The Tudor navy was the navy of the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the late 9th century, when it was unified from various Heptarchy, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland to f ...

under the ruling

Tudor dynasty The House of Tudor ( ) was an English and Welsh dynasty that held the throne of England from 1485 to 1603. They descended from the Tudors of Penmynydd, a Welsh noble family, and Catherine of Valois. The Tudor monarchs ruled the Kingdom of Eng ...

(1485–1603). The period involved important and critical changes that led to the establishment of a permanent navy and laid the foundations for the future

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

History

Henry VII

Henry VII fostered sea power. He supported the old 1381 act that stated "that, to increase the navy of England, no goods or merchandises shall be either exported or imported, but only in ships belonging to the King's subjects." Although there is no evidence of a conscious change of policy, Henry soon embarked on a program of building merchant ships larger than previously. He also invested in dockyards and commissioned Sir Reginald Bray to construct a

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

in 1495 at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

(the oldest surviving example), with ''

Sweepstake In the United States, a sweepstake is a type of contest where a prize or prizes may be awarded to a winner or winners. Sweepstakes began as a form of lottery that were tied to products sold. In response, the FCC and FTC refined U.S. broadcast ...

'' and '' Mary Fortune'' being the first ships built there in 1497. With the crown he acquired ''Grace à Dieu'', ''Governor'', ''Martin Garcia'', ''Mary of the Tower'', ''Trinity'', ''Falcon'', and possibly ''Bonaventure''. He purchased ''Caravel of Ewe'' (''Caravel of Eu'', in Normandy), and perhaps also a small craft called ''King's Bark''; he captured ''Le Prise'' in 1490 and re-named it ''Margaret''. In 1487 under the superintendences of Sir Richard Guldeford and Bray, he built the 225-gun four-masted ''Regent''. He ordered construction of the 141-gun four-masted ''Sovereign'', built partly out of the re-shaped clinker timbers of ''Grace Dieu''. This ship originally was privately-constructed around 1449, and is not be confused with the 1416 '' Grace Dieu'' of Henry V now believed to be lying in the

River Hamble The River Hamble in south Hampshire, England, source (river), rises near Bishop's Waltham and flows for through Botley, Hampshire, Botley, Bursledon, and Lower Swanwick before entering Southampton Water between Hamble Common and Warsash. The ...

Henry VIII

Biographer Jack Scarisbrick says that

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

(reigned 1509–1547) deserved his traditional title of "Father of the English navy". He inherited seven small warships from his father and added two dozen more by 1514. In addition to those built in England, he bought up Italian and Hanseatic warships. Henry's fleet was the most powerful naval force to date in English history: 24 ships led by the 1600-ton " Henry Imperial"; the fleet carried 5000 combat marines and 3000 sailors. It forced the outnumbered French fleet back to its ports, took control of the English Channel, and blockaded Brest. Henry was the first king to organize the navy as a permanent force, with a permanent administrative and logistical structure, funded by tax revenue and supervised by the new Navy Board. His personal attention was concentrated on land, where he founded the royal dockyards, planted trees for shipbuilding, enacted laws for inland navigation, guarded the coastline with fortifications, set up a school for navigation and designated the roles of officers and sailors. He closely supervised the construction of all his warships and their guns, knowing their designs, speed, tonnage, armaments, and battle tactics. He encouraged his naval architects, who perfected the Italian technique of mounting guns in the waist of the ship, thus lowering the center of gravity and making it a better platform. He supervised the smallest details and enjoyed nothing more than presiding over the launching of a new ship. He drained his treasury on military and naval affairs, diverting the revenues from new taxes and the sales of monastery lands as well as taking out foreign loans and debasing the English currency. In 1512 Sir Edward Howard took over as Lord Admiral, and attacked on 10 August at Pointe Saint-Mathieu, with inconclusive results despite a memorable slugging match between the English ''

Regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

'' 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 A carrack (; ; ) is a three- or four- masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal and Spain. Evolving from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for Europea ...

