NAVY NEWS, FEBRUARY 2010 45
Dutch ambition and English spin
BETWEEN Friday June 1 and context of the Second Dutch masterly book more highly. But it is more than just a book a model of its kind – I am much
Monday June 4 1666 the fleets
The Grove
War with detailed chapters not Readers will learn a great deal on a single battle – it is probably better acquainted with the precise
of England and the Dutch
only on ships, people and naval from it because of its combination the best single study of the Second locations of the Swin, Kentish
United Provinces fought a
Review
organisation on both sides but the of detail, analytical rigour and Dutch War. Knock and the Gunfleet than I
major engagement in three
events that preceded and came accessibility. There are copious appendices was before!
after the central engagement.
locations in the middle of the
It answers, as far as can be and endnotes as well as good Frank L Fox’s The Four Days’
done on available evidence, all the and informative illustrations and Battle; The Greatest Sea Fight
southern North Sea to the east
Although the English
Rob Gardner and Seaforth are
government ‘spun’ a victory story
to be congratulated for reissuing
previously open questions about wonderful maps. in the Age of Sail (ISBN 978-
of the Thames Estuary.
the Dutch commanded the North
this material in this new and
this major engagement, not least on That of the Thames Estuary 1-84832044-4) is published
The result was a Dutch victory,
Sea and were able to bring in their
revised form as a ‘proper’ book
the vexed question of the reasons and Southern North Sea which by Seaforth of Barnsley and is
in large part because the English
vital trade.
which allows the text to appear
behind the division of the fleet. is on the inside of the covers is excellent value at £30.00.
fleet had been divided at the start
Attempts, however, to inflict a
as the magnificent piece of naval
of the action, Prince Rupert,
coup de grâce on the English failed
historiography that it is.
its co–‘General’, having been
and, back up to strength after feats
At over 400 pages of relatively
diverted to deal with the
both of repair and impressment,
small print the volume appears Firm foundation for the
fleet of France’s Louis uis
did radid ther better in the
rather formidable, but do not be
XIV aligned, ratherher
St JS ames’s Day fight
misled. The author has a most
uncharacteristicallyy,
on July 25.o
engaging style and the book is a
on the Dutch side and d
With equal numbers
joy to read.
Empire of the Seas
threatening an invasion n
the more heath vily-armed
My wife remarked that she does
of Ireland.
English ships prevE ailed,
not often hear me chuckling over a
WE are so used to seeing the UK the interesting comparison that to on the Navy Board were up to
George Monk,
although not decisivalt ely.
review book but on this occasion it
in the centre of the world map that the Spanish the English were like their necks in it as well.
Duke of Albermarle,
The Dutch wT ere,
was hard not to share the author’s
it came as a bit of a shock to have Vikings – northern and ruthless, “My business is all my delight,”
who had restored
hohowever, demoralised
enthusiasm for the subject or share
historian Dan Snow’s description with no respect for religion. said Pepys, who lived an unusually
Charles II to
and aand ttacked at home,
the dry humour of some passages.
of 16th century England as “a When Spain had had enough of fun-filled and licentious life for a
his throne, was
ovveer 150 merchantmenr
I especially liked his character
poor, insignificant country on the this cheek, she sent the Armada, workaholic (and a civil servant).
tempted to take on
being bbeing urnt in ‘Holmes’s
sketches of the commanders
fringes of Europe.” a weight of ships so huge that His reform of the Royal Navy
the Dutch with a
Bonfire’Bonfir in the Vlie roads.
(Albermarle, it seemed to me, had
Henry VIII might have had the ocean seemed to groan laid the foundations for centuries to
numerically inferior
Then the English treasurThe y
many of the characteristics of John
something to say about that, but underneath them, according to come and introduced the principle
force, and was forced toed to
ran out of moneyran ou , a factor
Prescott) and his description of
neither Henry nor his Navy – even a contemporary eyewitness, and of meritocracy, bringing in the first
retreat.
compounded by the Great Fire
the wonderful underhanded deal
the Mary Rose – received a mention there followed one of the few
He re-engaged the following
exams for public sector jobs.
of London.
with the King of Denmark that
in the first part of Empire of the great naval victories that nearly
day but again had to make
And so the first of four
With both sides in no condition
led to the fiasco at Bergen when
Seas, the BBC’s new four-part everyone can still name.
another retreat which went on
programmes ended with England
to continue, peace was negotiated
the attempt was made to capitalise
series which seeks to reconnect us Some 400 years later, the
through Sunday over the Galloper
in 1667 with England’s possession
on the initial victory at Lowestoft
firmly in the centre of the world
with our naval history. Armada stands as one of the
sandbank, which caused ships to
of Dutch North America
and capture the Dutch East India
map, her trade routes extending
Dan Snow traced the rise of turning points of English history
go aground, notably the mighty
confirmed; but the Dutch held on
convoy.
like a spider’s web over most of the
the navy to the 1560s, 20 years (it was of course an English
92-gun Royal Prince, flagship
to their assets in West Africa and
There are fascinating little
globe, and the foundations laid in
before the Armada. The thrust victory in 1588 – the history of
of the White Squadron that was
the East Indies.
points too that reflect the author’s
her colonies for her future Empire.
of his argument was that the the Scottish navy could run to a
captured along with its Admiral,
The war, begun with high hopes
command of the period.
