Important Military Organizations: The Royal Navy
Figure 1.--The Royal Navy has played an important role in shaping the modern world. Cuiously the British sailor was held in ver low regard for much of the history of the Royal Navy and many were not even British. This began to change in the mid-19th century. An it is at this tiome that the Btitish royal family, an institution which had declined in popularity, decided to tie itself to the prestige of the Royal Navy by dressing the young princes in enlisdted men's uniform. This popularized one of the most enduring boyswear style. This CDV shows a Liverpool boy in the 1890s. We know thatr because his cap tally bears the name "HMS Barracouta". HMS Barracouta was a cruiser, launched in 1889.
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The Royal Navy was founded by Henry VIII in the 16th century and four the next four centuries has played a central role in modern history. It is no exageration to say that Royal Navy was the critical force in the creation of the modern world. One historian writes that the Royal Navy "forged a nation, than an empire--and then our world". [Herman] The Royal Navy is common seen as an instrument of British colonialism and the suppression of many Asian and african peoples. This is certainly true. It is also true that the Royal Navy helped establish the modern world trading system. It broke up the closed international system established by Spain and Portugal and replaced it with a much more open system. The Royal Navy impact on the modern world is extensive and pervasive. The Royal Navy chartered sea lanes around the world. There are few ports and sea coasts that have not been touched in some way by the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy played an important role in the Indistrial Revolution. It helped to defeat series of opponents for the most part countries goverened by authoritarian or dictatorial rulers (Philip II, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Hitler). Thus the Royal Navy played a key role in establishing parlimentary democracies in the modern world. It was the Royal Navy that ended the slave trade. Although the Royal Navy played a major role in the Revolutionary war, it is also true that for much of the early history, the Royal Navy provided a shield from European interference behind which the American Republic developed. The prestige of the Royal Navy by the 19th century was such that the uniform of the British enlisted sailor became a standard outfit not only for British boys, but also for boys throughout Europe and North America.
Britain and Europe
Britain is located on the prerifery of Europe. For most of their history, the people of the British Isles were not a seafaring nation. Nor was there a navy to protect the island. There were repeated invasions of Britain by the Romans, Germans (Anglo-Saxons), Vikings, and Normans. One historian identifies eight successful invasions between 1066 and 1485. [Rodger] England had a population a fraction the size of its cross-country rival France. England was backward economically. It primarily prodyced raw wool which supplied skilled weavers in the Low Countries. England did participate in the early voyages of discovery and thus Spain and Portugal carved out vast colonial empires and huge fleets to maintain those empires. Onemight think that those fleets and the wealth of the empire to support them that Spain and Portugal not to mention the French would dominate a relatively small nation like Britain. It is as this stage, however, that the Royal Navy propells England on to the world stage. The defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588) in many ways was one of the great turning points of history.
Historical Development
The Royal Navy was founded by King Henry VIII in the 16th century. One of the great historical treasures of England is the Mary Rose, a Tudor warship that was preserved when it sunk. Queen Elizabeth I sponsored privateering. And it us with the Sea Dogs that the Royal Navy begins to become an important, albeit still small force. The defeat of the Armada (1588) was in part of the superior gunnery, better designed ships (race built), and superior samenship of the English commanders. It is telling that the Spanish with all the wealth of the Indies at their disposal did not have superior technology. Perhaps even more important were the ineptitude of the Spanish commanders and the weather. Over the next 100 years there was a gradual improvement in the organization and technical capability of the Royal Navy. Samnuel Pepys played an important role in improving the organizational foundation of the Admiralty. Oliver Cromwell saw the Royal Navy as an imprtant force for the British nation. The Glorious Revolution (1688) occurred in part becaise William of Orange saw it as essential for Dutch independence to keep the Royal Mavy out of French/Catholic hands. James II was clearly taking Dngland into an alliance with Louis XIV and tghe Catholic powers of Europe.
The Royal Navy made possible overseas empire. The strength if the Royal Navy is the principal reason that Britain acquired the largest empire of any of the European maritime states. A consenus on the impact of the Empire has yet to be written. The Royal Navy is commonly seen as an instrument of British colonialism and the suppression of many Asian and African peoples. This is certainly true. It is also true that Britain broyght the modern world to many of the colonies, including science, tehnology, and modern health. Other British imports were parlimentary democracy, law, and capitalism. In the rush for independence after World War II, many of the colonies failed to appreciate the value of these British institutions and instead turned to Soviet style one-party government, socialism, and central planning. There is today a reassessment of this decesion.
