Royal Naval Reserve
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.
"RNR" redirects here. For other uses, see RNR (disambiguation).Royal Naval Reserve
New Entry Ratings
Ab Initio Officer Cadets
HMS Scotia
Tay Division
HMS Cambria
Swansea
HMS President
Chatham
The modern RNR has sixteen Royal Naval Reserve Units (with three satellite units). These are:[21]
Previous units that closed due to recommendations in Options for Change:
Richard Baker (broadcaster) OBE RD RNR (formerly RNVR) – broadcaster (first BBC newsreader), actor, musician, author
Lieutenant Commander
Commodore Sir , CBE, RD, RNR, LL.D. British merchant sea captain, Commodore of the Cunard White Star Line (1944–47)
James Bisset
Sub-Lieutenant RNR – BBC TV's 'Inspector Maigret'
Rupert Davies
Lieutenant VC RNR – commander of Midget Submarine X.6 during the attack on the German battleship Tirpitz in 1943
Donald Cameron
Commander DSC, RD RNR – senior surviving deck officer from RMS Titanic; took his own yacht to Dunkirk evacuation in 1940 aged 66
Charles Lightoller
Surg Cdr RNR – Conservative Member of Parliament and since 2014 Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office
Andrew Murrison
VC – a Mercantile Marine Master given a posthumous commission in the RNR and VC in 1919 for his courage in command of a horse transport ship that was attacked by a U-boat off Ireland in 1915
Frederick Parslow
Captain Sir KBE RNR – Captain, Empress of Australia; rescue work at Yokohama after 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.[24]
Samuel Robinson
Captain RD RNR – held the rank of commander within the RNR. He was captain of the White Star Line ships RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic, among others.
Edward John Smith
Captain VC DSO RD RNR – Holder of US Navy Cross, Commodore Canadian Pacific Steamships[25]
Ronald Niel Stuart
Dr – first female commissioned officer in the Royal Navy, attained rank of Lieutenant-Surgeon in 1940[26]
Attracta Genevieve Rewcastle
Lt Cdr Sir RD RNR – Conservative Member of Parliament 1968–97 and Navy Minister 1979–81, sacked by Thatcher when refused reductions in RN strength prior to Falklands
Keith Speed
Commodore John Wacher CBE RD RNR – Commodore (Master),
P & O Steam Navigation Co Ltd
Lt Cdr DSO & Bar, Greek Medal of Honour, SOE – murdered in Sachsenhausen concentration camp Feb/March 1945[27]
Mike Cumberlege
James Bond author/creator, served in Naval Intelligence during the Second World War, reached the rank of commander.
Ian Fleming
sub-lieutenant commanded a landing craft during the Second World War invasion of Sicily.
Alec Guinness
actor, invalided out in 1943.
James Robertson Justice
served as a Fleet Air Arm pilot during the Second World War, reached the rank of lieutenant.
Laurence Olivier
joined as ordinary seaman 1942 and left as lieutenant 1945; Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty 1950–51; Prime Minister 1976–1979.
James Callaghan
1942–1945, British explorer and actor.
Duncan Carse
novelist, 1914–1918. Mentioned in Despatches for the Cuxhaven Raid; Distinguished Service Cross for the Gallipoli Campaign.
Erskine Childers
(well known as "Buster" Crabb), served World War II as a frogman – RN mine and bomb clearance and MI6 diver.
Lionel Crabb
served during the First World War as a surgeon.
A. J. Cronin
founder of the Scottish National Party. Founded the RNVR in 1903.
James Graham, 6th Duke of Montrose
diplomat.
Sir John Edward Jackson
served World War I as commander of the RNVR on the Syrian Coast and as political officer on the staff of Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss, he was awarded the Italian medal for military valour.
Sir Harry Charles Luke
actor, commissioned in 1943, became a navigator on motor torpedo boats, reached the rank of lieutenant.
Patrick Macnee
frigate commander during World War II, author of The Cruel Sea, reached the rank of lieutenant commander
Nicholas Monsarrat
served during the Second World War as a lieutenant commander, where he helped conceive Operation Mincemeat, i.e., "The Man Who Never Was"
Ewen Montagu
Spitfire test pilot during the Second World War, reached rank of lieutenant commander.
Jeffrey Quill
escort group commander during World War II, author of The Enemy Below, reached the rank of commander
Denys Arthur Rayner
Sir , attachment to the French Navy during the Second World War serving as a Liaison Officer (LO).
Richard Rees
served during the Second World War as a lieutenant and was involved in Operation MENACE.
C. W. A. Scott
served during the Second World War, reaching the rank of lieutenant commander, and was awarded the DSC and bar.
Peter Scott
served during the Second World War, commanding a Landing craft (Flak) in the Mediterranean. His memoirs of the war are recorded in "To Sea in a Sieve".
Peter Bull
architect and founder of National Institute of Agricultural Botany, was an A.B. in the Anti-aircraft service during the First World War.
Sir Lawrence Weaver
intelligence analyst and commander of the Submarine Tracking Room during the Second World War.
Rodger Winn
(founder of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in Cape Town which ultimately led to the formation of the South African Navy).
Herbert Penny
maritime historian and a founder of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, reached the rank of lieutenant commander during the First World War.
R.C. Anderson
highest ranking surviving officer of RMS Titanic, RVNR officer during the Great War, later piloted his personal boat to join the Little Ships of Dunkirk.
Charles Lightoller
rescued Titanic survivors as Captain of RMS Carpathia, later captained troopships during the Dardanelles Campaign.
Arthur Rostron
Straits Settlements Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve – c. 1934
Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve – c. 1937
Malayan Volunteer Reserve – c. WWII
A number of RNR formed before World War II:
Commonwealth Naval Reserve Forces[edit]
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.