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I have a burning need to know stuff and I love asking awkward questions.

Monday, September 02, 2013


Just Finished Reading: Admirals – The Naval Commanders who Made Britain Great by Andrew Lambert (FP: 2008)

Being an island a mere 26 miles off mainland Europe it should come as no surprise that not only does Britain have a long (indeed very long) maritime history but that, over the centuries, we have fought the other great European nations at sea. To do so effectively the British not only required to produce the ships to fight in and the captains to sail them but over and above everything else they needed the admirals to organise the fleet(s) into effective fighting units. No matter how good individual ships or captains became they would be at a huge disadvantage without efficient organisation at fleet level. The admirals outlined in this impressive volume did just that. The ten men covered here range from gifted amateur to steely professional, from commoner to royalty and covers a period of the last 400 years from Henry VIII to the end of the Second World War. Most of the names, if not the wars, were new to me. Some I recognised, Samuel Hood for example, because of ships named after them which fought in later conflicts. Others, such as John Fisher, David Beatty and Andrew Cunningham, I knew well enough from previous readings of WW1 and WW2 accounts. Of course what did surprise me was a particular absence – Lord Nelson. Thinking about it though I can understand the omission. Nelson was, and still is, a towering figure in British naval history. Adding a chapter in this volume would add little to the countless books and articles written about the great man and would have probably diverted this book away from its intended trajectory.

This is not to say that Nelson is forgotten or is relegated to the function of a ghost wandering the corridors of the Admiralty in Whitehall. Nelson is in fact mentioned time and time again. The admirals who saw action before Nelson was born helped him become a great commander and leader of men. He learnt both from his predecessor’s mistakes and successes. The admirals who followed him learnt from the great man to be aggressive in the face of the enemy and that every effort should be made to annihilate the enemy’s fleet. Only when such annihilation is complete can British interests be safe and trade flow. The lifeblood of the country travels by sea and only total command of that medium, brought about by the destruction of enemy shipping, ensures the survival of the nation. This was true when we fought the Dutch, the Spanish and the French. Each victory over their fleets pushed Britain one more step forward to world domination and to the possession of a global Empire the like of which had not been seen before or since. Of course this all came crashing down at the very height of British sea power at the end of WW2 when the emergent US Navy took centre stage as the most powerful maritime force in the world. But that, as they say, is another story.

Told with great knowledge and a great deal of admiration and affection for the naval service this is a must read for anyone interested in the rise of British power over the last 400-500 years. Full of expert analysis of the events that shaped the nation and the men that helped in the shaping this kept me interested from beginning to end even when the author delved into the intricacies of political manoeuvring both in parliament and the admiralty that often stymied rapid enough progress in an ever changing world. Definitely recommended for the naval history buffs out there.

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