Reduction of Navy and Shift from Sail to Steam

Question 1

Congress of Vienna

Answer 1

• 1814 - 15 had created peace in Europe
• Had led to the navy being decommissioned
• Due to a lack of fighting protecting Britain was no longer a priority, therefore they only had to worry about commerce and maintaining Britains economic power
• Britain had also abolished the slave trade in 1807 and therefore the RN had to enforce this

Question 2

What happened to the battleships after the Congress of Vienna?

Answer 2

• Most that were used to fight Napoleon were decommissioned
• They were used in other things such as prison hulks, guard ships or floating supply depots

Question 3

By 1817 what was the power status of the navy like?

Answer 3

• Only 13 battleships on active duty
• Main strength was in frigates, sloops and brigs
• Battleship strength was left in the European and Mediterranean waters as a reminder to the other powers of Britains naval dominance

Question 4

How was the Navy organised after being reduced?

Answer 4

• Reorganised into squadrons to cover the world
• E.g stationed in North America, South America, West Africa and Cape Colony
• The RN had a great presence and had become a seaborne police and a means for political persuasion

Question 5

Gunboat Diplomacy

Answer 5

• Use of naval forces anchored strategically to pose a veiled threat
• This happens while diplomats are having discussions
• Enough for one side with warships to win the argument and get their own way

Question 6

What are examples of the British using Gunboat Diplomacy

Answer 6

• Portuguese persuaded of the wisdom of accepting Brazilian independence by the presence of a British fleet stationed at the Tagus
• During wars of liberation in Latin America the presence of the RN prevented the Spanish and Portuguese from operating freely and thereby helped the revolutionaries

Question 7

Despite Naval Officers not trusting steam technology, what caused for the navy to begin using it?

Answer 7

• The French began implementing steam engines and screw propellers to their frigates in the early 1840s
• Britain then followed suit by adding steam to their frigates by 1845

Question 8

Which naval officer promoted steam ships?

Answer 8

• Sir James Graham
• Oversaw the first operational steamships, HMS Medea was a small battleship propelled by a steam-driven paddle and HMS Gladiator was a larger battleship
• Remarked that in the event of war a further ten steamers should be built

Question 9

What were the issues with the function of steam ships?

Answer 9

• It was thought that steamships were only suitable for ancillary tasks such moving supplies or as tugs for larger ships
• Steam powered paddle that propelled the boat was thought to be vulnerable to enemy fire and being in the middle of the ship prevented it from firing a full broadside

Question 10

How did Steam become more widely used in the 1850’s?

Answer 10

• The RN began a programme of building steam powered battleships, using a screw propellor rather than a paddle
• Also used quick firing cannons which fired out to a much greater range from a turret situated on the deck

Question 11

What was the first steam ship with sail rigging and without sail rigging?

Answer 11

1852 - Britains first fully steam powered battleship was named HMS Agamemnon - despite this it still had full sail rigging.
1873 - Britains first steam powered battleship without sail rigging was named HMS Devastation

Question 12

What was the main issue with steam powered ships?

Answer 12

• Their weight (the engines and coal needed to power them)
• Wooden hulls could only carry their equivalent weight and thus they only had a small steam engine

Question 13

What was the solution to the main issue with steam powered ships?

Answer 13

• The ships needed iron hulls
• This was done with ironclads to begin with (wooden hulls with iron sheets on the outside)
• French started building them in 1858 and the RN responded with the fully iron warship HMS Warrior in 1860

Question 14

What was another reason to move to iron warships?

Answer 14

• Increasing size of the guns
• Armstrong Whitworths new cannon in the 1850’s was much larger
• HMS Warrior had 110 pounders
• Due to them being so big they had to be mounted on deck turrets rather than below and this ended the full broadside
• These shells could to immense damage to normal wooden warships

Question 15

Block Mills

Answer 15

• The Portsmouth Block Mill (1807) is the first site of steam engines being used by the Admiralty.
• The block mills were examples of mass standardised production in the world, therefore driving the Industrial Revolution!