Tudor Navy - Henry VII

Henry VII

Henry VII deserves a large share of credit in the establishment of a standing navy. Although there is no evidence for a conscious change of policy, Henry soon embarked on a program of building ships larger than heretofore. He also invested in dockyards, and commissioned the oldest surviving dry dock in 1495 at Portsmouth.

Henry VIII inherited a force of some 15 ships, and continued expansion in great ships (e.g., the Mary Rose), with cannon firing through gunports in the sides of a ship, an idea taken from Portuguese and Spanish shipbuilding; infrastructure (including Trinity House) and facilities apace in expectation of war with France. In 1512 Sir Edward Howard took over as Lord Admiral, and attacked on 10 August, with inconclusive results despite a memorable slugging match between the English Regent and the French Cordelière resulting in the destruction of both. Additional combat in 1513 resulted in the death of Sir Edward, and his brother Thomas Howard took his place. In 1514 the 1,500-ton carrack Great Harry was launched, the first English two-decker and one of the earliest warships equipped with gunports and heavy bronze cannon. Henry also commissioned the Anthony Roll (now in the Pepys Library), a survey of his navy as it was c.1546, from which comes much of the pictorial evidence for his ships.

Henry VIII initiated the casting of cannon in England. By the late Elizabethan age (see the Aldernay wreck survey) English iron workers using blast furnaces developed the technique of producing cast iron cannons which, while not as durable as the prevailing bronze cannons, they were much cheaper and enabled England to arm its navy more easily.

In the end, the chief result of the war with France was a decision to keep the 30 ships active during peacetime. This entailed the establishment of a number of shore facilities, and the hiring of additional administrators; a royal shipwright appears in 1538. By 1540 the navy consisted of 45 ships, and in 1545 Lord Lisle had a force of 80 ships fighting a French force of 130 attempting to invade England at the Battle of the Solent. In the same year a memorandum established a "king's majesty's council of his marine", a first formal organization comprising seven officers, each in charge of a specific area, presided over by "Lieutenant" or Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Clere. When war was not at hand the Navy was mostly occupied in chasing pirates.