English Maritime History

Surprising as it may seem, until the early 1500’s England really didn’t have a navy. The country was quite weak having suffered through some very difficult years during which time the English crown was bitterly and brutally fought over. The English merchants, dealing mainly in wool and woolen articles used primarily foreign ships to export and import. England had been rather inward-looking and at that time evidenced no expansionist leanings.

That does not mean that no Englishmen were active abroad. There were privateers aplenty – most maritime nations had them. These adventurers operated under ‘Letters of Marque’ – issued by their kings to engage in attacks on ships flying flags of countries to which they were ill-disposed. Englishmen such as Francis Drake, Wm. Hawkins and his son John, Frobisher and many others made fortunes from the capture and plunder of these at times richly laden transports. Strangely the Spanish, whose treasure ships carrying silver, gold and precious spices from the New World and were therefore prime targets relied on strength of numbers rather than armed escort ships. They traveled in fleets that were frequently intercepted as their movements were fairly regular and could be anticipated.

As an aside it is interesting to note the reason that Drake, the privateer in his ship The Golden Hind made his circumnavigation of the world. Sailing in 1577 with his intended destination a secret, he had doubled Cape Horn via the Straits of Magellan to attack a Spanish treasure fleet off the west coast of South America. Having taken 25 tons of silver plus gold and other treasure he had proceeded north perhaps as far as San Francisco though today some doubt he went so far north. He was unable to return to England by the same course because his path was blocked by the enraged Spanish warships. To avoid them he was obliged to proceed westward and returned to England after completing his journey around the world. Not the shortest but the safest route home! To further underscore the dangers of sailing in those days, Drake sailed in a fleet of 6 ships. Two survived. But we have got ahead of ourselves.

Probably the roots of the navy can be found in the reign of Henry V111 (1509 – 1547) He was a man of great and many appetites. One of his appetites was for power and glory. He dreamed of England becoming a world power. At that time England’s foreign territory comprised only of Calais and The Channel Islands. Henry recognized he needed a navy. He commissioned 3 warships copied from his brother-in-law the king of Scotland James IV’s ship the Margaret. These ships had towering fore and aftercastles and large gun decks. One of these ships was the ill-fated Mary Rose. Initially she had 7 large bronze cannon poking through the new-fangled gun ports front and stern and 34 lighter iron cannons. In 1536 she was rebuilt with no fewer than 96 guns this time some carried in the waist. Her added weight and instability led of course to her famous, or infamous sinking. In 1545 in the waters just off Portsmouth and within sight of Henry, having fired one salvo at some attacking French galleys she turned to allow her other guns to bear, as she wore round she heeled, took in water through the lower gun ports and sank.

That disaster aside, Henry had established dockyards along the Thames and at Portsmouth. He also established an organization to oversee his navy – The Navy Board. For a few years after Henry’s death in 1547 the country and her navy lacked strong leadership and the navy declined.

Then came Elizabeth 1. She acceded to the throne in 1558. She had an inventory taken and it was found she had but 21 serviceable vessels plus 10 more that were little more than worn out hulks. In addition there were 45 merchantmen that could be converted to war use if needed – standard practice at that time. Henry’s Navy Board proved invaluable. John Hawkins, a one-time slaver and privateer became Elizabeth’s naval treasurer. He encouraged improvements in ship design – longer keels, sleeker hulls, lowered fore and after castles and longer gun decks. And, obvious as it seems to us today, the use of properly prepared plans and drawings of the ships that allowed construction to continue without the presence of the designer. He set up a relief fund for sick and wounded sailors and built the world’s first dry-dock at Debtford. Guns were also improved. Bronze cannon were best but very expensive to produce so Hawkins oversaw a new less expensive construction using cast iron. This iron foundry expertise had a longer-lasting benefit for England; it was a major factor in Britain’s Industrial Revolution.

And all the while the ‘Letters of Marque’ were still being issued and England was able to wage quite an effective campaign against unfriendly countries without a conventional war on land or sea and at significantly less cost. It was conceived that a steady barrage of privateer expeditions against, in particular the Spanish treasure fleets could significantly reduce Spain’s capacity for war. In 1585 one more assault on Spain’s holdings in the Caribbean and Florida – not a very profitable one by all accounts, was enough to further enrage Philip II of Spain to where he planned an invasion of England.

