Great Harry's Navy

by Geoffrey Moorhouse

Ground-breaking history of how King Henry VIII created England's navy

It was Henry VIII who began the process of making England a first-rate sea-power. He inherited no more than seven warships from Henry VII, yet at his own death the King's Navy had 53 seaworthy ships afloat (much the same size as the Royal Navy today) manned by almost 8,000 sailors.

Henry VIII originally needed a navy to hold the English Channel and blockade the enemy while he invaded France. Later when invasion from the continent grew serious Henry's navy fought in many actions.

Moorhouse doesn't only deal with seagoing exploits. Thanks to Henry VIII dockyards were built (Greenwich and Deptford), timber had to be felled in quantities previously unknown (from land seized during the dissolution of the monasteries), and hemp (for rope) was harvested; new skills were developed, not least the gun-founders and the master shipwrights.

Some of the ships were celebrated - 'Henry Grace a Dieu' (aka 'Great Harry') was the biggest ship in the world - 1,000 tons, 122 guns, crew of 700 and the 'Mary Rose' (500 tons, 80 guns, 40 crew) became one of the most famous after she heeled over too far, took water and sank with the loss of almost all hands off Portsmouth.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Tudor Period

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Geoffrey Moorhouse, FRGS, FRSL, D.Litt, was an English journalist and author. He was born Geoffrey Heald in Bolton and took his stepfather's surname. He attended Bury Grammar School. He began writing as a journalist on the Bolton Evening News. At the age of 27, he joined the Manchester Guardian where he eventually became chief feature writer and combined writing book with journalism.

Many of his books were largely based on his travels. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society in 1972, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1982, and received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Warwick. His book To The Frontier won the Thomas Cook Award for the best travel book of its year in 1984. He had recently concentrated on Tudor history, with The Pilgrimage of Grace and Great Harry's Navy. He lived in a hill village in North Yorkshire. In an interview given at the University of Tuebingen in 1999, he described his approach to his writing.

All three of Moorhouse's marriages ended in divorce. He had two sons and two daughters, one of whom died of cancer in 1981. He died aged 77 of a stroke on 26 November 2009 and is survived by both sons and one daughter.

Reviews

[Heidi Malagisi · Rating 3 out of 5]

One would assume that, since England is an island nation, its navy has been its strength since its foundation. That, however, was not always the case. While there were naval battles during the Middle Ages, it was not a navy like we know today. The concept of the Royal Navy was founded during the time of the Tudors, especially under the reign of Henry VIII. So, how did Henry VIII turn a navy from 7 ships to over fifty ships that could stand with other European navies? Geoffrey Moorhouse examines the creation of the English navy in his book, “Great Harry’s Navy: How Henry VIII Gave England Sea Power.”

This particular title was a used bookstore find for me. I saw that it was about the Tudors, and an aspect that I am not super familiar with. I don’t read a lot of nautically-based books, especially nonfiction, so I decided to go on a whim and try it out.

Moorhouse recognizes that this is a highly specialized book, so before delving into the history, he includes an extensive glossary at the beginning of the book to assist those unfamiliar with nautical terminology. He then dives into the origins of the English navy pre-Henry VII, and we can see that Henry VII did not leave his son, Henry VIII, many ships. However, Henry VIII had such a passion for ships that he got to work right away making shipbuilding centers and making sure that the right men were in the positions of power to make his navy superior to those in Europe. Moorhouse goes into minute detail to show how the Tudor navy rose, fell, and rose again to create a foundation that Henry’s children, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I would build upon to create a sea superpower.

I am a fan of challenging books and discovering new topics in history. I wanted to learn more about naval history, presented in an easy-to-follow writing style. While Moorhouse does attempt to do this, his exuberant nerdy side for naval history comes out, and it felt like he was having a conversation with experts, not novices. It was one of those books that took me a long time to read because there was so much information that I was trying to digest as a novice.

I think this book is definitely written for a specific group of people, and they are those who love nautical history and learning about the Tudors. For novices, like myself, it may be quite a trial to read. If you are in the latter category and you want to read this, take your time and take notes if need be. I think this is a book that could be a great resource for historical fiction authors and just those who want a different approach to the Tudors. If that is you, “Great Harry’s Navy: How Henry VIII Gave England Sea Power” by Geoffrey Moorhouse might be a book to add to your collection.

