Editing Royal Australian Navy (section)

=== Interwar years ===
In 1919, the RAN received a force of six destroyers, three sloops and six submarines from the Royal Navy,<ref>Gillett & Graham 1977, p. 193.</ref> but throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, the RAN was drastically reduced in size due to a variety of factors including political apathy and economic hardship as a result of the [[Great Depression]].<ref name=Gillett61>Gillett & Graham 1977, p. 61.</ref> In this time the focus of Australia's naval policy shifted from defence against invasion to trade protection,<ref name=Dennis518>Dennis et al. 1995 p. 518.</ref> and several fleet units were sunk as targets or scrapped. By 1923, the size of the navy had fallen to eight vessels,<ref name=Gillett61/> and by the end of the decade it had fallen further to five, with just 3,500 personnel.<ref name=Dennis518/> In the late 1930s, as international tensions increased, the RAN was modernised and expanded, with the service receiving primacy of funding over the [[Australian Army|Army]] and [[Royal Australian Air Force|Air Force]] during this time as Australia began to prepare for war.<ref name=Dennis518/>