A Brief History of British Sea Power: How Britain Became Sovereign of the Seas (Brief Histories) by David Howarth

by David Howarth

Despite being islanders, the British did not take to the water like ducks. David Howarth reveals that for hundreds of years Britain's seafarers did little but cling to coastal waters. The Romans and Vikings were far superior as seamen, and it was not until Elizabeth I's reign that Britain's success at sea truly began, with the utter defeat of the Spanish Armada.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, Naval History

Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

David Armine Howarth (1912 - 1991) was a British historian and author. After graduating from Cambridge University, he was a radio war correspondent for BBC at the start of the Second World War, joining the Navy after the fall of France. He rose to the rank of lieutenant commander and spent four yeas in the Shetland Islands, becoming second in command of the Shetland Naval base. He was involved in the Special Operations Executive (SOE), including the Shetland Bus, an SOE operation manned by Norwegians running a clandestine route between Shetland and Norway, which utilized fishing boats with crews of Norwegian volunteers to land agents and arms in occupied Norway. For his contributions to espionage operations against the German occupation of Norway, he received King Haakon VII's Cross of Liberty. The King also made Howarth a Chevalier First Class of the Order of St Olav.

After the War he designed and built boats before turning to writing full time. He wrote an account of the Shetland Bus operation, as well as many other books of history, bringing to his many of his books an immense practical knowledge of ships and the sea.

David Howarth died in 1991. At his request, his ashes were scattered over the waters of Lunna Voe, Shetland, near Lunna House, the first base of the Shetland Bus operation.

Reviews

[Don Siegrist · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very informative and entertaining book, at least if you are a fan of English history (guilty as charged). I was relieved to find that the author does not get very deep into the minutae of sea battles; a common problem (at least in my eyes) when writing about armies and navies.
I found it interesting to learn that, contrary to popular myth, England was not historically a seafaring nation. In fact it took them until the 17th century to catch up to their main European competitors, namely the Portugese, Dutch and Spanish. In fact, the Europeans as a whole did not become interested in seafaring until the 15th century, when the famous Silk Road trading route from Asia was disrupted by the Muslim takeover of Constantinople.
Another interesting discovery was how novel the British management of their navy was once they defeated Napolean and became "Sovereign of the Seas". Unlike anyone before, the Royal Navy sent it's ships on voyages simply to explore. They also proclaimed the high seas to be free and open to all ships and then proceeded to patrol the entire worlds seas in an effort to maintain this peace and freedom. This was unheard of in prior world history.
We take this state of affairs for granted today but without the British Navy (then the US Navy, which assumed this responsibilty after WW II) the world would be a much different and more dangerous place.

[Timothy Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a incredibly readable but very informative book. The sections on early British exploration were great. Drake, Captain Cook made contributions to exploration and mapping the globe just as much as Columbus, De Gama, etc.

The dominance of British sea power was to the extent that 60% of all ships in the world were made in Britain in the 1800's. They had the advantage of complete supremacy which made trade safe and allowed British trading to extend the empire. They also unpretentiously mapped currents, depths, shoals, deltas, etc and made these maps available to all seafarers. Most of these maps are still the ones in use because of their accuracy.
However, British dominance declined after the first world war because it refused to evolve into a modern fighting force. They continued to churn out giant dreadnoughts and battleships even after finding that small submarines could sink them with one torpedo and that a single plane could do the same. War after-all is largely economic and the Germans could build dozens of submarines for the same price of a battleship. The British navy still played a huge role in winning both wars, but the dominance they had disappeared.
The book should have chronicled the anti-slavery blockades that played a huge part in helping to make the slave trade less profitable for the US and the middle east.

[Lauren Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough and well-written account of Britain's life at sea. Howarth looks at the technical, political and personal sides of the history. While he doesn't look away from mistakes and follies, he also shows the successes and pride of the navy.

