In the century that followed the British Civil Wars (1642-51), the navy underwent a major transformation. Under the early Stuart kings, several impressive warships were built but progress was dogged by weak leadership and problems in recruiting crews. The fleet’s operational record under James I and Charles I was undistinguished. The defeat of the Spanish Armada, barely a half-century earlier, was a distant memory. With fewer than forty ships in the 1640s, this was the navy of a medium-sized regional power.
Yet by the mid 18th century, Britain possessed a navy capable of policing a global empire. In 1750, the fleet consisted of more than 200 vessels. Britain’s naval building far outpaced that of its historic rivals, France, Spain, and Holland. It had evolved more effective tactics and was staffed by an increasingly professional body of officers and sailors. The navy had become firmly established in the public consciousness as the guardian of national security and the principal means of projecting power abroad. There were some significant setbacks. Nevertheless, on the eve of the Seven Years’ War of 1756-63, in which it would engage France in a contest for global dominance, Britain was unquestionably the world’s leading maritime power.
In this occasional mini-series, we analyse three key figures who, in their different ways, helped to lay the foundations of British naval mastery. Our first subject is the often-overlooked Robert Blake, Oliver Cromwell’s ‘general at sea’, whose successes against a range of opponents made the navy once again a decisive national force. Later, we will chart the colourful career of Admiral Edward Vernon, whose capture of Porto Bello in the Caribbean triumphantly raised the public profile of the navy in Georgian Britain. We will conclude with Admiral George Anson, known for his circumnavigation of the globe, who became an innovative naval administrator in the second half of his career. He implemented a range of reforms, creating the navy that would be used to great effect by Horatio Nelson a generation later.
