Seapower and naval warfare, 1650–1830 Warfare and History General Editor Jeremy Black Professor of History, University of Exeter European warfare, 1660–1815 Jeremy Black The Great War, 1914–18 Spencer C. Tucker Wars of imperial conquest in Africa 1830–1914 Bruce Vandervort German armies: war and German society, 1648–1806 Peter Wilson Ottoman warfare, 1500–1700 Rhoads Murphey Seapower and naval warfare, 1650–1830 Richard Harding Air power in the age of total war, 1900–60 John Buckley Frontiersmen: warfare in Africa since 1950 Anthony Clayton Western warfare in the age of the Crusades, 1000–1300 John France The Korean War: no victors, no vanquished Stanley Sandler European and Native American warfare, 1675–1815 Armstrong Starkey Vietnam Spencer C. Tucker The War for Independence and the transformation of American society Harry M. Ward Warfare, state & society in the Byzantine world, 565–1453 John Haldon Soviet military system Roger Reese Warfare in Atlantic Africa, 1500–1800 John Thornton Seapower and naval warfare, 1650–1830 Richard Harding University of Westminster © Richard Harding, 1999 This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. No reproduction without permission. All rights reserved. Published in the UK in 1999 by UCL Press UCL Press Limited Taylor & Francis Group 1 Gunpowder Square Gough Square London EC4A 3DF This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2001. The name of University College London (UCL) is a registered trade mark used by UCL Press with the consent of the owner. ISBNs: 1-85728-477-1 HB 1-85728-478-X PB British Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 0-203-02949-6 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-17349-X (Glassbook Format) For Anne, Rebecca and Hannah Contents List of tables ix Maps xi Preface xix 1 “The age of sail” and naval history 1 2 The changing maritime world 13 3 The battlefleet and the idea of seapower in the early modern world 37 4 The establishment of the battlefleet, 1650–88 59 5 The growth of operational flexibility 121 6 The Nine Years War (1688–97) and the War of Spanish Succession (1701–13) 149 7 Seapower on the world stage, 1713–56 183 8 The Seven Years War and global seapower, 1756–63 203 9 The acceleration of naval competition, 1763–89 219 10 Seapower and global hegemony, 1789–1830 257 11 Seapower, battlefleets and naval warfare 281 Appendix: the nominal strength of selected sailing navies 289 Notes 297 Selected bibliography 343 Index 349 vii List of tables 2.1 European merchant shipping tonnage (000s of tons) 14 2.2 Sugar imports into England 28 2.3 Tobacco imports into England 32 4.1 Ships over 700 tons 79 4.2 Ships captured 1665–7 and 1672–4 104 5.1 Peaks of employment of seamen in peace and war 139 6.1 Prizes taken during the war of 1689–97 and condemned at the High Court of Admiralty 157 6.2 Prizes taken during the war of 1702–13 and condemned at the High Court of Admiralty 176 7.1 Nationality of prizes reported as taken during the war of 1739–48 by the British colonial press 200 9.1 The balance of naval forces, 1775–1785 244 9.2 Comparative cruiser strength, 1770–85 254 10.1 The balance of naval forces, 1790–1805 270 A1 The changing structure of selected sailing navies, 1680–1715 290 A2 The changing structure of selected sailing navies, 1720–65 291 A3 The changing structure of selected sailing navies, 1770–1800 292 A4 The changing structure of selected sailing navies, 1805–30 294 ix