[Stuart Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Howarth seeks to write a review of the entire history of the British Navy, a task that others have pursued and filled multiple volumes in the process. Howarth renders it down to one book, so much is necessarily curtailed yet the subject is still meticulously researched and every part is in some way covered. It starts all the way back to around the year 500 when the British were first organized enough to be considered something of a coherent group and had finally gained self rule from the Romans. Yet despite watching Romans sail around them for centuries the British new less about sailing than did Themistocles when he fought the Persians almost 1000 years before. As long as they could fish and get across to France or Ireland that was enough, and rowing was just fine for that.

The entire history of British sea power is like that. Super conservative and unwilling to change. Richard III and Henry V both thought the only use for ships was to ferry soldiers to battle. It was the merchant navy where advancements were made. They used sails while the military still used oars. They used three masts when the military thought one was enough. The military resisted the used of the sextant, the chronometer, and practically any change whatsoever. When the military finally commissioned a steam vessel the merchant navy had already been crossing the Atlantic in them for decades. This hidebound conservatism continued with the building of dreadnoughts in WWI and battleships in WWII. The title of Sovereign of the Seas is owed more to the British East India Company and it's merchant fleet than to the British Navy.

Still, it was the Navy that made it possible for the merchants to thrive. Howarth covers it all, from the early sad days of glorified troop transport, through the years of exploration, a little piracy against the Spanish, the defeat of the Armada, and then to the time of Nelson. The Battle of Jutland and the sinking of the Bismarck finish it off.

There is a lot to be learned from this book. Why they are called port and starboard, why it is called grog, stuff like that. What was most shocking was the immense amount of time and effort went into trying to find the Northwest Passage over Canada, and even more shocking that almost as much time went into trying to find the Northeast Passage over Russia. Literally centuries of effort in both cases.

As usual, Howarth renders a complex subject down to its essence and makes for an enjoyable read.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1974, British Sea Power: How Britain Became Sovereign of the Seas looks at the development of British Sea Power from AD 450 until the late 20th century. The great thing here is that only the last 40 pages cover the 20th century, because of a fairly even coverage. For example, the first chapter looks at the apocryphal story of the Irish Benedictine Abbot St. Brendan who allegedly travelled to Iceland and Greenland in the 6th century - it has little to do with sea power, but it is a great tale. The writing style really brings stories like this to life and makes the book hugely enjoyable.

[Robbie Bond · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the English man in me and the history geek in me, this was a good read. The author has left no stone unturned as he has meticulously researched and studied the long history of Britain and the sea. Telling well known tales of Drake and Columbus to lesser known stories of Fisher and John Hawkins. Howarth tells the whole story including the mistakes and follies as well as the successes and fortunes of Britain at sea. Starting from the naive seafaring nation that suffered invasion after invasion to a proud nation that kept Napoleon and Hitler trapped in their home ports.
This is an easy to follow, entertaining, informative read.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite being islanders, the British did not take to the water like ducks. David Howarth reveals that for hundreds of years Britain's seafarers did little but cling to coastal waters. The Romans and Vikings were far superior as seamen, and it was not until Elizabeth I's reign that Britain's success at sea truly began, with the utter defeat of the Spanish Armada.

[Ian Pruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's more than 20 years since this book was published, so things have moved on somewhat. We currently find ourselves under threat yet again.
It's over 50 years since I read A Piece of Resistance, by Clive Egerton, where Russia bombed Bristol.
What The Sovereign of the Seas shows is how things rarely stay the same and whilst change is wanted it seems we also want to live in the past.

[Andy Grayson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely readable and pithy, yet rich in detail- should be used as an example of how to write history

