Flexibility is the watchword in the modern Royal Navy – versatile ships, multi-skilled people, strategies which can be adapted to a range of situations.

A standard strike tailored air group could include 30 JCAs (with up to 36 for short periods) on board, with up to six anti-submarine Merlins and four maritime air surveillance and control (ASaC) aircraft.

The threat provided by big carriers, first unleashed in the era of conventional international wars, is still of value in times of asymmetric warfare and maverick terrorist groups, as a carrier-led task group allows the Royal Navy to pursue policies of countering terrorism and the threat of weapons of mass destruction.

Operational Sea Training and Joint Maritime Courses (JMCs) will start to focus on the primary carrier role.

Devonport-based frigate HMS Argyll steamed to the rescue of a civilian captain who was taken ill in the Arabian Sea.

A replacement ship has been ordered to assume the Falkland Islands patrol duties carried out by two Castle-class ships for the past two decades.

One of the last actions of the Royal Navy’s dedicated medal office has been to help replace the lost decorations of a World War I veteran who – unusually – saw action at both Jutland and The Somme.

ONE of the most illustrious names in Naval aviation has bowed out – literally – with the decommissioning of the Sea Harrier trainers of 899 Naval Air Squadron.

A COMBINED British and American raid on pirates in the Arabian Sea has saved the life of 23 Thai fishermen whose boat was hijacked by armed thugs.

BOMB disposal experts blew up a vintage Naval shell dredged off the Isle of Wight – after pinpointing which two Great War ships it came from.

Flag Lieutenants are a vital part of an Admiral’s team – they are the aides, the fixers who smooth the path for the boss.

After an absence of four years, Type 42 destroyer HMS Southampton has made the short trip along the Solent to her namesake city, and the place she was built.

HMS Victory may be a historic ship, but it doesn’t make her a museum piece.

The waters of the Solent were the target for more than 20 Royal Navy parachutists when they jumped out of an aircraft in the skies above Hampshire.

Type 23 frigate HMS Grafton helped seize 2.6 tonnes of cannabis resin discovered on board a dhow she located and tracked in the Indian Ocean.

Type 42 destroyer HMS Gloucester has returned to her home base of Portsmouth after a deployment to the South Atlantic.

At just after 1pm on Friday April 8. the new Royal Fleet Auxiliary landing ship dock Cardigan Bay is expected to take to the waters of the Clyde for the first time.

The greatest single cause of deaths for Service personnel in the Navy sector last year was road traffic accidents – and the Royal Navy has reminded its sailors and officers of some ways of avoiding problems when on the road.

Elite Royal Marines swooped down on terror suspects casually ploughing through Scottish waters under the watchful gaze of the Royal Navy’s second most senior officer.

A Colonel in the Royal marines Reserve has been honoured for his actions under fire in Africa and has received the George Medal.

Russian arms inspectors spent two days observing the strike power of the Royal Marines to ensure the commandos had what they claim to have.

The steady progress of HMS Illustrious towards front-line duties has seen the carrier begin three months of intensive training.

The Royal Navy played its part in Red Nose Day on Friday – in one instance by helping a radio 1 DJ during his ‘round Britain Comic Relief Red Nose Rally.’

The Royal Navy played its part in Red Nose Day on Friday – in one instance by helping a radio 1 DJ during his ‘round Britain Comic Relief Red Nose Rally.’

The Royal Navy played its part in Red Nose Day on Friday – in one instance by helping a radio 1 DJ during his ‘round Britain Comic Relief Red Nose Rally.’

First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Alan West has performed the traditional ‘keel-laying’ ceremony for the third of the Royal Navy’s attack submarines.

Passing through Limehouse in London on his daily train journey to work, CPO(CA) Pete Connell used to see the slightly weatherbeaten White Ensign that flew on top of the tower of St Anne’s church – and he wondered about its origins.

Veteran destroyer HMS Cardiff sails from Portsmouth on Monday for her final operational deployment before she decommissions in the summer.

Sailors who served in the bitter Arctic convoys supplying vital aid to the Soviet Union between 1941 and 1945 will be recognised with an official ‘emblem’ or badge.

Submariners in the West Country hope to restore monuments to Royal Navy pioneers to mark the centenary of an early Silent Service tragedy.

Curiosity over the presence of a war cemetery in a major Japanese city has prompted a group of local residents to delve into the human tragedies behind the names on the gravestones.

The Lynx helicopter from HMS Nottingham has been lost in the Indian Ocean, but the flight crew of three escaped uninjured.

When it comes to pin-ups, the Jordans and Orlando Blooms of this world have been joined by an unlikely competitor – the ship’s company of HMS Brecon.

First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Alan West called in on one of the few surviving ships from the Senior Service’s sternest test – the Battle of the Atlantic.