Archive Results For: English Civil War
A Restoration Yacht’s Design Secrets Unveiled: An examination of a ship model with reference to the works of William Sutherland
The design methods for many vessels during the Restoration period (1660–88) are only partially understood. Charles II’s 23 yachts represent the pinnacle of design and construction for small, fast vessels of this era but there are no extant design treatises or draughts relating to any of them. The only primary archaeological data comes from contemporary […] Read More
Filed under: English Civil War
Subjects include: Historic Vessels, Museums & Restoration | Ship Models & Figureheads
Book Review-‘The British Civil Wars at Sea 1638–1653’by R. J. Blakemore and E. Murphy
This book examines Parliamentarian and Royalist use of their respective naval forces, during the English Civil Wars. Blakemore and Murphy explore the shifting allegiances, parliament’s overhaul of the navy’s organization, the naval support to their respective armies, and the role of privateers within the overall military story of the Civil Wars. The authors add to […] Read More
Filed under: English Civil War
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics
Book Review – ‘Ireland and the War at Sea 1641–1653’ by Elaine Murphy
As Elaine Murphy notes in this study, naval affairs are a relatively neglected topic in early modern Irish historiography. In part this may be due to the scattered, fragmentary nature of the surviving evidence, but it is also the product of a well-established tradition of naval history that concentrates on grand strategy, battles and fleets […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | English Civil War | Early Modern | Irish Sea
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Miscellaneous | Strategy & Diplomacy
Bristol Shipping and Royalist Naval Power during the English Civil War
Considers Royalist imports of arms in early 1640s and difficulty of supplying the south; sympathy for Royalist cause among Bristol merchants and seafarers; significant additions to Royalist fleet on capture of Bristol; operations carried out by ships of this fleet. Discusses differences in construction and armament between merchant vessels and warships; good seaworthiness of small […] Read More
Filed under: English Civil War | Irish Sea
Subjects include: Merchant Marines | Navies
Parliamentary Naval Politics 1641-49
The radicals marked their triumph in the Navy by reviving the mixed Navy Commission of 1642, showing very clearly that it was a device to ensure close parliamentary control over the Navy. Yet for a second time its effective authority lasted no more than a year, before renewed allegations of corruption against the merchants provoked […] Read More
Filed under: English Civil War | Mutiny & Discipline | Irish Sea | Other (Early Modern)
Subjects include: Administration | Harbours & Dockyards | Merchant Marines | Navies | Strategy & Diplomacy
Prelude to Power: the Crisis of 1649 and the Foundation of English Naval Power
Examines the transformation of England’s naval administrative and fiscal system from 1649 to 1651 and the impact of this transformation on the operational success of the navy during the English Commonwealth’s greatest crisis when Prince Rupert attempted to use Ireland as a springboard for the reconquest of England. Because the English state made the fiscal, […] Read More
Filed under: English Civil War
Subjects include: Administration
‘A Business of Much Difficulty’: a London Slaving Venture 1651-1654
The English slave trade from the coast of West Africa developed slowly in the first half of the seventeenth century. The trade was formally a monopoly of the Guinea Company, but private consortia of merchants also participated. As these traders were operating in violation of the monopoly, very little is known about the scale of […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | English Civil War
Subjects include: Merchant Marines
Seizing the Fleet in 1642: Parliament, The Navy and The Printing Press
From the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642 until his execution in1649 Charles 1 lost control of his navy and saw it ranged against him. At no time during the war could Charles count upon a strategic or tactical naval presence, which resulted in the Royalist war effort being severely constrained. Parliament controlled London […] Read More
Filed under: English Civil War | Other (location)
Subjects include: Navies
Warships’ Names of the English Republic, 1649-1659
The article describes the decade after the execution of Charles 1, and the improvements made to the administration and ability of the Navy. The political significance of the Navy is illustrated through the choice of names given to new ships, and the names chosen to replace some of the existing names that had links to […] Read More
Filed under: English Civil War | Dutch Wars | Other (location)
Subjects include: Administration | Shipbuilding & Design | Strategy & Diplomacy
Irish Privateers during the Civil War, 1642-50
One of Spain’s treasure shipments was intercepted by an Irish privateer, one of many off the waters of Britain. Letters of marque issued by the Spanish authority in Flanders allowed privateers to hinder at sea all enemies to the ‘Catholic cause’. The article details the use made of Ireland as a base for privateering, with […] Read More
Filed under: English Civil War | Irish Sea | Other (location)
Subjects include: Pirates, Corsairs & Privateers