Warships and their story

by R. A. Fletcher

SHIP OF WAR, 1486-1520.

From a Model in the Museum of the Royal United Service Institution.

On the Atlantic coasts the problem of cannon was solved in its own way. Guns were placed broadside and fired over the bulwark. But the disadvantages of this method were so obvious, especially when an enemy returned the fire, that portholes in the bulwarks were devised through which the guns could be discharged. A French shipbuilder at Brest, named Decharges, is said to have been the inventor of portholes, and also to have designed some other improvements. His portholes, however, were so small that the muzzles of the guns could only just protrude. It was impossible to give them any traverse, that is, to train or aim them.

The general adoption of artillery led to numerous modifications in the shape of the ships; they were built of greater dimensions, were more fully masted and rigged, and could show a considerable press of sail. It was also considered advisable that ships should be built especially for war purposes, the French taking the lead after the battle of La Rochelle.

If Henry V.’s warlike enterprises proved harmful to the development of English commerce, there is no denying that shipbuilding made some progress in his reign, though very little is known of the details of the construction of the vessels. From lists of the ships employed in his expeditions, it appears that his fleets included “Great Ships,” the largest of which was the Jesus of 1,000 tons, the others being the Holigost, 760 tons; Trinity Royal, 540 tons, and Christopher Spayne, 600 tons; there were also “cogs,” which were rather smaller; carracks, which were probably foreign built and were prizes of war, the construction of these vessels not having been then begun in England; ships, barges, and ballingers, the last being barges. The last three classes were no doubt impressed merchant vessels, ranging from 500 tons in the case of the ships to 80 tons in the ballingers. In regard to the “Great Ships,” it is reported[15] that Henry, observing the superiority of the Castilian and Genoese ships, caused some very large vessels, called “dromons,” to be built at Southampton, “such as were never seen in the world before,” says an old writer erroneously, “three of which had the names of the Trinity, Grace de Dieu, and Holy Ghost.” Although called dromons it does not follow that they were similar to the dromons in earlier or contemporary use in the eastern Mediterranean. The name was given to the latter because of their size and speed, and it is very likely that Henry V.’s vessels were so named for similar reasons. Long galleys, called ramberges, were also used about this time, and the English are said to have become very expert in their management.

Most of the large English armed ships of the middle of the fifteenth century were Spanish or Genoese built. A ship was then in existence carrying four guns on the broadside, fired apparently through ports in the bulwarks. She was fitted with four masts and a bowsprit, and had a high forecastle similar to that provided in Italian ships of that period, but seemingly more a part of the structure of the ship than was that of the latter. The mainsail bears the arms of the Earl of Warwick.[16]

A remarkable ship in the history of naval building was the Great Harry, sometimes confounded with the Henry Grace de Dieu. The Great Harry was commenced for Henry VII., and is regarded by many as the first ship of the British Royal Navy. No doubt the fact that Henry lived for many years in Brittany, which was then remarkable for its maritime activity, gave him a greater interest in shipping than most of his predecessors on the throne professed.

It was a proud day for England, had he but known it, when, in the year 1488, he ordered the Great Harry, for she marked the first serious attempt of an English sovereign to render the state not wholly dependent upon the merchants and the ports whenever he decided upon an expedition abroad, by providing a vessel which should be at the disposal of the state whenever required. For the first time in the history of England, for the building of a national ship, the axes swung as the trees were felled, and the blows resounded through the forests; the forges roared for the formation of the iron bolts and nails, and the hammers on the anvils rang as they beat them into shape; the tools of the carpenters hissed as they fashioned the knees and ribs and beams and planks; the looms whereon the sailcloth was woven hummed in the industrial chorus; for this was the first ship of England a nation, the first sign that Britannia was really awaking at last to the fulfilment of her maritime destiny. He did not live to see this vessel completed, and she was finished in Henry VIII.’s reign. Henry VII. also ordered the Regent and the Sovereign. The Great Harry is said to have been the first two-decked vessel built in England, and the only ship with three masts in the whole squadron. She was accidentally burnt at Woolwich in 1553.[17]

The Regent was about 1,000 tons, and carried two hundred and twenty-five small guns, called serpentines. She had four masts and a bowsprit, and was launched at Rotherhithe. She was not of English design, but, like a few before her and many since, was modelled after a French vessel. The Sovereign, a somewhat smaller ship, carried one hundred and forty-one serpentines. The year 1512 saw the end of the Regent. She was the flagship of the English in a notable battle, and was opposed by the great French ship, Marie de la Cordeliere, which was provided at the expense of Anne of Brittany, then Queen of France. This ship is stated to have carried one thousand two hundred fighting men, exclusive of mariners; at this time there were nine hundred on board, according to Derrick, who probably bases his statement on the report that she foundered with all hands numbering nine hundred.