The British standing army was always small in peacetime. In both world wars, a large conscript force was quickly raised around the core of the professional regular force. The Royal Air Force (RAF) was similarly expanded at the outbreak and in the course of World War II. The Royal Navy, however, was always large, a war-fighting force that was also intended to keep the peace. Above all other branches of arms, the navy was the instrument by which the Crown maintained its empire. At the outbreak of World War II, the Royal Navy (RN) was the most powerful force in the Atlantic.

The Admiralty was the war ministry with control over the navy. At its head was the Admiralty Board, consisting of the First Lord--a civilian cabinet member--and the First Sea Lord, a uniformed officer who also served as chief of naval staff. The Second Sea Lord had responsibility for manning and recruiting; the Third Sea Lord (Controller of the Navy) for ship building, repair, and dockyards; the Fourth Sea Lord for supplies and naval hospitals; and the Fifth Sea Lord for the Fleet Air Arm. The First Sea Lord had control of operations, which he exercised through the vice chief of the naval staff, who, in turn, was aided by three assistant chiefs. The Royal Navy was apportioned geographically into the North Atlantic Command, the South Atlantic Command, the China Station, the America and West Indies Station, and the East Indies Stations. In addition to these global commands were six home commands: Orkney and Shetlands, Rosyth, Nore, Dover, Portsmouth, and Western Approaches. Whereas the global commands had fleets that included great capital ships, the home commands were furnished with defensive forces, including destroyers, minesweepers, and torpedo boats. Western Approaches also controlled escort ships responsible for the escort of convoys. Deployable among these commands were the resources of three fleets: the Home Fleet, the Mediterranean Fleet, and the Eastern Fleet (later expanded and called the British Pacific Fleet). These fleets were organized into numbered squadrons (in the case of cruisers and larger vessels) and flotillas (in the case of destroyers and smaller vessels). Submarines operated independently as needed. The Royal Navy also had a Combined Operations organization, which managed amphibious operations in conjunction with the army and the RAF, and which had at its disposal the Royal Navy's fleet of landing craft. During the war, the Admiralty assumed control of the warships of the navies of the Commonwealth nations and also of those belonging to several governments in exile. . .

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