Editing Royal Australian Navy (section)

=== Formation ===
The Commonwealth Naval Forces were established on 1 March 1901, with the amalgamation of the six separate [[Colonial navies of Australia|colonial naval forces]], following the [[Federation of Australia]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Greg |first=Swinden |date=2011-06-14 |title=Australasian Naval Forces and Commonwealth Naval Forces |url=https://navyhistory.au/australasian-naval-forces-and-commonwealth-naval-forces/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=Naval Historical Society of Australia |language=en-AU}}</ref> The Royal Australian Navy initially consisted of the former New South Wales, Victorian, Queensland, Western Australian, South Australian and Tasmanian ships and resources of their disbanded navies.

The ''[[Defence Act 1903]]'' established the operation and command structure of the Royal Australian Navy.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Defence Act 1903|url=https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00188|url-status=live|access-date=6 November 2020|website=Federal Register of Legislation|date=10 June 2019 |archive-date=22 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200822041605/https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00188}}</ref> When policymakers sought to determine the newly established force's requirements and purpose, there were arguments about whether Australia's naval force would be structured mainly for local defence or designed to serve as a fleet unit within a larger imperial force, controlled centrally by the [[British Admiralty]].<ref name="Dennis516">Dennis et al. 1995, p. 516.</ref> In 1908–09, a compromise solution was pursued, with the Australian government agreeing to establish a force for local defence but that would be capable of forming a fleet unit within the Royal Navy, albeit without central control. As a result, the navy's force structure was set at "one battlecruiser, three light cruisers, six destroyers and three submarines". The first of the RAN's new vessels, the destroyer [[HMAS Yarra (I)|HMAS Yarra]], was completed in September 1910, and by the outbreak of the [[First World War]] the majority of the planned fleet had been realised.<ref name="Whitley17">Whitley 2000, p. 17.</ref> On 10 July 1911, the CNF was granted "Royal" status by King [[George V]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/history/feature-histories/ran-brief-history |title=The R.A.N. – A Brief History |last=Stevens |first=David |publisher=Royal Australian Navy |access-date=10 August 2013 |archive-date=3 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203012946/http://www.navy.gov.au/history/feature-histories/ran-brief-history |url-status=live }}</ref>