Naval Structure of the Spanish Navy in the New Millennium

Spanish Navy Armada Española
Emblem of the Spanish Navy
Active	13th century — present
Country	Spain
Branch	Spanish Armed Forces
Type	Navy
Size	20,838 personnel (2012) 131 ships 59 aircraft
Part of	Ministry of Defence
Garrison/HQ	Naval Station of Rota Arsenal de Ferrol Arsenal de Cartagena EN Mahón Arsenal de Las Palmas Arsenal de Cádiz
Patron	Virgen del Carmen
March	Himno de la Escuela Naval (José María Pemán)
Anniversaries	16 July
Website	www.armada.mde.es
Commanders
Commander in Chief	King Felipe VI
Subcommander in Chief	Mariano Rajoy Brey (Prime Minister)
Subcommander in Chief	María Dolores de Cospedal García (Minister of Defence)
Chief of the Naval Staff (Jefe de Estado Mayor de la Armada)	Admiral Teodoro E. López Calderón
Chief during operational deployments	Chief of the Armed Forces (Jefe de Estado Mayor de la Defensa)
Chief during non-operational periods	Chief of Naval Operations
Insignia
Naval jack
Naval Ensign
Aircraft flown
Attack	Harrier AV8+
Helicopter	Sikorsky SH60 SeaHawk
Cargo helicopter	Sikorsky SeaKing
Multirole helicopter	Augusta Bell 212
Patrol	P-3 Orion
Trainer	Hughes 500
Transport	Cessna Citation

The Spanish Navy (Spanish: Armada Española), is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, the most famous being the discovery of America and the first global circumnavigation by Magellan and Elcano. For several centuries, it played a crucial logistical role in the Spanish Empire and defended a vast trade network across the Atlantic Ocean between the Americas and Europe and across the Pacific Ocean between Asia and the Americas.

The Spanish Navy was one of the most powerful maritime forces in the world in the 16th and 17th centuries and possibly the world`s largest navy at the end of the 16th century and in the early 17th century. Reform under the Bourbon dynasty improved its logistical and military capacity in the 18th century, for most of which Spain possessed the world's third largest navy. In the 19th century, the Spanish Navy built and operated the first military submarine, made important contributions in the development of destroyer warships, and achieved the first global circumnavigation by an ironclad vessel.

Currently, the Spanish 'Armada' is the third largest navy in Europe, after the British Royal Navy and the French Navy, and the sixth in the world ranking.

The main bases of the Spanish Navy are located in Rota, Ferrol, San Fernando and Cartagena.