist cruisers and two Republican destroyers.
HMS Scimitar was a Scimitar-class fast patrol boat of the British Royal Navy. She is a Lifespan Patrol Vessel type boat and formerly served in inland waterway duties in Northern Ireland as MV Grey Fox. She was acquired to serve with the Gibraltar Squadron, tasked with policing, customs and search and rescue duties. This released an Archer-class patrol vessel for tasking with the Cyprus Squadron.
HMS Sickle was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in 1942, she made her initial war patrol off the Norwegian coast. Sickle then sailed to Gibraltar, from where she conducted one patrol, then to Algiers, French North Africa. From 10 May to 10 October, the boat patrolled the Gulf of Genoa five times and sank a German submarine as well as three minesweepers and an escort ship. She then moved to Beirut, French Lebanon, and conducted two patrols in the Aegean Sea, sinking three caïques and a merchant ship, in addition to landing resistance operatives in Greece.
C-3 was a C-class submarine of the Spanish Republican Navy. C-3 was built by Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval (SECN) in Cartagena, Spain, launched 20 February 1929, and commissioned on 4 May 1929. She took part in the Spanish Civil War on the government side before being sunk by the German submarine U-34 on 12 December 1936.
Neptuno was an 80-gun Neptuno-class ship of the line of the Spanish Navy. She was built in 1795 and took part in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. She fought with the Franco-Spanish fleet in the battle of Trafalgar, and was wrecked in its aftermath.
Furor (P-46) is an offshore patrol vessel and the sixth of the Meteoro class created for the Spanish Navy.
Ferrol Naval Base also known as the Arsenal of Ferrol is a military base and arsenal of the Spanish Navy located in Ferrol, Spain. It is the main Spanish naval base on the Atlantic.
Cristóbal Colón is the fifth and last ship of the Álvaro de Bazán-class of air defence frigates entering service with the Spanish Navy. The ship is named after Christopher Columbus, the Genoese explorer that claimed the discovery of America in the name of the Crown of Castile. It is the most modern ship of the Spanish Navy.
Méndez Núñez (F-104) is an Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate of the Spanish Navy. She is the fourth ship of her class, entering service in 2006. She is named after the 19th-century Spanish Rear admiral Casto Méndez Núñez. It was the first Spanish Navy vessel to visit the Philippines since the end of the Southeast Asian nation's Spanish colonial-period in 1898.
Serviola (P-71) is the lead ship of the Serviola-class patrol boats of the Spanish Navy built in 1990. The ship has been involved in numerous anti-piracy and drug interdiction missions off the coast of Spain and in the Gulf of Guinea.
Centinela(P-72) is a Serviola-class patrol boat of the Spanish Navy built in 1990. It conducts maritime security operations in the Strait of Gibraltar and the Gulf of Guinea.
Vigía (P-73) is a Serviola-class patrol boat of the Spanish Navy built in 1992. The ship's primary missions are oceanic patrol, fishing control, escort, and maritime rescue.
Atalaya (P-74) is a Serviola-class patrol boat of the Spanish Navy built in 1991. The ship's primary missions are oceanic patrol, fishing control, escort, and maritime rescue. Its home port is at the La Graña Naval Station in Ferrol.
Spanish Navy 
