Royal Navy Quotes

• The royal navy of England hath ever been its greatest defence and ornament; it is its ancient and natural strength, - the floating bulwark of our island.

  William Blackstone

  Strength, Islands, Royal Wedding

  Commentaries on the Laws of England bk. 1, ch. 13 (1765)

  86 Copy quote

  Show source

• The only traditions of the Royal Navy are rum, sodomy and the lash.

  Winston Churchill

  Army, British Navy, Royal

  84 Copy quote
• 

  The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.

  Calvin Coolidge

  Military, Army, Navy

  Duff Gilfond, Calvin Coolidge (1932). “The Rise of Saint Calvin: Merry Sidelights on the Career of Mr. Coolidge”

  118 Copy quote

  Show source

• Gentlemen, when the enemy is committed to a mistake we must not interrupt him too soon.

  Horatio Nelson

  Mistake, Gentleman, Enemy

  170 Copy quote

• Paradoxically, the few eras of peace were times when men of war had high influence. The Pax Romana was enforced by Caesar's Legions. The Pax Brittanica was enforced by the Royal Navy and His Majesty's Forces.

  Jerry Pournelle

  Peace, War, Men

  10 Copy quote

• We forget today that Britain still depends for its livelihood and, indeed, its day-to-day survival, on the sea. But the Royal Navy is now pitifully small and has been reduced in size by the current Government, seeking economies to finance its social programmes. Fine while there is no threat to our security. But what use would schools and hospitals be if we could not protect our imports?

  John Keegan

  School, Government, Sea

  4 Copy quote

• I'm obsessed with the Victorian era and the British Royal Navy... I'd love to play a troubled sailor or captain or a boatman on a three masted ship.

  Nick Offerman

  Play, Navy, Three

  Source: articles.chicagotribune.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• It is not surprising that only one medieval state, Venice, long possessed anything clearly identifiavble as a navy in this sense. We shall see that no state in the British Isles attained attained this level of sophistication before the 16th century, and no history of the Royal Navy, in any exact sense of the words, could legitimately begin much before then. This book, which does, is not an institutional history of the Royal Navy, but a history of naval warfare as an aspect of national history. All and any methods of fighting at sea, or using the sea for warlike purposes, are its concern.

  Nicholas Rodger

  Book, Fighting, Sea

  4 Copy quote