[Mohsen Gabr · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author of this book is probably not even a historian. He is strongly biased toward English nationalism. He ignores the entire English history, which is stained with blood, injustice, colonialism, and tyranny. He tries to avoid any issues or confrontations against the English. He boldly ignores the horrific slave trade between Africa and Central America, which was carried out by England. He says—somewhat brazenly—that Africans enslaved each other. Although he says he is against this, his narrative, sympathy, and favoritism toward the English indicate a certain disgust. When the Spanish, French, or Ottomans attack English ships, he considers it piracy. But when English gang ships attack Spanish ships, it is an adventure!!! The author highlights the theft of English equipment by Eskimos and indigenous peoples of any place, and ignores anything these pirates did on the lands of any island. Thus, the story appears to be an enjoyable sea adventure featuring somewhat well-mannered English heroes!!! Despite all this, I find it a unique and important book. Although he isn't a good or neutral historian, he narrates events in a dazzling manner and with great narrative skill. The author is originally a shipbuilder and is fond of shipbuilding, so there are many pages in the book that discuss shipbuilding, which I found boring. But besides this, it makes you see English history as a single, coherent picture, from the beginning of history until after World War II and the collapse of the English navy. The book presents a panoramic bird's-eye view of England's maritime history, and thus its entire history, as England is the product of its naval power. Even more beautiful than this, this perspective makes you see the effect of history on human beings and the meaning of God's destiny and power. Had it not been for the Spanish attack on England, the English would not have been forced to develop their navy and surprise the Spanish by defeating the Armada - the great Spanish fleet - and had it not been for Napoleon's rise in France and his intense interest in the land army, the English would not have been forced to strengthen their navy even more to prevent Napoleon from crossing to them.
The book is nice, despite its bias and perhaps many inaccuracies.
Perhaps for me it was important because it summarized the entire history of England, from the first inhabitants of these islands until after World War II, in a few pages.

[Rowland · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a straightforward narrative that includes the historic voyages of the Irish monks, all over the Atlantic in the 6th century, and tells the story of the Anglo-Saxon navy that failed to take on the Norman invasion. It goes on through the ages, noting that Britons were never wild about their navy as they became in later centuries, particularly after the death of Lord Nelson. Britain ruled the waves in the 19th century, when the navy performed miracles of exploration, geographical and scientific, but not in the 20th, and here Howarth becomes tame. Yes, he points out the idiocies of the Admiralty, which was filled with ancient men imbued with naval conservatism. But he is indulgent about their glaring follies, for example the decision during World War One to try to head past Gallipoli in ships, and the stupid decisions over rearmament in the 1930s that left the navy with no frigates, no submarines and mostly capital ships that were useless, as everyone knew by then. All in all, a fascinating survey, highly recommended.

[Victor Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I have spent much of my life as a professional seafarer I was a bit vague about the marine history of the UK, prior to the age of steam and was never that enthusiastic about sail. However this book changed my view, and David Howarth's descriptions of the major sea battles which resulted in the world wide supremacy of the British Royal Navy, are riveting. At the battle of Trafalgar, for instance, when the French were dismasted they just gave up, while it was common practice amongst the British fleet for an undamaged warship to take a dismasted one in tow, so that as they passed one of the enemy it would get two broadsides instead of one. And we should bear in mind that these manoeuvres were undertaken under sail.

And the cover picture? The battle of Lowestoft in 1665. You could not make it up!!

Anyone proud of Britain's seafaring tradition will love this book. The French and the Spanish may not be quite so enthusiastic.

[Malapata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Partamos de la base de que se trata de un libro dirigido al público inglés para mayor gloria de la armada inglesa. Leyendo algunos páginas parecería que los marinos españoles se despedían de los corsarios ingleses con pena, deseando que volvieran a atacarlos lo antes posible, de tan gallardos y caballeros que eran. Y, por supuesto, el siglo de dominio casi absoluto que tuvieron de los mares no fue por voluntad propia ni para su propio provecho, sino impelidos a cumplir con una misión que redundaba en beneficio de toda la humanidad.
Pero quitando los pasajes más chovinistas la verdad es que la historia está contada de manera bastante amena, siendo bastante entretenido y accesible para el lector sin conocimientos navales previos. El autor consigue que nos pongamos en lugar de los hombres de mar y asistamos junto a ellos a las batallas y exploraciones, y ha hecho que en bastantes ocasiones me quedara con ganas de explorar algunos de sus temas con mayor profundidad.

[Iain Parkes]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14787912