'' Henry Grace à Dieu'' was launched, the first English two-decker and one of the earliest warships equipped with gunports and heavy bronze

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

s. Henry also commissioned the Anthony Roll (now in the Pepys Library), a survey of his navy as it was around 1546, from which comes much of the pictorial evidence for his ships. Henry VIII was threatened by the Pope's excommunication proceedings in 1538 and the peace between France and the Holy Roman Empire, which would allow them to unite against a heretical England. The projected force of the navy, which had been reinforced by 40 men-at-war at this point in his reign, would be needed to protect England from invasion until the threat of invasion passed in 1541 when France and the Holy Roman Empire renewed hostilities. Henry VIII initiated the casting of cannons in England. By the late Elizabethan age (see the Aldernay wreck survey) English iron workers using

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being supplied above atmospheric pressure. In a ...

s 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 Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces i ...

appears in 1538. By 1540 the navy consisted of 45 ships, a fleet of 20 ships was sent to Scotland in 1544 to land troops to burn Edinburgh, and in 1545 Lord Lisle had a force of 80 ships fighting a French force of 130 attempting to invade England in conjunction with the

Battle of the Solent The naval Battle of the Solent took place on 18 and 19 July 1545 during the Italian Wars, between the fleets of Francis I of France and Henry VIII of England, in the Solent, between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. This was one of only two ful ...

(where the ''

Mary Rose The ''Mary Rose'' was a carrack in the English Tudor navy of Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII. She was launched in 1511 and served for 34 years in several wars against France, Scotland, and Brittany. After being substantially rebuilt in ...

'' sank). In the same year a memorandum established a "king's majesty's council of his marine", the first formal organization comprising seven officers, each in charge of a specific area, presided over by "

Lieutenant of the Admiralty The Lieutenant of the Admiralty is a now honorary office generally held by a senior retired Royal Navy admiral. He is the official deputy to the Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom. He is appointed by the Sovereign on the nomination of the First ...

" or Vice-Admiral Thomas Clere. When war was not at hand the Navy was mostly occupied with chasing pirates. Historian G.R. Elton argues that Henry indeed built up the organisation and infrastructure of the Navy, but it was not a useful weapon for his style of warfare. It lacked a useful strategy. It did serve as a defence against invasion, and for enhancing England's international prestige.

Edward and Mary

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

and

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...

added little new to their father's navy. Although the navy was involved in the maneuverings following the death of Henry VIII, it was ineffective. Mary maintained the building program, the navy performed satisfactorily if not outstandingly (it did not prevent the loss of

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

) in the war with France of 1557 to 1559. However, the marriage of Mary I and Philip II led to trade with Spain, allowing English shipwrights to examine and adapt modern Spanish galleon design to the needs of the English Navy as English ports were soon visited by both Spanish warships and merchantmen. Philip was undoubtedly interested in the English navy as the chief defence of the realm of England and its potential to be deployed in the support of his father. This would later prove crucial to the growth and development of the race-built galleon and the Elizabethan Navy that would obtain some triumphs against the Spanish Armada during the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

between Protestant England and Catholic Spain.

Elizabeth I

While Henry VIII had launched the Royal Navy, his successors King Edward VI and Queen Mary I had ignored it and it was little more than a system of coastal defence. Elizabeth made naval strength a high priority. She risked war with Spain by supporting the " Sea Dogs," such as John Hawkins and

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

, who preyed on the Spanish merchant ships carrying gold and silver from the New World. A fleet review on

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

's accession in 1559 showed the navy to consist of 39 ships, and there were plans to build another 30, to be grouped into five categories (a foreshadowing of the rating system). Elizabeth kept the navy at a constant expenditure for the next 20 years, and maintained a steady construction rate. In 1578, gates were installed at

Deptford Dockyard Deptford Dockyard was an important Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard and base at Deptford on the River Thames, operated by the Royal Navy from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. It built and maintained warships for 350 years, and man ...

, marking the construction of the first true dry dock; previously, dry docks had been walled in with temporary earth dockheads, which had to be dug away to launch ships. By the 1580s, tensions with Spain had reached the breaking point, exacerbated by Elizabeth's support for the

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

ing expeditions of Hawkins,

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

, and others, and capped by the Cadiz raid of 1587, in which Drake destroyed dozens of Spanish ships. In 1588,

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

launched the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

against England, but after a running battle lasting over a week, the Armada was scattered and returned home. These famous battles were early actions in the long and costly Anglo-Spanish War of 1585–1604.

