THE BIRTH OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3430, 9 December 1919, Page 68

THE BIRTH OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

By H. T. G.

No. 1. It is obviously impossible, to . dissociate the history of the navy from the history of England, for the nation as such hasbeen at all times dependent upon its fleets not only for its military achievements, both offensive and defensive, but also for its commercial success and its colonial expansion—in fact, the teachings of history, both past and present, prove beyond doubt that not only the maintenance of our Empire, but also its very existence, depend upon the efficiency of the navy. A glance at the map will show the “ splendid isolation ” of the Mother Country, and will demonstrate the width of the waterways separating her overseas dominions. Geographically, this brings the matter within the realms of common sense, for the most casual observer will see that the protection of the water-girt homes and of their- commerce can be effective only when the command of the seas is held by those who build those homes and carry on that commerce; hence, in the light of colonial expansion, one might almost say that the history of the navy is the history of the nation. Chroniclers usually give to Alfred the. Great the credit for founding the British navy, but it would seem that his attempts to organise a fleet were spasmodic and desultory. He certainly used a number of ships to combat the raids made by the men of the North,, and in at least one decisive sea fight .totally defeated his enemies. His son, too, who succeeded him, held the mastery of the Channel by means of a fleet of 100 English ships. But Alfred evidently did not grasp the main idea—that a powerful fleet was his first necessity for purposes of defence, for he spent much time and expended much labour upon land defences along the eastern shores of England, and upon training special forces to defend the coast; whereas overwhelming sea-power, which he was apparently able to attain had he so desired, would at once have rendered his kingdom . immune from attack. Alfred may have created a fleet of ships, but he did not organise a navy. He tried the plan of causing ordinary merchant ships to take over defensive duties, and he also provided -certain “ King’s-ships” from-his own private re venue to assist their efforts. He also desired every county to suf-flv ships on a proportionate population basis; but, meeting with little success, Ke finally tried to induce those seaports that had suffered most from invasion to guarantee naval defence. Edward the Confessor was responsible for the provision of organised defensive units, for he called upon the famous five towns of Kent and Sussex —Dover, Sandwich, llythe, Romney, a-nd Hastings—to assist in maintaining the safety of the realm, and-in return he granted them very many important privileges. These privileges were increased by successive kings as a reward for continuous protection from invasion. But many of these privileges were abused, and it is on I’ecord that raiding attacks were made upon other English ports by the very fleets whose duty it was to protect the coasts. King Harold, the last of the Saxon line, seems to have realised the value of a strong navy for defensive purposes, for all through the slimmer of 1066 his fleet lay under the Isle of Wight waiting to engage of Duke William whenever they should set sail to attack the shores of England. The foreign armada, however, was delayed by a variety of causes, chief of which were rough seas and contrary winds, which continued unfavourable for many weeks. But towards the end of the year the English ships .required refitting and re-victualling, and they were recalled to the Thames. At that time, too, Harold was compelled to hurry to the North to resist the invasion suddenly launched by the King of Norway, and the English fleet sailed for the Humber. This was William’s opportunity, which he was not slow to seize. The absence of the, -English navv permitted him to choose his landing-place unopposed, and he disembarked a large army at Pevensey, on the coast of Sussex. We all know the result, how on October 14 the hastily-gathered English army for many hours maintained an excellent fight against pweat odds, and how the gallant King, with most of his housecarles and thegnhood, fell before the archers and cavalry of the victorious Norman invaders. Thus, solely owing to his command of the sea, accidental though it had been,

William was able to land an invading army upon our shores. His victory at Hastings was merely the completion of his attack, which, also owing to his consequent command of the sea, was followed tip by the immigration of large numbers of Normans. This immigration soon overran the land with the invaders, and thus England was gradually drawn under the Norman yoke, giving to William the proud title of 'The Conqueror." William at once saw the necessity for maintaining ships of war to guard the coasts. He approved of the arrangements which had been made with the five towns during the Confessor's reign, and decided to retain their services. But ne brought these "Cinque Ports" and their fleets under the jurisdiction and control of a responsible warden, whom he stationed at Dover, and not till then could the fleets of the Cinque Ports be correctly described as an English navy. It might be interesting to "note that, as late as 1832, the Cinque Ports still "sent 16 representatives to Parliament, and that for many years the Duke of Wellington filled the office' of warden.

We may, then, consider the Cinque Ports fleet to have formed our first British navy. The vessels were ordinary merchantmen, and traded as such, but iii war-time they carried tall "castles" both forward and aft to accommodate the fighters. Tile- largest ships were of about 20 tons burden, and were propelled by "means of sail and oar. Each vessel carried from 20 to 30 warriors, armed with bows and arrows, axes, javelins, and. swords. The. average strength of the fleet was some 50 or 60 vessels, and cranky ships many of them were, depending upon heavy -stone ballast to counteract the weight of their high castles,, and, in the larger vessels, also the weight of another topcastle perched on the single mast. Their pilots-steered mainlv bv the sun during the day and by the Pole star at night, and on near in g land they had to depend upon soundings of a primitive kind. Notwithstanding these handicaps, many skilful seamen were bred in those strenuous times, and formed a worthy parentage to our doughty sailors of today. (To be Continued.)