United Kingdom: Royal Naval Auxiliary Service

Last modified: 2022-02-05 by rob raeside
Keywords: royal naval auxiliary ensign | blue pennant | mine | explosion | rnxs |
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image by Blas Delgado Ortiz, 17 December 2001
Royal Naval Auxiliary Service (Obsolete)

On this page:

• Description and use of the flag - Obsolete
• Detail of badge
• Royal Naval Auxiliary Service Senior Officer - Obsolete Command Flag
• Royal Navy Mine Watching Service - Obsolete

• Royal Navy Flags
• United Kingdom

In Britain a vessel flying an auxiliary service ensign has a civilian crew that is not subject to the Naval Discipline Act. A naval auxiliary is not commissioned and any armament carried is for defensive purposes only and must not be used offensively.
David Prothero, 13 June 2001

Detail of RNXS Badge

image located by David Prothero, 13 June 2001

Royal Naval Auxiliary Service Senior Officer (Obsolete)

image by Miles Li, 19 June 2004

This was the flag of a Royal Naval Auxiliary Service Senior Officer, but no longer in use.

Source: H.M. Stationery Office (1958)
Miles Li, 19 June 2004

Royal Navy Mine Watching Service (Obsolete)

image located by Peter Edwards, 5 April 2018

The ensign of the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service is obsolete. It was originally established in 1952 as the Royal Naval Minewatching Service. The Minewatching Service badge was the same, except that the letters in the panel below the naval crown were RNMWS instead of RNXS. The name and badge were changed in 1962, and the R.N.X.S. was disbanded in 1994.

"Blue; over wavelets barry wavy of four white and blue a mine explosion proper."
David Prothero, 13 June 2001

Estb: 1952. Locations: ". . . [UK] observation points overlooking ports and strategic waterways, in order to report mines dropped by aircraft."
Ensign: Rectangle 1:2. [British Blue Ensign defaced]. "The ensign of the Royal Naval Mine Watching Service was granted in 1953 by Royal_warrant. . . . A circular yellow cable surmounted by [yellow] Naval Crown and [yellow] panel inscribed RN MWS [in black] enclosing [a white] mine exploding in [a white] Heraldic Sea against a blue background . . ."

"In 1962 the service was amalgamated with the Admiralty Ferry Crews Association to become the Royal_Naval_Auxiliary_Service (R.N.X.S)."

Source: Image (by Dixon Hill) and Quotes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Naval_Minewatching_Service
Peter Edwards, 5 April 2018