THE CHAIRMAN’S DISPATCH. Golden Ages of the Royal Navy The story of the Royal Navy is a vital part of the story of Britain. Our greatest heroes are sailors; our most memorable victories were won at sea. It is a long and distinguished story, going back to the Tudors and continuing right up to the present day. One period stands out as a true 'golden age' - the years between 1756 and 1815. This period was indeed an exceptional one for the navy. This is when the myth of its superiority [propagated by Richard Haklyut’s thousand year history, Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of the English Nation, culminating with the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588] at last became a reality. Rising through the administrative brilliance of Samuel Pepys, George Anson and the Earl of Sandwich and the inspirational leadership of Robert Blake, Edward Hawke and Horatio Nelson, the Royal Navy became the most powerful force in the world. At the end of the Napoleonic era the Royal Navy really did rule the waves. During those years, the great sailing battleships reached their peak of perfection in famous vessels such as HMS VICTORY. A uniquely gifted generation of seamen - of whom Horatio Nelson was but one shining example - sailed those great ships to an almost unbroken series of decisive victories. It is a record of success unparalleled in any other period, which no other navy in the world can match. In May of this year the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic (BOA 70) will be commemorated with a series of events in the cities of Liverpool, London, and Derry-Londonderry. The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, at its height from mid-1940 through to the end of 1943. How, one may ask, is this commemoration relevant to the golden age of the sailing navy and therefore to The 1805 Club? It is well known that the conviction of Britain’s naval superiority encouraged sterility in strategic thinking and complacency during the ‘long peace’ of the nineteenth century, which led to a great disappointment in the performance of the navy during the Great War. Instead of a new Nelson, the conceit had produced the over cautious Jellicoe and the slapdash Beatty. Instead of a Trafalgar it had yielded the stalemate of Jutland and through faulty doctrine the disaster at the Dardanelles. However, while the navy’s days as the superior global force were brought to an end by the Great War, lessons were learned and the Royal Navy found new glory and public affection during World War II. This period deserves to be described as its second ‘golden age’. Unlike the Great War, when for the first time since Marlborough the army serving in continental Europe was seen as the main British force, World War II was fought on the doctrine of a maritime strategy. Sea power made the final victory possible as evident in the dark days of 1940 with the retreat from Dunkirk and the defeat of Operation Sea Lion, through to the turning of the tide in the Mediterranean, to the huge amphibious landing on the coast of Normandy in June 1944 and to the Battle of the Atlantic. For every day of the sixty-eight months of World War II, the Battle of the Atlantic raged with ruthless but varying intensity. There was no relaxation of effort or hesitation to incur risks. It demonstrated the enduring importance of control of the sea to provide a highway for the transport of raw materials, munitions, and men, to maintain the nation’s security and to project power across the globe. As Sir Winston Churchill said, the Battle of the Atlantic was “the dominant factor all through the war. Never for one moment could we forget that everything happening elsewhere, on land, at sea, or in the air, depended ultimately on its outcome, and amid all other cares we viewed its changing fortunes day by day with hope or apprehension”. Here we have the parallels with the wars of the golden age of the sailing navy: The Seven Years War, The War of American Independence (a maritime war if there ever was one), and The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Like World War II they were wars sustained by ships; wars in which ships were the vital factor; wars where oceans were battlefields; wars that used convoys and blockade; wars with tactics generally incomprehensible to landsmen; wars where landsmen like Adolf Hitler and Napoléon Bonaparte failed to grasp the significance of sea power.
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