“Capital Ship”

Abstract

This paper considers the evolution of the term ‘capital ship’ from the First Dutch War of 1652, when English ships were first divided into different ‘rates’, to when the usage became common during the Napoleonic Wars. Prior to the classification of ships into rates, all types of ship were defined as ‘men of war’ and a number of different terms were used to define those ships fit to take their place in line of battle, including ‘good and firm ship’; ‘stout ship’; ‘great ship’. The author quotes from many documents to illustrate the evolution of the term ‘capital ship’.

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Filed under: Other (Early Modern) | Other (Nineteenth C) | Other (Eighteenth C) | Other (location)
Subjects include: Administration | Navies