Characteristics

The Tudor Navy saw the introduction of some of the first permanent, standing navies. Before this, during times of war, merchant ships were often commandeered and refitted into warships. This saw the addition of temporary wooden castles placed at the bow and stern to provide firing platforms for the ship's crew. Other strategies included having chartered squadrons, warships owned by private entrepreneurs who chartered their squadrons to the crown, or feudal navies, where a vassal, by part of their feudal contract, would raise and maintain a navy for their liege lord. Naval warfare during this time was largely auxiliary to the operations of armies on land, transporting troops to the theater of war, or conducted as piracy. Before the widespread use of naval guns, warships had tried to grapple with each other so that soldiers could board the enemy ship, now they stood off and fired broadsides that would sink the enemy vessel. Weapons used by the crew included daggers, such as ballock knives, swords used by officers, pikes, bills, and a combination of archery and early handguns. The growing use of gunpowder saw the transition from navies being decentralized, localized, or ad hoc formations during wartime into a near-permanent fixture of maritime states. Aside from the tangible military benefits that larger, newly cannon-equipped warships provided, they also were personifications of royal power and prestige. Henry V had powerful showpieces, the “great ships,” such as the 1,400-ton ''Gracedieu'', Henry VIII's 800-ton ''

'', or James IV's 1,000-ton ''Michael''. These ships were better expressions of royal power than effective weapons of war, however, using these ships for political effect has been episodic and inconsistent.

Technological advancements

In the 1200s and 1300s, most naval guns were relatively small swivel pieces or breech-loading deck guns located at the ship's fore and aft. By the 1500s, developments saw the introduction of breechloaders and then muzzle-loaders. Henry VII saw the expanded employment of naval guns on ships during his reign. Henry VIII introduced gunports into the design of English warships; this saw naval guns being moved from the traditional high castles upon the deck to the lower waist of the ship, providing more stability and allowed for full broadsides. The Navy yards were leaders in technical innovation, and the captains devised new tactics. Parker (1996) argues that the

full-rigged ship A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing ship, sailing vessel with a sail plan of three or more mast (sailing), masts, all of them square rig, square-rigged. Such a vessel is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged, with each mas ...

was one of the greatest technological advances of the century and permanently transformed naval warfare. In 1573 English shipwrights introduced designs, first demonstrated in the ''

Dreadnought The dreadnought was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an effect when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", ...

'', that allowed the ships to sail faster and maneuver better and permitted heavier guns. When Spain finally decided to invade and conquer England it was a fiasco; Hawkins and Drake's designs of English warships made them longer, faster, more maneuverable, and more heavily gunned than its Spanish counterpart. Superior English ships and seamanship foiled the invasion and led to the destruction of the

in 1588, marking the high point of Elizabeth's reign. Technically, the Armada failed because Spain's over-complex strategy required coordination between the invasion fleet and the Spanish army on shore. But the poor design of the Spanish cannons meant they were much slower in reloading in a close-range battle, allowing the English to take control. Spain and France still had stronger fleets, but England was catching up.

Structure of the Tudor Navy

Key officials from 1485 to 1546

''Officers from 1485 to 1546'' included:
: Admiral of England, Ireland and Aquitaine * John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, 1485–1512 * Sir Edward Howard, 1512–1513 *

Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, (10 March 1473 – 25 August 1554) was an English politician and nobleman of the Tudor era. He was an uncle of two of the wives of King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both of whom were beh ...

, 1513–1525 *

Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset (c. 15 June 1519 – 23 July 1536) was the son of Henry VIII of England and his mistress Elizabeth Blount, and the only child born out of wedlock whom Henry acknowledged. He was the younger ...

, 1525–1536 * William Fitzwilliam, 1st Earl of Southampton, 1536–1540 * John Russell, 1st Lord Russell, 1540–1542 * John Dudley, 1st Viscount Lisle, 1542–1546 : Clerk of Marine Causes * Thomas Rogers, 12 December 1480 d.1488 * William Commersall, 1488-18 May 1495 * Robert Brygandine, 19 May 1495 – 1523 * Thomas Jermyn, and William Gonson, 1523–1533, (jointly) * Leonard Thoreton 1533–1538 * Vice-Admiral

Sir Thomas Spert Vice-Admiral of England Sir Thomas Spert (spelled in some records as Pert) (died December 1541) was a mariner who reached the rank of vice admiral in service to King Henry VIII of England. He was sailing master of the flagships ''Mary Rose'' an ...

