Резервный флот Её Величества: История и современность

Volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy

The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve, created in 1859, and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), created in 1903. The Royal Naval Reserve has seen action in World War I, World War II, the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan.

The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) has its origins in the Register of Seamen, established in 1835 to identify men for naval service in the event of war, although just 400 volunteered for duty in the Crimean War in 1854 out of 250,000 on the Register. This led to a Royal Commission on Manning the Navy in 1858, which in turn led to the Naval Reserve Act of 1859. This established the RNR as a reserve of professional seamen from the British Merchant Navy and fishing fleets, who could be called upon during times of war to serve in the regular Royal Navy. The RNR was originally a reserve of seamen only, but in 1862 was extended to include the recruitment and training of reserve officers. From its creation, RNR officers wore on their uniforms a unique and distinctive lace consisting of stripes of interwoven chain. A number of drill ships were established at the main seaports around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland, and seamen left their vessels to undertake gunnery training in a drill ship for one month every year. After initial shore training, officers embarked in larger ships of the Royal Navy's fleet (usually battleships or battle cruisers) for one year, to familiarise themselves with gunnery and naval practice. Although under the operational authority of the Admiral Commanding, Reserves, the RNR was administered jointly by the Admiralty and the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen at the Board of Trade throughout its separate existence. In 1910, the RNR (Trawler Section) was formed to recruit and train fishermen for wartime service in minesweepers and other small warships. Officers and men of the RNR soon gained the respect of their naval counterparts with their professional skills in navigation and seamanship, and served with distinction in a number of conflicts including the Boer War and the Boxer Rebellion. Prior to the First World War, one hundred RNR officers were transferred to permanent careers in the regular navy—later referred to as "the hungry hundred". In their professional careers, many RNR officers went on to command the largest passenger liners of the day and some also held senior positions in the shipping industry and the government.

At the turn of the 20th century, there were concerns at the Admiralty and in parliament that the RNR was insufficient to bolster the manning of the greatly expanded fleet in the event of large scale war. Despite the huge growth in the number of ships in the British merchant service since the RNR's foundation, many of the additional seamen were from the colonies or were not British subjects. The pool of potential RNR officers had shrunk since 1859 and experience in the Boer War showed that it would not be possible to call up a sufficient number of reservists without negatively impacting the work of the merchant and fishing fleets. In 1903 an Act of Parliament was passed enabling the Admiralty to raise a second reserve force – the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. While the RNR consisted of professional civilian sailors, the RNVR was open to civilians with no prior sea experience. By the outbreak of the First World War there were six RNVR divisions in major ports around the UK.

On mobilisation in 1914, the RNR consisted of 30,000 officers and men. Officers of the permanent RNR on general service quickly took up seagoing appointments in the fleet, many in command, in destroyers, submarines, auxiliary cruisers and Q ships. Others served in larger units of the battle fleet including a large number with the West Indies Squadron who became casualties at the Battle of Coronel and later at Jutland. Fishermen of the RNR section served with distinction on board trawlers fitted out as minesweepers for mine clearance operations at home and abroad throughout the war, where they suffered heavy casualties and losses. One such casualty was armed naval drifter HMT Frons Olivae, which hit a mine off Ramsgate on 12 October 1915 in an explosion that killed at least five other seamen. One casualty, a Newfoundlander serving with the Royal Naval Reserve, was subsequently buried in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal, Kent. A number of RNR officers qualified as pilots and flew aircraft and airships with the Royal Naval Air Service, whilst many RNR ratings served ashore with the RN and RNVR contingents at Gallipoli and at the Battle of the Somme with the Royal Naval Division. Merchant service officers and men serving in armed merchant cruisers, hospital ships, fleet auxiliaries and transports were entered in the RNR for the duration of the war on special agreements. Although considerably smaller than the RN and the RNVR (which was three times the size of the RNR at the end of the war), the RNR had an exceptional war record, members being awarded twelve Victoria Crosses.