Navy News went to print
16th century buccaneers, notably series on its own.)
Sir George Ayscue, the most
of inflicting a major and profitable
I was interested to see that the
before the second of the four
Drake and Hawkins, put England Snow disputed the familiar
senior RN officer ever to be so
defeat on England’s Dutch rival
contemporary pronunciation of
programmes, but on the strength
in her familiar place at the centre theories that the English victory
taken in action.
had ended in a fiasco, made even
Albemarle was ‘Aumarle’.
of the first instalment the series
of the world. was due to the weather, (the wind
Prince Rupert’s group now
worse by the Dutch strengthening
Lt (later Admiral) John
will be well worth following.
Most naval activity before favoured at times each side) or to
appeared and on the fourth day
their negotiating position by their
Narborough, who took over
Dan Snow, a keen sailor who has
then had been defensive, but the English grit (the Spanish fought
there was the hardest fighting yet.
attack on the unmanned English
Victory from the fatally-wounded
researched naval history for much
merchant adventurers of Queen equally bravely).
At the end of it the English
fleet in the Medway that destroyed
commanding officer, the popular
of his life, presented the story in
Elizabeth’s period sailed the globe
were driven back into the Thames,
According to Snow, the crucial
or captured four of the five most
Vice Admiral Sir Christopher
a clean-cut, no-frills, Alpha-male
for no other reason but riches.
Monk’s discomfiture increased by
factor was the English small,
powerful ships in the fleet.
Myngs, and who then made his
style, without gimmicks, and with
There was fabulous wealth to be
a painful and embarrassing ‘thigh’
manoeuvrable ships – the Tudors
It is all a rather sad and cloudy
name by handling the ship with
plenty of technical details.
had across the seas, and acquiring
wound following a hit that tore
recognised the value of ‘versatile
story from the Royal Navy’s point
much distinction in difficult
He eschewed the irritating
it was far more of a motivation
‘part of his breeches away.’
forces’ – and impressive feats of
of view and has not therefore
circumstances, would have
present-tense presentation of
for the Elizabethan seafarers, and
The exchange ratio told the
organisation; the Elizabethans
received the attention it deserves.
answered to ‘Norbrook’.
history which seems to prevail on
their worldly, pragmatic monarch, painstakingly listed every single
story.
In 1980 Frank Fox established
The author contrasts the
television and radio – “It’s now
than glory, principle or even seaman in every county in England,
The Dutch had lost only four
his position as a leading authority
comparatively lax discipline on
1529 and Henry is pondering the
diplomatic leverage. all ready to be conscripted.
ships, all to burning, which meant
on both the ships and maritime
board warships of this period with
future of his marriage,’ which was
So much for what we now call After the Armada had ‘vanish’d
they lost more men killed than the
art of the later Stuart period with
what came afterwards and one
all to the good.
“Force for Good.” (Cynics might into smoak’, as the contemporary
English.
his Great Ships.
senses in the author’s approving
All in all a very watchable start
argue ‘twas ever thus, but surely historian put it, and the glamorous
Total Dutch casualties were
After 16 years more work this
tone a slightly old-fashioned
to a very welcome series.
Christian principles drove the buccaneering days of Drake and
however about 2,850; English
meticulous author produced a attitude to the traditionally over-
Empire of the Seas: How the
Navy’s crusade against the slave
Hawkins were over, the Stuarts
casualties totalled 4,250, over
handsome volume called A Distant emphasised rigours of life in the
Navy forged the modern world,
trade in the early 1800s – let’s hope
made peace with Spain and the
20 per cent of those engaged,
Storm, a heavily-illustrated limited warships of a century or so later.
BBC2 Fridays, 9pm.
Snow gives that due coverage.)
navy no longer patrolled the coast.
including 1,800 prisoners.
edition. It crossed my mind, however, Only the Spanish stood in the
There was a message about
In addition to the Royal Prince
Fox’s text, however, was much that this apparent modernity had way of global reach and wealth
the need for vigilance here, as
that was burnt by the Dutch
more than a mere ‘coffee table’ a down side as well. and after Drake and his cousin, consequently the ‘Barbary pirates’,
(the ship’s charred remains are
account to provide backing for The positive side of discipline, Hawkins, were double-crossed Berbers from North Africa, were
still visible) the English lost ten
pictures – it was a detailed account fighting efficiency and staying by the Spanish (they were on able to seize a staggering fifth of
ships, including six prizes taken
of the battle and its background. power was clearly at times at an early slave-trading mission, as Devon and Cornwall’s shipping
back to the Netherlands, among
Given the paucity of the something of a discount in the still Snow was keen to point out) they and crews in the 1620s. Fleets went
them another flagship, the 66-gun literature he also put the Four very immature Caroline Navy. were on a personal war footing
missing and communities became
Swiftsure. Days’ Battle into the wider I cannot recommend this with Spain. Indeed, Snow made
ghost villages after inhabitants were
seized from their beds in the night.