It is also true that the Royal Navy helped establish the modern world trading system. It broke up the closed international system established by Spain and Portugal and replaced it with a much more open system. Sea trade is of course the central vehicle for international trade. Even today, something like 95 percent of international commerce takes place by sea. There have essentially been three world trading systems. The first was the Silk Road. This was the medium connecting China and Europe. The Silk Road commerce was conducted over a Millenium and affected bboth by Byzantium, the rise of Islam. the advent of the Monguls. This trading system was suplanted by the rise of the Portuguese and Spanish empires and trading system beginning in the 15th century. It was this system that the fledgling Royal Navy began to attack, first as freedooters and then in the spectacular engagement of the Spanish Armada in the English Channel and the North Sea. The defeat of the Armada meant the beginning of the end of the world trading system dominated by Spain and Portugal and the beginning of the new trading system which would be made possible by the rise of the Royal Navy.
Public Consensus
The Reformation and the experience with first Queen Mary's attempt to restablish the Catholic Church and then the Spanish Armada (1588) created a desire for security in Britain. Mary had burned Protestants at the stake. Under Queen Elizabeth accounts of the Spanish Inquisition, embellishing the actual attrocities, made for very effective propaganda. The result was a widespread public consenus for very sizeable public outlays for a Royal Navy to protect Britain. It was this consensus to finance not only a naval force, but a substantial administrative structure that oversaw the navy and developed improved ship types and armament. One historian maintains that this consensus was the key factor in the emergence of Britain as the preminent naval power, more important than training and tactics. "Fear provided the motive to maintain a fleet whose primary purpose was always defensive." [Rodger]
Slavery played an important role in financing the Industrial Revolution in Britain. This was primarily through the enormously profitable British colonies in the Caribbean which produced sugar. The economy ofthese islands were based on the slave trade. The slaves lived under such brutal conditions that fresh shipments of slaves were needed to replace the slaves that died. It was the Royal Navy that largely maintained the sea lanes open that permitted the slave trade and the commerce that flowed from it to esist.
The turning point for the Royal Navy came in 1759 durng the 7 Years War/French and Indian War. Accounts of the 7 Years War often focus on the land battles in Europe. Less well considered is the duel between Britain and France at sea and the conflict over colonial possessions. By 1759, Clive had achieved British dominance in India and the British seized Quebec--thus ending France's role as an important colonial power. The British naval victory at Quiberon Bay off France was key to ensuring British naval dominance (1759). One historian argues that the British victories made 1759 the hinge of modern history. [McLynn] British victory in North America removed the threat of the French to the English colonists--an inmportant step in the move toward American independence. The British as a result of the victories in the Seven Years War would control the seas into the 20th century. The one key exception was off the Virginia Capes (1781), making possible Washington's victory at Yorktown. The Royal Navy made possible the defeat of the French in both India and North America. It is notable that Britain's mastery at sea came at just the time that that Britain launched the Industrial Revolution. The two of course are not unrelated.
Industrial Revolution
The Royal Navy played an important role in the Indistrial Revolution. The Royal Navy began to emerge as a dominant military force in the 18th century, just at the time that the Industriial Revolution was beginning to remake the economy of Britain. The Royal Navy in the 18th century was the largest industrail employer in the world as such in began a critical impetus for the Industrrial Revolution in Britain.
William Pitt the Elder (1708-78)
Naval commanders like Drake and Nelso feature prominently in any history of the Royal Navy. No one, hiwever, played a more important role in building the modern Royal Navy than William Pitt the Elder. Pitt made "the Royal Navy the pivot of his global strategy and had been successful beyond anything he could have imagined". [McLynn] Pitt objected to the War of the Austrian Sucession. He denounced Government policy in the opening phase of the Seven Years War. He then led a coalition government that adopted policies leadig to British victory. Later he criticised government policy toward the American colonists, urging conciliation.
