News, Articles and Comment

Ed. Originally published in July 2000 [88/3, pg. 204], this far-sighted article took aim at the inherent risk of ‘peace dividend’ logic in the increasingly volatile post-Cold War world, in which missile defence and nuclear proliferation were certain to become strategic concerns. A 15 minute read.

Ed. Originally published in two parts in 1999 [87/1, p. 3 & 87/2, p. 105], the author elaborated with particular clarity the strategic, operational and doctrinal rationale for what is now the current RN carrier aviation capability in the Joint Armed Forces post-Cold War environment. A 50 minute read.

Ed. Originally published in November 2013 [101/4, p. 325], the author’s concluding comments from his series [101/1, p. 10], [101/2, p. 132], [101/3, p. 230], on long-term budget trends during the Great Depression and Great Recession eras provides a framework for where the RN stands today. A 20 minute read.

Ed. When the 1980s Iran-Iraq War bled into the maritime sphere, the US Navy raced to halt depredations to oil shipments; the mine-warfare factor weighed heavily in the operation and offers lessons for today. Originally published in the USNI’s Proceedings, June 2025. A 15 minute read.

Ed. Originally published in November 2012 [100/4, p. 363], members may find this article from the NR’s archive instructive as to how geostrategic developments in the Persian Gulf have changed (or not) over the past decade and a half. A 25 minute read.

Ed. Originally published in November 1952 [40/4, p. 373], the author examined the then recent history of destroyer operations and derived far-sighted conclusions that remain relevant today . A 30 minute read.

Ed. Reproduced from the NR’s archives for Merchant Navy Day, the author in this article from 1931 [19/4, p. 641] engaged with an ongoing discourse then popular in the NR regarding the future of the Royal Naval Reserve, that Service having been vital to the conduct of the First World War at sea. A 10 minute read.

Originally published in October 1928 [16/4, p. 609], Admiral Sir Reginald Custance conducted a tactical study of the naval battles of the First Dutch War (1652-1654), with due regard to the institutional learning of the Commonwealth’s ‘generals at sea’ against the Dutch seapower. A 40 minute read.

Ed. This article, the second in a trilogy, focuses on the development of situational assessment by naval commanders, utilising then recent historical examples to demonstrate the synergistic properties of intelligence in modern warfare. Reproduced from the NR‘s Archive, originally published in August 2007 [95/3, p. 245]. A 30 minute read.