THE ROYAL NAVY. The Cambridge Manuals of Science and Literature

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1 The Cambridge Manuals of Science and Literature THE ROYAL NAVY

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3 THE ROYAL NAVY ITS ITS INFLUENCE IN IN ENGLISH HISTORY AND IN IN THE GROWTH OF OF EMPIRE BY BY JOHN LEYLAND Cambridge: at at the the University Press Press 1914

4 cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York Information on this title: / Cambridge University Press 1914 First published 1914 First paperback edition 2011 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library isbn Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. With the exception of the coat of arms at the fiot, the design on the title page is a reproduction of one used by the earliest known Cambridge printer, John Siberch, 152 I

5 PREFACE ONE object of this little Manual is to bring within the compass of a few brief chapters a general view of the nature, character and development of the British Navy. A larger purpose is to shew the influence of the Navy in safeguarding the independence and security of the country, and the part it has played in promoting the growth and upholding the integrity of the Empire. The influence of the sea pervades our history, and has been instrumental in the shaping of our national institutions and character. It is therefore preeminently worthy of study. By our maritime supremacy and our wardship of the seas the Empire has come into being, and without that wardship the Empire would have ceased to be. Notwithstanding all that has been written during recent years concerning the Navy, there is still a. want of understanding amongst the people at large of these matters of fundamental importance. When questions arise in relation to Imperial Defence, opinions are formed which are based on imperfect knowledge of the principles which underlie our maritime history. Even subjects which touch our

6 vi PREFACE island defence are handled with little reference to the lessons of the past, which are the surest guide to the policy of the future. We may read, in this history, of safety won by the exercise of wise foresight in maintaining the essentials for naval sufficiency, and of advantages lost and interests imperilled by the want of such foresight. An outstanding and characteristic feature of naval administration in the past has been its exhibition of a strange ebb and flow in the provision of the prime essentials for naval security, periods of development and efficiency having been succeeded by periods of decline and decay, in which sometimes Fortune has favoured us by blinding or weakening our adversaries, when our own preparations might not have availed. That we must not, through neglect, entrust our welfare to the favour of Fortune is a lesson which shines forth plainly from all our history. We learn, too, from naval history that we possess advantages, by virtue of our island position and the communications of the Empire being by sea, that are not possessed by nations which are parts of the continent, and a.re therefore influenced by the imperious demands of land power. We infer that there is something really different in our national character from that of continental nations, and that this difference, combined with the advantages of our geographical situation, has fitted us for success at

7 PREFACE vii sea in a manner which has been denied to other races. History warns us that we must guard ourselves from throwing away or diminishing the advantage which we enjoy in the fact that our security and our influence are based upon power of command at sea. The lessons of this book are not insistently put forward. Rather, it is left to the reader, with some indications, to deduce the meaning of history from its events and circumstances. The index will shew where questions relative to invasion, blockade and other conditions are illustrated. In the same way he may discover the evils that have arisen, and may arise, from naval and military misunderstandings, and from disputations within the service itself. The book shews how the Navy has on several occasions been the essential factor in the success of military operations, in circumstances hardly alluded to in our history books.. To bring before the reader these and other essential things is the object of the Manual, but, in suggesting the lessons of a philosophic study of naval history, the instrument whereby maritime influence has been exercised, and the incidents of its exercise, occupy a large part of the book. The Navy itself and its achievements are, indeed, in the foreground, with something of the picturesqueness of naval character, and, though the compass of the book is

8 viii PREFACE but small, few aspects of naval history have been altogether neglected. The ships of successive periods, the personnel and the conditions of naval life, the great personalities of naval history, administration, strategy, tactics, and the battles and events, with brief indications of salient features-all these have their place in the book. The author expresses his indebtedness to many volumes in the wide literature of naval and other history. He gives in a short bibliography some indication of the best books relating to successive periods and subjects. It is gratifying that in the series of manuals in which this book appears, is a volume by Mr J. R. Thursfield dealing in a masterly manner with some special branches of naval strategy. Finally the author desires to place on record his especial obligations, for counsel and assistance in relation to this book, to his old friend and colleague Commander C. N. Robinson, R.N. JOHN LEYLAND. St Georges Day, 1914.

9 CONTENTS CHAP. PREFACE I. THE SEA AND THE MAxrNG OF ENGLAND II. THE CONQUEROR'S SEA POWER PAGE III. How MEDI.!EV AL BATTLES WERE FOUGHT 11 IV. SHIPS AND MEN 18 V. THE AGE OF MARITIME DISCOVERY AND THE OVER- THROW OF SPAIN 24 VI. THE TRANSITION NAVY. TUDORS AND STUARTS 33 VII. THE NEW CONTEST FOR DOMINION. THE FIRST DUTCH WAR 39 VIII. THE RESTORATION NAVY AND THE CLOSE OF THE DUTCH WARS 48 IX. THE REVOLUTION OF THE BEGINNING OF THE FRENCH WARS 57 X. NAVAL SUPREMACY AND FLEET DECAY 67 XI. ANSON AND HAWKE. THE REGENERATED NAVY 77 XII. THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR AND WORLD DOMINION 85 XIII. THE WAR OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 94 V 1 6

10 x CONTEN'rs PAGE XIV. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. HOWE. PROJECTS OF INVASION AND THE MUTINIES 105 XV. NELSON, THE MEDITERRANEAN AND THE NILE. THE PEAOE OF ~ E N S 1]4 XVI. IDEAS AND PLANs OF BONAPARTE 124 XVII. THE CAlIIPAlGN OF TRAFALGAR 133 XVIII. THE FRUITS OF VICTORY 143 XIX. CONCLUSIONS 153 BIBLIOGRAPHY 163 INDEX 165