Philip decided on a plan to send an armada – THE Armada up the English Channel where it would be able to give cover to an invasion across the channel from France. Philip boasted about his plans for invasion so when the Spanish fleet set sail the English war fleet under Drake had positioned itself in Plymouth Sound, well west of the channel. In battle, sailing ships always maneuver to attain the weather gauge – that is to be between the wind and the enemy. By positioning his squadron west of the channel Drake counted on allowing the Spanish fleet to sail past Plymouth before the prevailing west wind and for him to enjoy the weather station by sailing out to follow the Spanish fleet. Drake pursued the Armada along the Channel with the two fleets exchanging fire but to no great effect. When the Spanish fleet reached the appointed place where their invading army was due to embark on its Channel crossing they waited in vain. The general had decided not to invade after all – he was angry that Philip planned to keep England for himself and not gift it to his victorious general.

The armada had little choice but to continue northward driven by the prevailing winds and the pursuing English warships. Bad weather played a significant role as did severe shortages of food and water and gunpowder amongst the Spanish ships. They struggled on around the north of Scotland and then turned south to pass Ireland on their way home. To add to their troubles their charts of the Irish coast were inaccurate and many ships went aground and were wrecked. More than 6000 Spanish seamen died on the Irish coast – some drowned and some who found their way ashore were killed by the inhabitants. In May 150 Spanish ships sailed; 4 months later 11 ships limped back to their port in Spain eventually joined by a further 54. The rest were lost forever. The defeat of the great armada shattered Spain’s sense of divine mission and in years to come was a blessing for the Dutch whose ascendancy was greatly aided with Spain no longer in a position to challenge her.

In 1603 Elizabeth died and her successor James I came to the throne. He inherited a country on the verge of bankruptcy. With an army assisting the Dutch in Holland and another in France supporting their King Henry 1V the drain on the king’s purse was crippling. He was a theologian (King James’ Bible) and scholar and had little interest and no vision of England as a world power. He saw himself as the peacemaker for Europe and signed a treaty with Spain which of course enraged the Dutch! England’s navy declined through neglect, rampant fraud and corruption. Raiders from the Mediterranean invaded England and over 7000 of the English were sold into slavery.

Under James, England’s merchants prospered but the 1600’s were to belong to the Dutch who became the world’s merchants. They dominated the Baltic and the North Sea and expanded their area of influence to include the West Indies and Brazil and into Asia. They traded wherever they wished and pushed aside anyone who stood in their way. But their free-wheeling ways eventually led to their demise. They lacked a strong unified state. Their navy operated under 5 separate admiralties. Everyone pursued their own agenda – even trading strategic supplies with their enemies when profits were to be made. They had a large and strong army but many of the men were mercenaries (as were many of their sailors) – and mercenaries are expensive.

James was succeeded in 1625 by Charles I. He wanted a strong navy but with few funds at his disposal attaining a large fleet was difficult. Charles engaged in an interminable struggle with Parliament for funds. And when Parliament failed to provide them he disbanded parliament and imposed his own taxation on the people. Initially it produced results and some ships were built including the 50 gun Royal Prince and in 1637 a 3 decker with 100 guns the Sovereign of the Seas. Two years later his ‘ship money’ fleet was in disgrace. A Spanish fleet recovering from a beating by the Dutch sought shelter in the Downs – the seas off Walmer and Deal just south of the Thames estuary. It happened that the English fleet was already at anchor there. The Dutch pursued the Spanish and both antagonists were warned that they could not fight in neutral English waters. The Dutch ignored the warning and destroyed the Spanish fleet with the English fleet floating impotently by.

Charles, ever desperate for money was offered a huge sum if he would send his ‘ship money’ fleet to escort Spanish ships through the English Channel. Relieved he imprisoned many who had opposed his requests for money but riots broke out and he was forced to release them. England was poised for civil war and when it did break out in 1642 the navy was divided with most captains and many of the sailors supporting the Parliamentarians under Oliver Cromwell against the king. King Charles I was tried and convicted of waging war against parliament. He was executed in 1649. Ironically the Parliamentarians imposed taxes of their own and raised money to support the army and fund the navy – something that had been sadly lacking during Charles’ reign.

By 1654 the navy counted 133 ships – the biggest navy in the world. There was a new attitude toward the sailors. Their pay was increased and the distribution of prize money was formalized. A sense of community aboard ship developed. Cromwell wanted to drive the Spanish out of America but first he had to deal with the Dutch. The Navigation Acts of 1650 and 1651 required all imports to be carried on English ships and forbade foreign ships from trading with English colonies. Clearly this was aimed at the Dutch. So too was the requirement that Dutch ships lower their flags and submit to inspection for royalist contraband goods. In 1652 a Dutch fleet passing through the Channel refused and the first shots in the first Anglo-Dutch war were fired. Several sea battles ensued; the battle of Portland turned the tide in England’s favor and another victory off the Gabbard shoals sealed the fate of the Dutch fleet and they sued for peace in 1654.