The Royal Navy for much of its history has been on the cutting edge of military technology. As many areas of technology have both civilan and military ramifications, the Royal Navy also made important contributions in many different areas. The Royal Navy chartered sea lanes around the world. Other European countries were aldo charing the seas, a tradition began by Italian mariners and Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal. What made the Royal Navy different was not only the dimensions of the enterprise, but the fact that the British in the interest of trade and commerce published the Royal Navy charts. Captain Cook's voyages in the Pacific was one of countless expeditions in this enterprise. They were thus not only available to British merchant seamen, but foreign seamen and navies as well. Up until this, naval charts were held as closely guarded state secrets. The reacgh of the Royal Navy is truly amazing. There are few ports and sea coasts that have not been touched in some way by the Royal Navy. Some such as Hong Kong were essentially created by the Royal Navy. As part of the process of charting the seas was a great scientific endeavor. The Royal Navy commissioned a scientific enterprise to develop a method to determine longitude which neceitated the development of accurate clocks that could keep time at sea. There were other scientific projects involving natural history. Of course Charles Darwin's voyage on HMS Beagle would leave to his ground-breaking book The Origin of the Species and the concept of evolution.
Meritocracy
The Royal Navy was the first important state instiitution in which advancement was based upon merits. Of course family connections and aristocratic connections were important. The Royal Navy was the one area in British society in which family standing and money were not required for advancement. Nor was an education required. This naval service provided. Naval officers rose to high rank even though their families were of low social class. There are many examples including well known individuals such as Cook and Bligh. Others such as James Pasco, Nelson's signals officer, are less well known. Joseph Perkins was the son of a slave. [Herman]
Nationality
One interesting aspect of the Royal Navy is the nationality of the crews on the on Royal Naval vessels. The crew on Nelson's flagship Victory was compped of 12 nationalities. Many Royal Navy ships at the time had large numbers of Irish among the crew. It was not uncommon for a third of the crew to be Irish. There were commonly individuals from masny European countries. There were also black Africans among the crews. In many ways the Royal Navy was an international force with a global outlook.
Australia and New Zealand
It was the Royal Navy that made possible the British colonies in Australia and New Zealand. The first prison ship arriving in Botony Bay was escorted by HMS Sirus.
Parlimentary Democracy
It may be no coincidence that democracy developed first in Europe's principal naval power. Some have suggested that the Royal Navy played an important role in British democracy. Here the most obvious relationship is that the Royal Navy could protect Britain without the need of a standing army. Continental powers needed armies to maintain their independence. A strong standing army, however, could not only be used to protect a country against foreign attack, but could be used as force to establish and maintain royal absolutism. A naval force, however, could not be used to supress the domestic population. Other factors may be involved as well. One historian maintains that there is an interconnection between the influence of merchasnts, limitations on royal absolutism, naval power, and freedom. [Padfield, Maritime Power] Considerable funds were required to build and maintain a modern navy. The need to adequately fund and support the Royal Navy played a part in the development of parlimentary democracy in Britain. [Herman] The monarchy had to seek funds and taxes from Parliament. While unwilling to fund a standing army, Parliament was willing to support a navy. Thus the Royal Navy played a key role in establishing parlimentary democracies in the modern world. This has been the case in Europe with the defeat of those who sought to dominate the continent. It has also been the case in former colonies, including Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and other countries. Another historian focusing on the Royal Navy agrees, "Only flexible and integrated societies could surmount the very considerable difficulties of combining the wide range of human, industrial, technical, commercial and managerial resources required to build and fight a seagoing fleet. .... Seapower was most successful in countries with flexible and open social and political systems. They were the same that favored trade and industry, and for the same reason, for a navy was the supreme industrial activity." Other examples are the Dutch Republic and the United States. Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union do not quite fit into this thesis, but in these cases the navy was an adjunct to authoritarian/totalitarian regimes that were held in place by powerful standing armies.
Discipline
Discipline in the Royal Navy was strict, compounded by the disdain until the 20th century with which officers looked on enlisted men. One of tghe most important incidents raising questions about Royal Navy discipline was the mutiny on the HMS Bounty. The mutineers sought scabntury on the remote Pictcarin Islands. The severity of the discipline has been overemphasized by some authors. Flogging was apparently more common in the American Navy during its early years. [Rodger] The penalties for mutiny was sevre for those involved, but the captaind involved often had their careers ruined. Often the other officers were more of a discipline threat than the crew. [Rodger] The physical demands of sailoing and the danger is often emphasized, but they were probably less than those involved in merchant vessels and fishing boats as well as a range of landside occupations like mining. [Rodger]
The Royal Navy has been at the center of world affairs and major international conflict since its creation in the 16th century. The Royal Navy has helped to defeat a series of opponents for the most part countries goverened by authoritarian or dictatorial rulers (Philip II, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Hitler). The Royal Navy came to be a significant military force wieldy agressively against the forces of world empire persued by authoritarian and totalitarian rulers.
