The Great Armament was the popular name given to the rapid build-up in the strength of the British
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
as a consequence of the need for inshore warfare vessels that emerged during the 1854-56
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
against
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
. These forces were for deployment not only in the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
and
Sea of Azof, but equally in the campaigns in the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...
and
Gulf of Bothnia. Following the end of that war, many of the numerous steam-driven gunboats produced as part of the Great Armament were deployed in many other locations around the world, as far apart as Africa and China.
Orders
Between 27 March 1854, when Britain declared war on Russia (France followed suit the next day) and 30 March 1856, when the Treaty of Peace was signed in Paris, the following small naval vessels were ordered by the
British Admiralty; all except the mortar vessels (which were sail propelled only) and the (iron-hulled) mortar floats (which were not self-propelled) had steam screw propulsion:
The above list excludes major warships (ships of the line and frigates) ordered during this two-year period.
References
* Winfield, Rif; Lyon, David (2004). ''
The Sail and Steam Navy List
''The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889'' by Rif Winfield and David Lyon is a historical reference work providing details of all recorded ships in commission or intended to serve in the Royal Navy from 18 ...
: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889''. London: Chatham Publishing. {{ISBN, 978-1-86176-032-6.
History of the Royal Navy
Crimean War