Navy News

Navy News site

Navy News is the official newspaper of the Royal Navy, published every month to bring news of the Royal Navy to an audience of readers across the world. It has thousands of subscribers and is widely-read by veterans, defence correspondents, members of the wider naval family and the public.

Navy News digital edition

The paper was founded in 1954 (with £300 from the then Victory Barracks (now HMS Nelson) pigswill fund, the proceeds of 'gash' food from the mess sold to local farmers) purely to serve the Portsmouth Command, after all Plymouth had its own ‘Guzz Gazzette’ and Chatham had its own ‘Chats’.

Within a few months Navy News’ success allowed it to expand to cover the whole of the Senior Service. Today it has extensive readership worldwide and Navy News is obviously drawing in new readers. Perhaps this is a reflection of the increasing trend towards short-term careers in the RN. Maybe those who return to civvy street soon start remembering their time spent in a blue suit with affection and turn to Navy News to renew their ties with the people who informed their most formative years.

Embassy attachés and media correspondents scan its pages, regularly picking up items they have missed through official lines of communication. There have been some notable scoops over the years including the cancellation of the rum issue ordered by First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Michael 'Dry Ginger' Le Fanu in 1970 and the demise of the WRNS as a separate arm of the Naval Service in 1993.