, 1538–1543 * Edmund Wynter, 1544–1545 * John Wynter 1545 – d. 1546 : Clerk Comptroller of the Navy * John Hopton, 1512–1524 * Vice-Admiral, Sir Thomas Spert, 1524–1540 * John Osborne, 1540–1545 * William Broke, 1545–1561 :Keeper of the Storehouses * Vice-Admiral, Sir William Gonson, 1524–1545 * Richard Howlett, 1545–1546

Key officials from 1546 to 1603

:''Officers from 1546 to 1603'' :Lord High Admirals of England * Thomas Seymour, 1st Lord Seymour of Sudeley, 1546–1549 * John Dudley, 1st Earl of Warwick, 1549–1550 * Edward Clinton, 9th Lord Clinton, 1550–1554 * William Howard, 1st Lord Howard of Effingham, 1554–1558 *

Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln Edward Fiennes, or Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln KG (151216 January 1584/85) was an English landowner, peer, and Lord High Admiral. He rendered valuable service to four of the Tudor monarchs. Family Edward Clinton, or Fiennes, was born ...

, 1558–1585 * Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, 1585–1603 In 1546

establishes a

Council of the Marine The Navy Board (formerly known as the Council of the Marine or Council of the Marine Causes) was the commission responsible for the day-to-day civil administration of the Royal Navy between 1546 and 1832. The board was headquartered within the ...

to oversee the administrative affairs of the Navy initially presided over by the

reporting to the Lord High Admiral. :Lieutenants of the Admiralty * Sir Thomas Clere 1545–1552 * Sir William Woodhouse 1552–1565 ''Note:(post is vacant till 1604)'' :Treasurers of Marine Causes * Sir Robert Legge, 1546–1549 * Benjamin Gonson, 1549–1547 * Benjamin Gonson and Sir John Hawkins, 1549–1577 * Sir John Hawkins, 1577–1595 * Sir Roger Longford, 1595–1598 * Sir Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke, 1595–1603 :Surveyors and Riggers of the Navy * Benjamin Gonson 24 April 1546 * Vice-Admiral, Sir Thomas Spert, 1524–1540 * Vice Admiral Sir William Wynter 8 July 1549 (also Master of Naval Ordnance) * Sir Henry Palmer 11 July 1589. * Sir John Trevor 20 December 1598 – 1603. : Masters of Naval Ordnance * Vice-Admiral Sir William Woodhouse, 1546–1552 * Vice Admiral Sir Thomas Wyndham, 1552–1553 * Vice Admiral Sir William Wynter 1557–1589 (also Surveyor) ''Note:Office is discontinued after 1589.'' : Comptrollers of the Navy * William Broke, 1545–1561 * Vice-Admiral, William Holstocke, 1561–1580 *

William Borough William Borough (1536–1599) was an English naval officer who was Comptroller of the Navy and the younger brother of Stephen Borough. He participated in the British attack on Cádiz in 1587. He was responsible for the drawing of several early ma ...

, 1580–1598 * Sir Henry Palmer 1598–1603 : Keepers of the Storehouses * Richard Howlett, 1546–1548 * William Holstock, 1548–1560 ''Note: (office is merged with Treasurer of the Navy)'' : Surveyors of Marine Victuals * Edward Baeshe, 1550–1587 * James Quarles, 1587–1595 * Sir Marmaduke Darrell, 1595–1603 :Clerk of the Navy (also known as Clerk of the Ships) * Richard Howlett, 24 April 1546 –10 October 1560. * George Wynter, 10 October 1560 – 2 June 1567. * John Hawkins, 2 June 1567, (appointed but did not succeed). * George Wynter, 2 June 1567 – 24 March 1582. * William B. B. Gonson, 24 March 1582 – 6 July 1596. * Benjamin Gonson, 6 July 1596 – 17 April 1603.

Legacy

Important though this period was, it represents a soon-lost high point. After 1601 the efficiency of the Navy declined gradually, and corruption grew, until it was brought under control by an inquiry of 1618. The

was founded during the Tudor navy's years, under King

, who oversaw the construction of the first purpose-built English warships, and the first English warships armed with gunpowder-based

naval artillery Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for more specialized roles in surface warfare such as naval gunfire support (NGFS) and anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) engagements. ...

. The famed Tudor navy warship '' Ark Royal'' was honored with numerous later ships bearing the name.