What if we had fought on the beaches?
It is an episode that is all the
more shocking for being so little-
known. Curiously, the white slave
trade doesn’t seem to get taught in
schools with the same enthusiasm
THERE is no greater ‘what if’ in in the 1800s, a militia,a, in in boats – wts ould have been as the English language survives.” as the better-known one.
Britain’s 20th century history than 1940 the Home Guard.. committed (thec Of course, the British people By the time of the Restoration –
what was – or rather what was And on both occasions,ns, bbattleships were were never tested.
and it was Charles II who gave it
not – played out over the summer a huge constructionon too unwieldyt , too Long before Nelson dealt
the title Royal Navy – the Navy was
of 1940. programme was much of a target for m a mortal blow to the French at
swallowing a fifth of the country’s
‘What if’ the Battle of Britain undertaken to safeguard d the th Luftwaffe, to have Trafalgar, Napoleon had marched
wealth, much of it squandered and
had been lost? ‘What if’ Hitler had our sceptred isle. bbeen used except inee his newly-titled Grande Armée
unaccounted for.
invaded? It’s a debate historians The relics of the extremis).extr east to defeat the Austrians and
And here entered Samuel Pepys,
continue to argue over to this day. early 19th century – The toll of men and T Russians at Austerlitz.
surely one of the most colourful
Rather less attention is paid to the Royal Military ships wships ould have been Hitler too turned east; even
civil servants of all time, who set
HP BOOKFINDERS: Established
the last time Britain faced – and Canal in Kent and grave – as evidenced by e before the aerial campaign against
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The prolific Brian Lavery looks obvious than those The author draThe ws upon It remains a matter of conjecture
Pepys was keen to tell the Navy
required. Contact: Mosslaird,
at both in We Shall Fight on from the 1940s. copious published andcopious whether Sealion was ever anything
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– until he found that those rogues
His focus is not the invasion the real battle for Britain in 1940 and 20th century threats in this But ‘what if’?
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plans – Napoleon’s unnamed would have been waged inland: a excellent, thought-provoking Lavery dismisses any prospect
project/Hitler’s Operation Sealion – series of ‘stop lines’ were carved account. of success for Napoleon’s plan: it
but Britain’s plans to defeat them. through the landscape of southern Perhaps the greatest bond relied on good weather, beating
There’s a myriad similarities England, comprising pillboxes and between 1803-05 and 1940 is the the blockade and defeating the RN
between the threats Britain faced bunkers, anti-tank ditches, road moral component. in battle – all, at best, unlikely
in 1803-05 and 1940: a jumped- and bridge demolitions, barbed Napoleon may have dismissed prerequisites.
up dictator dominating Europe; a wire entanglements. Most are still Britain as a “nation of shopkeepers”, As for Sealion, staff officers and
mighty continental army facing a there, only overgrown. but French military commanders veterans of 1940 played it out in
very weak force defending Britain; And what of the Royal Navy? In were rather more sceptical. a war game at Sandhurst in the
the Royal Navy as the pre-eminent 1803-05 and 1940 it possessed a Gen Charles Dumouriez early 70s.
naval power; the ports of the Pas moral and quantitative superiority expected the British to rise “up in The Germans succeeded in
de Calais and Low Countries over its foe, but how it grappled arms” and to fight “for all it held putting elements of ten divisions
filling with barges to carry troops; with the invasion threat was most dear and most sacred”. ashore. The RN and RAF struck
the revolutionary use of airborne markedly different. It was no different in 1940. At back.
troops to cause unrest (balloons His Majesty’s ships successfully the height of the Blitz, the great US The Kriegsmarine was all but
for Napoleon, paratroopers for blockaded the French fleet in its radio commentator Ed Murrow wiped out, most of the invasion
Hitler). ports in the 19th century. With the observed: “If the people who rule barges were sunk and after just
The ties between the two threat of air power 140 years later, Britain are made of the same stuff two days, the German troops were
unrealised invasions do not stop that wasn’t an option. as the little people I have seen effectively cut off.
there. Instead, the core of the Home today, then the defence of Britain 75,000 were killed or captured
A levee en masse was intended Fleet – cruisers and destroyers, will be something which men speak and the myth of German
to bolster the relatively weak army: plus waves of motor torpedo of with awe and admiration as long invincibility was shattered.
045_NN_feb.indd 1 22/1/10 14:21:55
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