Importance To Royal Navy
The GIUK gap was particularly important to the British Royal Navy, as any attempt by northern European forces to break into the open Atlantic would have to do so either through the heavily defended English Channel, which is also one of the world's busiest seaways, or through one of the exits on either side of Iceland. When also considering British control over the strategic fortress of Gibraltar at the entrance to the Mediterranean, Ireland, Spain, France, and Portugal are the only European countries that have direct access to the Atlantic Ocean in a way that cannot be easily blocked at a choke point by the Royal Navy.
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“The Royal Navy of England hath ever been its greatest defence and ornament; it is its ancient and natural strength; the floating bulwark of the island.”
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“There were gentlemen and there were seamen in the navy of Charles the Second. But the seamen were not gentlemen; and the gentlemen were not seamen.”
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