Navy Flashcards
What was the significance of the ship of the lines - first and second rate?
Strongest in terms of firepower but less maneuverable - too top heavy from the number of guns - relatively few built
What was the significance of the ship of the lines - third rate?
Less effective outside of fleet to fleet combat. Dangerous to sail near the shore due to lack of maneuverability, unable to catch smaller ships and therefore unfit for patrolling and escorting
What was the significance of the ship of the lines - sixth rate?
Faster and more manoeuvrable. Able to sail closer to shore. Effective in capturing ships, often for prize money
What was the significance of the hybrid sail-steamer?
Initially used to tow steam ships through rivers
Opens up previously inaccessible land to the naval forces
What was the significance of the steam battleship?
signals the end of 35 years of Britain’s complete supremacy producing large numbers of ships at low cost
Beginning of the naval arms race - marks move to steam
What was the significance of the Ironclad battleships?
Reflects urgency to counter French
British technological advances take ideas from others and make it better
Turning point - citadel - where most guns are - 4 1/2 inches way iron plates - protection of guns
marks the end of the wooden navy
What was the significance of the smastless battleship?
Turning point - no sail - very powerful ship
What was the significance of the dreadnought class?
It was so powerful it made all other ships obsolete
Outline the change from wooden ships to ironclad ships
Ironclads provided much better protection from powerful new shells. Wooden ships were lighter and could only carry small steam engines
HMS warrior (1860) was also a symbol of British technological dominance in reaction to the French ships - the gloire
Outline the introduction of the Dreadnought
It made all existing battleship obsolete, but didn’t end the arms race through deterrence because powers such as Germany, the USA and Japan immediately started to produce their own dreadnought, though less industrialised, maritime powers could not keep pace. By 1914, the royal navy was still by far the most powerful
Outline the change from sail powered vessels to steam powered vessels
They allowed more manoeuvrability
What were the four roles of the royal navy?
Exploration, shipping, scientific development
Policing the seas - piracy and slave trade
The role of commerce protection
Defending the empire (from foreign threats)
Why was exploration, shipping and scientific development a role of the navy?
Improve safety and reduce losses at sea e.g. between 1803 and 1815 over 200 British ships were lost due to rocks and wind
Develop accurate maps to develop safer navigation
To claim new lands and find possible ports and anchorages
To improve scientific knowledge
What impact did Cook have?
Led three scientific expeditions to the Pacific
Between 1768 and 1779 he successfully circumnavigated the globe
Successful because he was a skilful cartographer with a sound understanding of science and was an experienced seaman and paid attention to the health and welfare of crews (e.g. scurvy)
What was scurvy?
A disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C in the diet - typical symptoms progressed from tiredness, spots on the skin and bleeding membranes to loss of teeth and suppurating wounds
Why was Scurvy such a problem?
Major cause of death of sailors - over 130,000 out of 184,000 lost in 7 years war
Often made blockade strategies fatal
What effect did Cook have on scurvy?
Did not lose a single man to scurvy - thought he found a infusion of mort and wort, but it was really that he had taken fresh fruit whenever he landed and used strict dicipline to force his officers and men to eat unfamiliar fruit, veg and animals which saved them, though he did not know it.
When was the slave trade made illegal?
1807
What was the preventative squadron set up to do?
Working off the West African coast to patrol and intercept vessels transporting saves
What and why was the death rate of the preventative squadron?
54/1000 - mainly due to poor conditions, harsh weather and disease.
In what ways were the British navy unsuccessful in suppressing the slave trade?
Between 1808-15 there was little impact as these were only 2 ships could be spared and there were restrictions on boarding the vessels of other countries which impeded progress
Condition of slaves were worsened by British intervention
Only about 10% of African slaves were freed (around 100,000/1million) and the slave trade continues on Africa’s East Coast, the Red sea and the Indian Ocean.
The main reason for its eradication was the end of the American civil war (1865)
To what extent was the British navy successful in supressing the slave trade?
From the 1830s onwards, more progress was made with 32 warships in operation by 1847
Over the whole time period, more than 1000 ships were seized. The black Joke captured 11 slave vessels in one year
Liberated slaves were able to settle in Sierra Leone, a british colony in west Africa.
In 1835 Palmerston won agreement with other powers that ships with slave equipment on boards, such as shackled could be seized. Peel passed a law in 1945 allowing the interception of Brazillian ships - it was nearly eradicated in 1853
How did the suppression of the slave trade change the British navy in terms of technological development?
Increased the importance of smaller, quicker and more manoeuvrable vessels rather than ships of the line
Paddle steamer HMS pluto was crucial in this role from 1832
How did the suppression of the slave trade affect the role of the royal navy?
Britain took a leading role in this moral crusade, winning co-operation from other states
Lincoln gave permission for the Royal Navy to intercept American slave ships and other countries allowed Britain to suppress slave traffic to Brazil - beginning to act as the ‘policeman’ of the world; with the acceptance from other nations
What was the merchant navy?
British ships that transport cargo and people during time of peace and war
crew chose to serve with ships and captains
Benefitted from royal navy protection and, in wartime, capture of revl merchant ships
What was the royal navy (in comparison to the merchant navy)?
The fleet of armed ships whose principle purpose is to defend British shipping territories
Relied on merchant seamen to serve int times of war - used impressment
Size of fleet fluctuated according to need e.g. up to 1000 ship
In what way was Britain’s dependence on imported food significant for the Navy’s role?
It meant British imports needed to be protected from potential threats, increasing the need for the royal navy
What was impressment and why was it needed?
The forcible recruitment of sailors into the navy - to supply the navy, press gangs roamed British ports offering gold, getting sailors drunk or simply kidnapping them - due to conditions and high death rate
What were the dates of the American war of Independence?
1775-1783
What were the dates of the French revolutionary wars and napoleonic wars?
1792-1815
What were the dates of the ottoman-Greek wars?
1827
When was the first opium war?
1839-42
When was the crimean war?
1854-7
What was the significance of the American wars of Independence?
Royal Navy suffered humiliating defeat when outmanoeuvred by the French navy at chesapeake Bay (1781)
Battle of the Saintes (1782) Rodney successfully used tactic of ‘Breaking the line’
Royal Navy successfully supported Gibraltar in siege from 1779-1783
What was the significance of the French revolutionary and napoleonic wars?
Royal Navy blockaded French ports, limiting their supplies and preventing their navy engaging in battle
Convincing victories at the Battle of the Nile and Trafalgar, using the tactic of breaking the line
What was the significance of the Ottoman-Greek wars?
Royal navy ships of the line took part in the defeat of the Ottomans at the Battle of Navarino - last battle with sailing ships
What was the significance of the first opium war?
Royal navy gunboats played a key role in the defeat of the Chinese e.g. sail/steam iron warship HMS Nemesis, demonstrating the importance of superior weapons and vessels.
What was the significance of the Crimean War?
Royal navy involved with the French against Russia in the black sea and the baltic sea