On commencement of hostilities in the Second World War, the RN once again called upon the experience and professionalism of the RNR to help it to shoulder the initial burden until sufficient manpower could be trained for the RNVR and 'hostilities only' ratings. Again, RNR officers found themselves in command of destroyers, frigates, sloops, landing craft and submarines, or as specialist navigation officers in cruisers and aircraft carriers. In convoy work, the convoy commodore or escort commander was often an RNR officer. As in the First World War, the RNR acquitted itself well, winning four VCs. An intermediate form of reserve, between the professional RNR and the civilian RNVR, had been created in 1936. This was the Royal Naval Volunteer (Supplementary) Reserve, open to civilians with existing and proven experience at sea as ratings or officers. In peacetime this carried no obligation or requirement for service or training, being merely a register of people who could be mobilised and trained swiftly in the event of war to quickly provide a core of new personnel. By September 1939 there were around 2,000 RNV(S)R members, mostly yachtsmen, who when mobilised were sent to active service after a 10 day training course while the RNVR began with a regular 12 week course for officers. On the outbreak of the Second World War, no more ratings were accepted into the RNVR and new intake to the RNR stopped. The RNVR became the route by which virtually all new entry commissioned officers joined the naval service during the war – the exception being professional mariners who already held master's tickets, who would join the RNR. All new ratings would go direct to the regular Royal Navy. With the exception of the RNV(S)R and a proportion of recruits taken on as Direct Entrants (men with qualifications who would serve in specialist roles such as surgeons, engineers and those selected for intelligence duties), all the newly created temporary RNVR officers had initially been recruited as ratings and undertaken ten weeks of basic training. Recruits identified as having the potential to be officers at the end of this training were called Commission & Warrant (CW) Candidates and then had to serve at least six months as Ordinary Seamen, including three months at sea. If still considered a CW candidate at the end of this period, they would become a Cadet Rating and proceed for officer training at Those who did not meet and maintain the required standards while as CW Candidates or while training at King Alfred would continue to serve as RN ratings. Those who were successful would become Temporary Probationary Acting Sub Lieutenants in the RNVR (those under the age of 21 became Midshipmen). After a month of satisfactory service they would no longer be Probationary and their ranks were confirmed (effectively a promotion from Acting to 'full' Sub Lieutenant) after three months. Men over the age of 25 who had earned a watchkeeping certificate were eligible for lieutenant rank after one year's service. By 1945 there were 43,805 officers in the RNVR, nicknamed the "Wavy Navy", after the 3/8 inch wavy sleeve 'rings' that officers wore to distinguish them from their RN and RNR counterparts. These new officers were primarily assigned to anti submarine warfare/convoy escort, amphibious warfare and the Coastal Forces division these being the areas of the naval service which saw the most growth during the Second World War, and which were most suitable for employing temporary officers who were quickly trained in specific areas of expertise. In 1942 the Admiralty revised its arrangements for manning the fleet, reflecting the expansion of the service, the numbers of experienced career officers available and the generally good conduct and performance of the temporary officers taken into the RNVR. A Fleet Order of that year stated that "the Fleet must be manned by Reserve officers with a leavening of Active Service officers, and not manned by RN Officers diluted with Reserve officers." This opened up new postings and promotion paths to temporary RNVR officers, including service on battleships, cruisers and aircraft carriers which had previously been largely the preserve of regular RN and experienced RNR officers. It also put temporary officers on a more equal footing with their regular counterparts when it came to being considered for executive and command positions.

Since the Royal Navy rebrand in 2003 that cost circa £100,000, the Royal Naval Reserve has been without its own logo; when one is required, the Royal Navy logo is used with the word Reserves added below, and there is no logo for the entire Maritime Reserve. The older Royal Naval Reserve logo is still used as the watermark for passing out certificates issued to Royal Naval Reserve ratings at .

All RNR personnel, regardless of rank, enrol as general service before being later assigned to a branch of service. RNR Officers join as a General Duty Reserve, and specialise after commissioning and passing their Fleet Board while RNR Ratings join as General Entry and specialise after basic training. Most branches are open to both ratings and officers with the exception of fleet protection (ratings only) and a small number which recruit exclusively from the officer ranks. Listed below is a breakdown of branches and the sub specialisations which are aligned to each branch.

The University Royal Naval Units, although under the jurisdiction of BRNC Dartmouth, are also an honorary part of the Royal Naval Reserve. Students hold the rank of officer cadet (OC), and can be promoted to honorary midshipman on completion of their second year. URNU OCs can now undergo the Accelerated Officer Programme (AOP) to become substantive RNR Midshipmen. They can then either continue on an RNR Unit or be seconded back to their URNU for the duration of their university studies. Training Officers attached to URNUs are appointed as temporary officers in the RNR, without commission or call up liability.

As nominal members of the RNR (SCC RNR), officers of the Sea Cadet Corps and the RN CCF Combined Cadet Force retain the use of the former RNVR 'wavy navy' lace. However, unlike their traditional RNVR counterparts, they are civilians, do not come under General Trained Strength and are not liable to be called up or deploy. Officers receive a Cadet Forces commission, introduced in 2017 and restated in 2018; previously they were appointed within their respective Corps, rather than commissioned (unless they already held a commission separately). They are titled ‘(SCC) RNR’ or ‘(CCF) RNR’ to differentiate from the deployable Royal Naval Reserve.

James Bond served in the RNVR, reaching the rank of commander. Lawrence Jamieson (played by Michael Caine) in the film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Ralph Ross Lanyon in Mary Renault's British wartime novel The Charioteer served in the RNVR after being wounded at Dunkirk. Henry Root, fictional author of The Henry Root Letters previously served in the RNVR under Captain "Crap" Myers. Logan Mounstuart, fictional diarist and author of William Boyd's Any Human Heart, recounts that he served in the RNVR Naval Intelligence Division alongside Ian Fleming throughout the Second World War, reaching the temporary rank of commander. Richard Bolton (played by James Caan) in the film Submarine X 1. Lt. Comdr. Jeffords (played by James Franciscus) in the film Hell Boats. Lt. Cdr. George Ericson RNR in Nicholas Monsarrat's novel The Cruel Sea, played by Jack Hawkins in the film of the same name. Donald Sinden and Denholm Elliott played junior RNVR officers, and Virginia McKenna a WRNS officer. The differences in rank insignia formats are shown very nicely.

The Blue Ensign of the United Kingdom has been worn since 1865 by British registered merchant vessels commanded by active or retired officers of the RNR, when authorised by Admiralty warrant. The flag dates from 1801; this usage dates from 1865.

There are also naval reserve forces operated by other Commonwealth of Nations navies, including the Royal Australian Naval Reserve (RANR), the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNZNVR), and the Canadian Forces Naval Reserve. Previously there were also colonial RNVR units, such as the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve, Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (CRNVR), Hong Kong Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (HKRNVR), Straits Settlements Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (SSRNVR) and the South African Division of the RNVR.