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The Corps of Royal Marines, the infantry land fighting element of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, was formed as part of the Naval Service in 1755. However, it can trace its origins back as far as 1664, when English soldiers first went to sea to fight the Dutch. Early in their history, Marines were responsible for leading and repelling boarding attacks on the lower deck, while harassing the enemy from the upper decks with effective musket fire. At present, the Royal Marines are an elite fighting force within the British Armed forces, having undergone many substantial changes.〔Thompson, Julian, ''The Royal Marines, From Sea Soldiers to a Special Force'', Pan Books, 2001 pg3〕 ==Origin== The 'first official' unit of English Naval Infantry, originally called the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot and soon becoming known as the Admiral's Regiment, was formed on Tuesday, 28 October 1664, with an initial strength of 1,200 infantrymen recruited from the Trained Bands of London as part of the mobilisation for the Second Anglo-Dutch War. James (later King James VII & II), the Duke of York and Albany, Lord High Admiral and brother of King Charles II, was Captain-General of the Company of the Artillery Garden, now the Honourable Artillery Company, the unit that trained the Trained Bands. It was the fourth European Marine unit formed, being preceded by the Spain's Infantería de Marina (1537), the Portuguese Marine Corps (1610) and France's Troupes de marine (1622). It consisted of six 200 man companies and was initially commanded by Colonel Sir William Killigrew with Sir Charles Lyttleton as Lieutenant-Colonel. Killigrew had commanded an English regiment in Dutch service and many of the regiment's initial complement of officers had served there as well. The Holland Regiment (later The Buffs) was also raised to serve at sea and both of these "Naval" regiments were paid for by the Treasurer of the Navy by Order of Council of 11 July 1665. They were also different in that they had no pikemen, every man being issued a musket. The Holland Regiment remained on the naval establishments until May 1667. The name "Marines" first appeared in ''official records'' in 1672. The Regiment was very distinctive, being dressed in old gold, rather than the Red coat of the other regiments, until 1685. John Churchill, later the 1st Duke of Marlborough, was the most famous member of this regiment. A Company of Foot Guards served as Marines to augment the Marines of the Admiral's Regiment during the key sea battle the Battle of Solebay in 1672. Marlborough's conduct as an Ensign in the Guards during the battle so impressed James that he commissioned him a Captain in the Admiral's Regiment after four marine captains died during the battle. Marlborough served eight years in the regiment and led a battalion of the regiment in the land battle, the Battle of Enzheim in 1674. The regiment was disbanded in 1689 shortly after James II was deposed in the Glorious Revolution. The Buffs replaced them as third in precedence in the British Army. Two marine regiments of the army were raised in 1690. They were the Earl of Pembroke's and Torrington's, later Lord Berkeley's. Each had twelve companies (948 men) and a Grenadier company (237 men) and again there were no pikemen, each man carrying a Dutch snaphance musket. In addition, each Marine carried a bayonet, which was unusual at that time. These two regiments participated in an opposed landing during the Williamite War in Ireland at Cork, Ireland on 21 September 1690 under the command of John Churchill, now the Duke of Marlborough. In 1698, the Marine establishment was reformed: the two existing regiments were reformed into a single one under the command of Thomas Brudenell, while the foot regiments of William Seymour, Edward Dutton Colt, and Harry Mordaunt were converted into Marine regiments. These regiments were disbanded in 1699. In 1702, six Regiments of Marines and six Sea Service Regiments of Foot were formed for the War of the Spanish Succession. When on land, the Marines were commanded by Brigadier-General William Seymour, formerly of the 4th Foot. The most historic achievement of these Marines was the capture of the mole during the assault on Gibraltar (sailors of the Royal Navy captured the Rock itself) and the subsequent defence of the fortress alongside the Dutch Marines in 1704. In 1713, after the Peace of Utrecht, three of these Regiments were transferred to the Line, where they became the 30th through 32nd Foot, and the others disbanded. Only four Companies of Marine Invalids remained. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of the Royal Marines」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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