Press Gangs
Britain fought a series of wars with France in the 18th and early 19th century. The wars began with the French and Indian War/Seven Years War (1754-63) which was essentially the first world war. The American Revoution (1776-83) was a continuation of that war. With the French Revolution (1789) and the rise of Napoleon these wars continued. The naval aspect of the war was settled at Trafalgur (1805), years before Napoleon was finally defeated at Waterloo (1815). Years of warfare had put a great strain in Britain and the Royal Navy. Perhaps the most severe problem was finding the crews to man the ships. The Royal Navy would seize crew members from foreign ships. This was, for example, one of the primary reasons for the War of 1812 with America. The Royal Navy also organized press gangs to seize British subjects, often but not always in port cities. This activity achieved considerable notiriety in Britain. For the individuals seized, there was no legal way of avoiding service once seized. Conditions on the ships were both miserable and dangerous. One historian believes that the Royal Navy press gangs were in reason that the anti-slavery movement achiebved such ressonance after the Napoleonic Wars. [Hochschild]
It was the Royal Navy that eventually ended the slave trade. The slave trade had been a lynch pin in thr triangular trade that has been a key element of the British economy and helped bring great wealth to Britain. It had in part helped to finance the growth of the Royal Navy. The expansion of the British merchant fleet under the protection of the Royal Navy resulted in Britain dominating the slave trade by the 18th century. British ships beginning about 1650 are believed to have transported as many as 4 million Africans to the New Wiorld and slavery. The British Parliament during the Napoleonic Wars banned the slave trade (1807). This was a decession made on moral grounds after a long campaign in Britain against slavery at considerable cost at a time of War. After Trafalgur (1805) the powerful British Royal Navy could intercept suspected slave ships under belligerent rights. After the cesation of hostilities this became more complicated. The only internationally recognized reason for boarding foreign ships was suspected piracy. Thus Britain had to persue a major diplomatic effort to convince other countries to sign anti-slavery treaties which permitted the Royal Navy to board their vessels if suspected of transporting slaves. Nearly 30 countries eventually signed these treaties. The anti-slavery effort required a substantial effort on the part of the Royal Navy. The major effort was carried out by the West Coast of Africa Station which the Admiralty referred to as the ‘preventive squadron’. The Royal Navy from this station for
50 years conducted operations to intercept slavers. At the peak of these operartions abour 25 ships and 2,000 officers and men were deployed. There were about 1,000 Kroomen, African sailors, operating West African Station. The Royal Navy deployed smaller, shallow draft vessels so that slavers could be persued in shallow waters. Britain also targeted African leaders who engaged in the slave trade. A British forced in one operation deposed the King of Lagos (1851). The climate and exposure to filthy diseased laden slave ships made the West African station dangerous. The officers and men were rewarded with Prize money for both freeing slaves and capturing the ships. The Royal Navy's task in East Africa and the Indian Ocean was even more difficult. This was in part because of the support for slavery among Islamic powers (both Arabian and Persian). The slave trade persisted into the 1860s, in part because of the continued existence of slavery in the United states. Eventhough thecslave trade was outlawed in America, the American Navy was not used to aggresively inters=dict the slave trade.
This did not change until President Lincoln signed the Right of Search Treaty in 1862, a year before the Emancipation Proclamation.
The Cuban trade ended (1866).
America
The Royal Navy played a major role in the Revolutionary war, providing the British a great advantage in the War. It was, however, a French victory at the Battle of the Capes (1781) that doomed Ciorwallis; army at Yorktown. The Royal Navy again provided thec British a great advantage in the War of 1812. The Royal Navy, however, provided a shield from European interference behind which the American Republic developed. Although the Confederat raider Alabama was built in a British shipyard, British neutrality on the Civil War meant that it was possible for the American Navy to blockade the Confederacy. The American and Royal Navy in the 20th century fought together in two great world wars. Anglo-American naval cooperation began before America entered the World War II and was critical in the Battle of Atlantic, arguably the most most critical campaign of the War.
South America
After the revolutions against Spain in South America, the Royal Navy prevented the reimposition of European rule. Americans often look to the Monroe Docrtine as guranteeing the independence of Lain American republics. Actually at the time, the United States had no military forces with which to enforce the Monroe Doctrine. The force that did this was the Royal Navy.
Greece and Italy
The Royal Navy played an important role in the independence of Greece and the unification of Italy.
