Archive Results For: Tudors
William Towerson’s Rutter for the Margate – Emden Navigation, 1564
The author sheds some light on the little known life of 16th century merchant mariner William Towerson and his important role in England’s commercial expansion. Towerson’s Rutter for the Margate to Emden sea route provides navigational information at a critical time of England’s cloth trade. The usual route for English woollen merchants was from London […] Read More
Filed under: Tudors | North Sea
Subjects include: Harbours & Dockyards | Merchant Marines | Ship Handling & Seamanship
English Operations around Brest, 1594
Although the war between England and Spain from 1585 to 1603 was the widest conflict to date, the limited resources of the English meant that they were unable to hold New World ports for long or to ensure a strong enough presence at sea to intercept Spanish treasure ships by the blocking of their sea […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Tudors | Francis Drake | English Channel
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Logistics | Manpower & Life at Sea | Navies | Strategy & Diplomacy
Royal Ships and Their Flags in the Late Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries
Flags and heraldic symbols helped distinguish ships when literacy was uncommon. Royal inventories give details of the materials used in this period. Contemporary illustrations and descriptions indicate the designs used and accounts for some years give more details of the costs and work involved in their manufacture. Read More
Filed under: Tudors | Other (location)
Subjects include: Miscellaneous
Cavendish’s Last Voyage Part I: the Charges Against Davis
Thomas Cavendish’s round the world voyage of 1586-88 richly rewarded everyone who was involved. The fleet in Cavendish’s 1591-93 expedition consisted of five vessels, including the Desire part owned and captained by John Davis. Davis in his dedication of the Seaman’s Secrets to Lord Howard of Heffingham, denies with a good deal of conviction the […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Tudors | Health at Sea | Pacific | Other (location)
Subjects include: Manpower & Life at Sea | Science & Exploration | Ship Handling & Seamanship
Some Early Tidal Diagrams
The earliest surviving tidal diagram is in the Catalan World Atlas, dating from 1375 and was circular in form. The Hague Atlas of c1541-1547 contained a tidal calculator which enabled tides to be calculated for as many as 81 different locations. The pocket-sized Brouscon Almanac of 1546 used chartlets rather than lists or circular diagrams. […] Read More
Filed under: Tudors | Other (location)
Subjects include: Miscellaneous | Science & Exploration
Sea Surgeons, Health and England’s Maritime Expansion: the West African Trade 1553 – 1660
Alsop’s short study concentrates on the seriously life-threatening commerce with equatorial West Africa. Ships surgeons in the Royal Navy feature regularly in the historiography but those in the merchant marine rarely appear. With the expansion of long distance trade during the Tudor and early Stuart era the problems of mortality, ill health and incapacitation of […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Tudors | Health at Sea
Subjects include: Manpower & Life at Sea | Merchant Marines
Note: The Armada Fight 400 Years On
An account of the centenary celebrations in 1888 leads on to the corrections now made to the contemporary myths and legends. Read More
Filed under: Tudors | English Channel | The Armada
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Strategy & Diplomacy
Rochester and the Irish Levy of October 1601
Rochester had not been previously used for shipping levies to Ireland, but in October 1601 the presence of the royal navy’s ships under Admiral Sir Richard Leveson at Chatham and Rochester enabled troops to be embarked without delay. Of the four major ports involved in the largest embarkation exercise of the war Rochester took the […] Read More
Filed under: Tudors | English Channel
Subjects include: Harbours & Dockyards | Navies
The Sinews of War: Manning and Provisioning English Fighting Ships c.1550-1650
This article surveys the methods of recruitment of complements for both royal and private fighting ships and their provisioning. It demonstrates how inadequacies and problems reflected the administrative and political fragility of the early modern state. While, on the one hand, wars drained resources and threatened regimes, they also stimulated the growth and development of […] Read More
Filed under: Tudors | Francis Drake | Dutch Wars | The Armada | Mutiny & Discipline | Health at Sea | Press Gangs
Subjects include: Administration | Manpower & Life at Sea | Navies | Pirates, Corsairs & Privateers
The Royal Navy and Canadian Dominion
A survey covering four centuries of the Royal Navy’s role in the founding of Canada and the dominion’s vital place in British strategy after the loss of America. James Cook mapped Newfoundland, Edward Owen and Henry Bayfield surveyed the Great Lakes, and John Franklin Parry charted the vast western coast. Through the 19th century Canada […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Tudors | War of 1812 | James Cook | American Revolution | Pacific
Subjects include: Science & Exploration | Strategy & Diplomacy