[John Stanley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very well researched book and the author clearly knows his subject and speaks with a passion about it. However, I think it tried to be too many things and (perhaps this is my own fault of expectations or assumptions) didn't do what it said on the cover.

It was less a piece about how Henry VIII made the navy and why, more a history of the Henry VIII period and slightly beyond linked into naval events and standards. The detail of the ships was hard to follow sometimes, having to continually go back to the definitions at the front, and the switching between a narrative style of events and circumstance to a detail description of design and functionality of various ships was not clear cut.

Having said all this, what is the aim of any history book? It is to teach and inform, and there were certainly a lot of things I have learnt from reading this that I didn't know before. This book really deserves more than the 2 I am giving it, but a big thing with my reading is how it makes me feel while reading it and the eagerness with which I want to pick it up again so a 2* rating it is.

[Norman Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This history of the early days of the Royal Navy arrives at the critical moment, in 1545, when the predecessor to the Admiralty was founded, by a rather circuitous route. The author provides a lot of history of maritime affairs in the earlier years of Henry VIII which illustrate, in the end, the reason for the Admiralty.

Some of this circuitous route is interesting, but some of it is rather slow-moving. I guess there was a head-wind in some cases, and a following wind in others.

This is a pretty interesting book, but it could have been a bit tighter, and the conclusion - that the launching of the Admiralty (its predecessor, in fact) was the critical moment for the Royal Navy - could have been more clearly developed.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

To start with a positive comment, I find the book to be well researched. Moorehouse gives the reader a sense of what was going on at the time of Henry VIII's reign, particularly the the military and diplomatic situation. However, at times this is very slow reading and if you're not sufficiently familiar with the places he refers to you may have trouble following the action.(the maps in the book aren't adequate)

[Book Grocer]

Purchase Great Harry's Navy here for just $10!

An excellent book covering not just Great Harry's navy but the Tudor navy in general. Also also shows an important aspect of King Henry VIII’s reign. This book is a must for those interested in the creation of Britain's Royal Navy.


Alicia - The Book Grocer

[David Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite good history of King Henry VIII's navy. Lots of new information to anyone not familiar with the period. Great set-up for his daughter's victories over Spain, later (as in the Spanish Armada).

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book Moorhouse states early on that he believes not enough attention has been paid to the early Tudor navy (the emphasis of academic research in this period being on Elizabeth's navy) and he sets out to prove his belief that Henry VIII is the true founding father of Britain's navy.

Throughout the book Moorhouse tells a comprehensive history of the navy during Henry's reign recounting the numerous battles and fleet movements, detailing the administrative changes that took place and explaining the developments in weapons and technology that drove the navy.

The book is filled with countless facts and snippets of information, some of it less relevant than others to the subject at hand. In a few places Moorhouse delves quite deeply in to the history of the period and barely touches on the naval topics for many pages at a time.

Ultimately, although this is an interesting read, I don't feel the book really achieves its intended purpose of championing Henry VIII as founder of Britain's naval tradition. It explains some of the developments during his lifetime and summarises events up until the end of Elizabeth's reign but does little to really point out how anything Henry did that directly impacted on Elizabeth's navy. In fact Moorhouse even states that many of the improvements that gave the English navy an advantage over the Spanish were a result of Elizabeth's naval policies and ship designs drawn up during her reign. Henry comes across as being one of many monarchs who shaped the navy but perhaps not as singularly influential as the book title implies.

[Jodie Angeline Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

As you can guess from the fact that it took me almost 2 months to read this book I struggled.

I prefer fiction books to non-fiction generally but I do enjoy non-fiction now and then. My fiance chose this for me when he got me some books from the library. He was so pleased with his choice as he knows I love Henry VIII books that I just had to read it for his benefit. I learnt a lot which was great but I have zero interest in ships and naval things so it was extremely hard to read and felt like it took a lot longer to read than it did. Parts were good though so it wasn't a total loss.

[Annette O'grady · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting but took me a long time to get into it and did not enjoy it as much as other books that I have read

[Edmund · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written and informative.