What the 400th anniversary of the French Navy highlights for Franco-British naval relations

By General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff For four centuries, the Royal Navy and the Marine Nationale have shaped one another. We were once competitors and enemies. We fought for dominion over the world’s oceans. Today, our relationship is altogether different: we are close friends and Allies, bound together by two World Wars, our shared interests and values, our economies, and by our status as Europe’s two leading naval powers. Our shared history is intertwined in a way few other nations can claim. It is rooted in sea power, which has always been central to both…