The Middle East
The British were drawn into the Middle East for two reasons, both of which concerned the Royal Navy and sea commerce. The fitst was Suez. The trade route through Suez, especially once the Canal was built were the most direct connection between Britain and Induia. This resulted in converting Egypt into a protecorate. This brought Britain into conflict with the Ottoman Empire, the same Empire they had acted to save at great cost in the Crimean War. With the advent of steam power, the Royal Navy used coal, a resource Britain had in great quantity. There were, however, disadvantages to coal. One was the time needed to load it. Even more importantly was the smoke which made ships an easy target. To convert to oil, the British needed a source of oil. It could be purchased in America, but that made Britain dependant on the United states. The British found oil in Persia, modern Iran which became the major source of oil for the Royal Navy. When the Ottomons joined the Central Powers, Britain became even more involved in the Middle East, seizing Palestine and the Levant as well as Iraq from the Turks. After the War, oil was also discovered in Iraq. After World War I, further oil discoveries were made in northern Iraq. Iraqi oil would play an important role in supplying the Royal Navy in World War II.
At the turn of the 20th century the Royal Navy had about 60,000 men. Unlike the Army there was no need for an extensive training program. The Navy did not have recruiting officers like the Army. In fact the Navy had 10 volunteers for every position available on its training ships. Naval training ships are a topic that we do not yet fully understand. We have seen several ships referred to as royal navy training ships over time. Here we will list ships both chrologically and by ship name. As far as we know, the Royal Navy trained boys aboard active duty ships until 1855 when the first naval training ship was commissioned.Some naval schools for younger lads, particularly reform schools, were based in old hulks, tied up in port that were referred to as naval training ships. The Royal Navy had training ships preparing boys for both the Navy a Marchant Navy. There were quite a few other ships dotted along the coast of the Britsih Isles run by Asylums and other organizations. They took in delinquent youth and transforming the boys into dependable recruits for the Royal and Merchant navies.
Other Services
The Dominion naval sevices, including the Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Australian Navy and Royal New Zealand Navies are all modelled on the Royal Navy with the same structure and uniforms. The ships are HMCS for Canada, HMAS for Australia and HMNZS for New Zealand. They all have cadet programmes for young people wishing to enter the navy.
he Royal Navy has also been influential in the development of other naval services, most notably the Imperial Japanese Navy which the Royal Navy and the American Navy had to fight in World War II.
The Royal Navy beginning with the defeat of the Spanish Army began to play an increasingly important role in world affairs. Nelson's victory at Trafalgur (1805) left the Royal Navy unchallenged on the world's oceans. This dominance continued until the Washington Naval Conference. The result of the Naval Limitations Treaty was parity with the United States, but this meant in realiy accepting American naval dominance because Britain as a result of World War I could no longer afford to maintain the world's most powerful navy.
The prestige of the Royal Navy by the 19th century was such that the uniform of the British enlisted sailor became a standard outfit not only for British boys, but also for boys throughout Europe and North America. This is somewhat ironic because until the Victoriabn Era, the British enlisted seaman was seen as a loutish no account. Even during the Victorian era, the enlosted seamen was still seen as a rather rogish character witha woman in every port. Hardly the role moddle one would think that Victorian parents would want their sons to emulate. Of course the Royal Navy itself was a different matter.
Royal Navy Families
One interesting topic is the families of Royal Navy officers and enlisted men. All kinds of questions occur such as how commonly the children followed their fathers into the Navy. We also wonder about the children of enlisted men. For many years there was no provision for the families. We also wonder how common it was for the children of emlisted men to become officers. Hopefully some of our British readers will be able tgo provide us some insights here. We have not yet been able to research these and other interesting topics. We have, however, begun to archive some Royal Navy families and children on HBC. A good dexample is Philip and Maurice House.
Sources
Herman, Arthue. To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World.
Hochschild, Adam. Bury the Chains.
Howell, R.C. The Royal Navy and the Slave Trade London (1987) .
McLynn, Frank. 1759: The Year Britain Became Master of the World (2005).
Padfield, Peter. Rule Britannia: The Victorian and Edwardian Navy (London, 1981)
Padfield, Peter. Maritime Power and the Struggle for Freedom: Naval Campaignsthat Shaped the Modern World, 1788-1851 (Overllk, 2005).
Rodger, NAM. The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815 (Norton, 2005).
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Created: 6:47 PM 1/2/2005
Last updated: 3:31 AM 4/20/2008