A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH NAVY
In 16th Century England, Henry VIII began to develop the English Navy. At a time when other nations still relied heavily on the Venetian-inspired galleys, Henry was building the first of his great ships, huge sea-going fortresses capable of mounting a massive range of artillery. There were some costly disasters, not the least of which was the capsizing of Henry’s pride and joy, the Mary Rose, which sank in the smooth waters of Portsmouth Harbor, without ever firing her guns. When the reign of the Tudors ended in 1603 with the death of Elizabeth 1, English rulers were on their way to becoming the sovereigns of the seas.
The end of the Elizabethan period coincided neatly with the dawn of a new century and the start of the rapid evolution in the design of fighting ships. It was a world phenomenon confined to Europe. Developments in England, Holland and France ran along similar lines, but with recognizable characteristics. The Dutch seemed to favor a two-decker, full-bodied ship with fore and stern castles. French ships were somewhat less broad in the beam but they, too, had fore and stern castles with a high stern. The English mode featured three full decks with a greater margin of length to breadth and an overall lower profile.
Most of the great sea battles of the 17th Century were those fought by England and Holland between 1652 and 1674, for control of the English Channel. Both sides scored victories, but neither can be said to have decisively won any of the three Anglo-Dutch Wars. The seeds of the world’s greatest sailing navy, sown by the Elizabethans, fell into a sad state. Successive wars and internal strife impoverished the treasury. Only in private yards, most notably those of the Most Honorable East India Company, did ship design and construction continue to improve.
Into the 18th Century, France was usurping Holland as the foremost and only real challenger to England’s domination of the world’s oceans. The fighting with Hollano-had been about trade and commerce-now; this with France was about the preservation of national identity. The Channel was no longer just about a disputed sea-lane; it was a narrow stretch of water across which came the threat of invasion.
The course of world history during the 18th and 19th Centuries was dictated, mainly in Europe but later in America, by the design and deployment of warships. French shipwrights had become masters of innovation, but, with several notable exceptions, France’s record of war at sea was not illustrious. Napoleon Bonaparte concentrated his military genius and the bulk of his country’s resources upon his land armies, to the inevitable neglect of his navy. The English copied all that was best in French design and proceeded to build up the world’s largest fleet, by 1715 a total of some 150 vessels, no fewer than 130 of which were ships of the line. Britain dominated the naval use of the seas through the 18th and into the 19th century.
The Battle of Trafalgar was the last great fleet battle fought in the 19th Century. There were numerous ship-to-ship battles, but Nelson’s victory did away with England’s naval competition. During these years the British Navy reached the peak of power, and Britannia Ruled the Waves for a Hundred Years.