Royal Navy Navy currently operates from three bases in the United Kingdom where commissioned ships are based; Portsmouth, Clyde and Devonport, Plymouth—Devonport is the largest operational naval base in the UK and Western Europe. Each base hosts a flotilla command under a commodore, or, in the case of Clyde, a captain, responsible for the provision of operational capability using the ships and submarines within the flotilla. 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines is similarly commanded by a brigadier and based in Plymouth. Historically, the Royal Navy maintained Royal Navy Dockyards around the world. Dockyards of the Royal Navy are harbours where ships are
Hydrographer of the Navy the Navy. Hydrographer of the Navy Hydrographer of the Navy is a Royal Naval appointment. From 1795 until 2001 the post was responsible for the production of charts for the Royal Navy, and around this post grew the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office. In 2001 the post was disassociated from UKHO, and the Hydrographer of the Navy is now a title bestowed upon the current Captain (Hydrography and Meteorology) on the staff of Commodore Devonport Flotilla. Before the establishment of the post, captains of Royal Navy ships were responsible for the provision of their own charts. In practice this meant that