Select Naval Documents

Naval source material from the Tudors to Napoleon which will fascinate historians of tactics and technology.

Harold Winter Hodges (Edited by), Edward Arthur Hughes (Edited by)

9781108003766, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 July 2009

256 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.5 cm, 0.33 kg

This illustrated book, first published in 1936, is an edited compilation of source material drawn from some 145 diverse naval documents covering a period of more than three centuries from 1497 to 1805. The editors' intention was to smooth the approach to a highly technical subject, and to use original documents to give concrete illustrations of the limiting conditions of sea warfare, thus removing some common misconceptions such as that the big Spanish ships of the Armada were defeated by cockleshells manned by volunteers. Subjects include the seaworthiness of ships in Elizabethan times; Drake's views on strategy; sea punishments; Kempenfelt's 1782 design for a signal book; victuals; the battle of Kentish Knock (1562); the 1803 defences against invasion; Nelson's watch off Toulon; the coppering of ships; and many other topics giving insights into the history and development of the British navy.

Part I. Henry VIII
Part II. Elizabeth
Part III. James I and Charles I
Part IV. The Commonwealth and Protectorate
Part V. The Restoration Navy
Part VI. William III and Anne
Part VII. The Peace Period and Need For Reform
Part VIII. War of American Independence 1778–1783
Part IX. Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Subject Areas: Military history [HBW]