England’s next target was the Mediterranean where Admiral Blake eliminated the North African pirates, prevented France from seizing Naples and persuaded the Portuguese to give the English the exclusive right to trade with its empire in Brazil, Bengal and West Africa.

Following Cromwell’s death in 1658 Charles II came to the throne; appointing his brother the Duke of York as Lord High Admiral. The navy adopted the Commonwealth system to classify their warships. First Rate ships carried 100 guns and measured 150 – 170’ along the keel. Second Rates were armed with 60-80 guns then Third Rates with fewer guns and so on down to fifth Rate frigates with 20 – 30 guns. Typically where possible the hugely expensive and usually highly ornamented First rate ships were not risked in battle unless it was unavoidable. Ship design became more standardized with the length being 3 times the beam compared with twice the beam in Elizabeth’s day.

As an aside it is interesting to note that a First rate ship such as the Royal Charles with all sail set including studding sails before the wind could make 12 knots but 5 -6 was the usual speed. Firepower counted more than speed. As a further aside, Pepys the diarist was in charge of the Navy Board – a very important position and a role in which he excelled.

The second of the Dutch wars was precipitated in 1664 by Charles ll who sent a squadron to attack the Dutch slave trade bases. They then crossed the Atlantic to seize New Amsterdam to be renamed New York after the Lord Admiral, James, Duke of York. The first battle took place off Lowestoft in Eastern England when the English were triumphant. In 1665 England was devastated by the plague and in 1666 by the Great Fire of London. England was demoralized and paralyzed. The Dutch navy seized the opportunity to sail up the undefended Thames to where The Medway joins it and then up the Medway to Chatham where the unprepared English fleet was anchored. Six great ships were destroyed and the Royal Charles captured, taken to Holland where she was eventually broken up. In 1667 the Treaty of Breda brought the war to an end with England retaining New York and their possessions in the West Indies restored to the Dutch. Basically a draw.

In France in 1661, the most populous country in Europe there was resurgence with Louis XIV – the Sun King – taking the reins. He rebuilt the navy with 140 ships by 1670 of which 12 were First rate. He set his sights on destroying the DutchRepublic and turned to England for help. In exchange for 200,000 pounds sterling Charles would ally with France against the Dutch, England’s third war against them. At the Battle of Sole Bay the Dutch fought the combined Anglo French fleets and the fight raged on and while only 3 ships were lost on each side it stopped the blockade of the Dutch ports or landing support for the invading French army. SoleBay was a debacle and doomed the Anglo-French accord. There followed a resurgence in ship-building in England with new specifications and ship designs and the most successful ships for the next 20 years. Pepys helped to establish the Royal Observatory at Greenwich together with plans for the NavalHospital.

In 1692 the French launched an invasion against England to reinstate catholic James ll to the throne. At a sea battle at La Houge the English soundly defeated an inferior French fleet and the French threat was over.

For the next century Europe was never at peace. Treaties and alliances were made and broken a score of times. Britain, Spain and France continued to fight each other at every opportunity but Britain had secured her position as the premier navy in the world thus ensuring her worldwide trading empire was secure.

In 1776 when the American colonists declared their independence the French threw their weight behind them so continuing their enmity toward England. It is interesting to read about the long and convoluted history of the British navy; but it is more important to relate the history to some of our models and art works.

Relevant models in the collection:

And others that you will discover that give a sense of the ships that played such an important role in naval history.

A few interesting facts.

In battle, ships typically were moving at maybe only 2 knots so it was a very slow motion event. Signalling between ships was difficult and frequently instructions were passed by voice command from boats passing between the ships.
More seamen probably died from diseases such as typhus and scurvy than in battles.
Navigation was extremely difficult and many ships were wrecked due to poor navigation and inaccurate charts.

Rates of pay.

A Captain of a Fifth rate ship in 1700 would earn 11,2 GBP (say $16) per month
Captain of a First rate ship would be paid 28 GBP ($42) per month
An Able Seaman on all rates would receive 1.2 GBP ($2) per month.

By 1807 these had advanced to:

Fifth rate Captain 15.4 GBP ($ 23) per month
Captain of a First rate 32.2 GBP ($50) per month.
An Able Seaman on all rates 1.65 GBP ( $ 2.50) per month.

Researched and written by Tom Johnston 10-2011