Just Finished Reading: A Brief History of British Sea Power – How Britain became Sovereign of the Seas by David Howarth (FP: 1974)

You might think that 450 pages really doesn’t constitute a brief history of anything. But when you consider that the British maritime adventures extend back arguably 1500 years you can start to realise just how brief some of this volume needs to be. Luckily for most of the first 1000 years or so the British impact on the naval world was fairly minimal with the odd early voyage of exploration by Irish monks and, of course, the regular invasions the islands suffered from the time the Romans left to the final true invasion in 1066. Even for centuries after this cataclysmic event British sailors tended to stay close to shore either fishing the abundant seas or attempting to defend the land against would-be aggressors. Only with the on-again off-again conflict with France did British sailors gradually come of age but even here the ships where, by and large, cargo ships either converted to ships of war or troop transports. Only with the advent of reliable cannon did true warships come into the picture and only with the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 did the British navy in a recognisable form show its capabilities and finally arrive on a world stage.

But, as is right and proper, power does not always come from the point of a gun. British ships especially during and after the age of Elizabeth roamed the world looking for new sources of trade and new peoples to trade with. The also searched, in vain, for the fabled North-West Passage that was reputed to link the great Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Whilst much was discovered in the frozen north no passage worth its name was ever discovered and many sailors lost their lives in the search. Meanwhile as ships of trade fanned out across the globe increasingly accurate charts began to be developed assisted with the new clockwork technology which enabled the accurate determination of Longitude.

As British maritime power and confidence increased it was only a matter of time before the new kid on the block began to rub against the great naval powers of the day. Spain had already been humbled and was in terminal decline but first the Dutch and then the French had to be bested at sea. By the time of Trafalgar in 1805 this had become a reality and Britain became the pre-eminent maritime power and stayed there for the next hundred years ushering in the age of Pax Britannica. Not only did British warships effectively eliminate the scourge of piracy from most of the world’s oceans they also helped to remove the slave trade. But the greatest contribution endures in the millions of detailed charts produced during this time of unprecedented peace which are still in use today in many navies across the globe. Along with the scientific expeditions – including those undertaken by Charles Darwin – these are one of Britain’s lasting contributions to the world. It is here, in the exercise of soft power rather than the use of gunships to crush any opposition, that Britain truly became the sovereign of the seas.

Oddly the authors saves the height of British sea power for a single final chapter covering both the First and Second World Wars followed by seemingly terminal decline (originally published in 1974 it obviously makes no reference to the naval operation to retake the Falkland Islands and the growth of a new far more powerful navy since then). Well known highlights of both World Wars, Jutland, The Graf Spee, Bismark and Tirpitz are noted but where probably considered to be too well known (and too often written about elsewhere) to need much retelling. Yet this did not detract from the overall thrust and tone of this often fascinating book. The narrative was primarily about the journey of how Britain became, however briefly, not only a power to be reckoned with but the only power to beat across all of the oceans of the world. Such power inevitably comes at a price and it became one that could no longer be afforded after the costs of the Second World War.

This is a well written (if occasionally – and understandably – a little too patriotic or jingoistic for more modern cynical audiences), detailed and knowledgeable account of the rise of British dominance of the oceans. Despite the fact that this has become somewhat dated since its original publication it still provides a useful introduction and overview to a huge subject. Recommended.