Hornblower.. Navigation and Battles

[Nostrodamus]

So is Nelson our greatest Naval hero or is someone else?

 

[maxi77]

That is only part of the raison d'etre for the strength of the blue-water navy in those days. The flip side of that is that our navy was our bulwark against the very real threat of invasion, and had been since the days of Drake.

During the first decade or so of the French Revolutionary/Napoleonic War the country was in great fear of invasion by the all-conquering French army. Napoleon had been building troop transport barges at his channel ports since the Peace of Amiens and the destruction of the Franco/Spanish fleet at Trafalgar removed that threat once and for all and allowed Britain to go properly on the offensive, which is why Nelson was so celebrated as one of our greatest heroes.

Drake is a very poor example of the effectiveness of the RN. At that time naval defense was contractorised to use modern terminology as there were few Royal Ships. The development of a real RN started with the Civil War and parliament seeing how Dutch influence of trade etc far outweighed their size and population.

As for fear of invasion funding the RN, there was little sign of that till the revolutionary wars started, and there would not have been time to both build and man the fleet that Nelson and the other great Admirals had at their disposal. The infrastructure to support our fleets was paid for by the trade the RN protected. During the 18th C the RN developed into a very large and effective fighting force that had the logistic back up to not only keep going in a protracted war but to expand substantially.

 

[Reverend Ludd]

So is Nelson our greatest Naval hero or is someone else?

My vote goes to Samuel Pepys

 

[Sultans_Kapitein]

My vote goes to Samuel Pepys

+1

Mal

 

[Twister_Ken]

So is Nelson our greatest Naval hero or is someone else?

I'm very fond of Cochrane. No, not Eddy Cochrane.

 

[Alcyone]

If you enjoyed the Hornblower series, may I suggest that you follow it up with the Aubrey/Maturin series. All ship actions are based on true accounts and the career of 'Lucky Jack' draws heavily on the life if Cochrane. An incredible read in it's own right.

O'Brians use of language, his characterisations and detailed knowledge of period sailing is second to none.

Seconded. The Aubrey-Maturin series is a classic for anyone who likes this sort of thing. I enjoyed the film too, and there's still hope for a sequel.

 

[Nostrodamus]

Seconded. The Aubrey-Maturin series is a classic for anyone who likes this sort of thing. I enjoyed the film too, and there's still hope for a sequel.

Do you know the name of the film and how old is it?

 

[snowleopard]

Do you know the name of the film and how old is it?

Master & Commander: the Far side of the World. 6/7 years ago. It was a combination of the two books named in the title.

 

[Scarboroughsloop]

My vote goes to Samuel Pepys

With your Avatar?

 

[strakeryrius]

Drake is a very poor example of the effectiveness of the RN. At that time naval defense was contractorised to use modern terminology as there were few Royal Ships. The development of a real RN started with the Civil War and parliament seeing how Dutch influence of trade etc far outweighed their size and population.

As for fear of invasion funding the RN, there was little sign of that till the revolutionary wars started, and there would not have been time to both build and man the fleet that Nelson and the other great Admirals had at their disposal. The infrastructure to support our fleets was paid for by the trade the RN protected. During the 18th C the RN developed into a very large and effective fighting force that had the logistic back up to not only keep going in a protracted war but to expand substantially.

I didn't say that Drake was RN - just that our navy in his day was an effective bulwark against invasion. As to there being no threat of invasion prior to the Revolutionary Wars, then what was the Spanish Armada all about - a summer cruise?

I agree that our "blue-water" navy only really came into its own as the foremost navy in the world in the 18th century, and you can pinpoint the start of that process to Pitt's reforms of the navy during the 7 years war. Those reforms were prompted by the need to safeguard the trade with the colonies Clive had conquered in India, plus the North American colonies, as well as our gains in the Caribbean.