ship types

• Ships during the Age of Sail- Ships had rows of cannons along the sides and sunk enemies by shooting the cannons all at once. The ships with faster, bigger guns that could be manoeuvred during battle were the most successful. The most crucial factors in manoeuvring ships was the speed of the hull and the skill of sailors in manipulating its sails. Success in battle depended on speed, guns and efficient crews.
• Naval tactics in the Age of Sail- Fleets in battle approached enemies in a long line. This enabled continuous bombardment as the enemy sailed past each ship in the fleet. It avoided friendly ships firing each other and reduced the exposure of bows and sterns to enemy fire. It improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the fleet also. If neither fleet could gain a positional advantage, battles wouldn't gain a winner.
• Ships of the line- The main ship involved in battles until the end of the Age of Sail. The ships were ones deemed strong enough to join in a battle . It needed the right balance of speed and firepower to merit inclusion on lines in battles. Ships were built to be long for large amounts of cannons and narrow to maximise speed. They had deep hulls to cut through the water and huge sails with 3 masts.
• Navy rating system- The system classed ships as 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th rate depending on their guns and manpower. 1st and 2nd rate ships had 3 gun decks and around 100 cannons. The extra firepower made them top heavy and hard to manoeuvre so few were built. 4th rate ships had less than 64 cannons and were phased out due to their lacking firepower. 3rd rate ships made up most fleets with around 70 guns, 2 gun decks and 500 men. They were 76% of the Navy fleet in 1794.
• Effectiveness of ships of the line- Despite the America War of Independence, the Navy outpaced its rivals like during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 to demonstrate naval supremacy. The concentrated power of ships of the line were less effective outside of battles as their firepower left them slow and hard to manoeuvre. They were dangerous near the shore and unable to catch smaller warships. The ships were effectively useless outside of battle.
• Frigates- 5th and 6th rate ships were slightly shorter and had 1 gun deck, making them faster and more manoeuvrable. They were more suitable for independence or small squadrons than other ships of the lines and therefore roamed oceans looking for enemy shipping. Although Britain's superiority grew with frigates, other nations used them too with the French building 59 by 1790. The British actually lost 619 ships in 1810 during the Napoleonic wars to the French frigates.
• After the Napoleonic Wars- The Navy finished the Wars in 1815 with 214 ships of the line and 792 frigates. These were reduced to 100 ships of the line and 162 frigates. By 1835, the Navy only had 58 operational ships of the line. They did retain the ability to rebuild quickly and maintain supremacy of their Navy because no other powers had the ability to rebuild as quickly as them.
• Lack of development- The position of naval hegemony (authority over other powers) in their supremacy meant there was little need for development of new ship types. The Navy maintained supremacy as it could produce wooden ships more quickly than other powers. There were no incentives to develop more ships, so innovations during the 1800s were developed by rival powers and then adopted by the Navy to modernise their fleet.
• Early steam ships- Trials of steam propulsion began on the 'Kent' in 1794 and had little impact on the dominance of frigates and ships of the line. Early steam engines were unreliable, slow and consumed a lot of coal for little power. Propulsion came from paddle-wheels which were unsuitable for the sea and hard to protect from cannon fire. The paddle-wheels also took up space that guns could have held. The American 'Demologos' was the first steam warship but was nothing more than a floating battery and was never used in action.
• Effectiveness of steamships- Were useful in areas where sailing ships couldn't navigate using wind like river systems. Hybrid ships were created with sails for ocean use and steam paddles for navigating rivers. At first, they were used to tow British warships up rivers but during the Opium Wars with China, they could tow more powerful sail ships up river for conflicts. The first impact of the Age of Steam was opening up inaccessible inland areas to naval forces rather than using frigates and ships of the line which were established in their roles.
• Propeller screw propulsion- In the late 1830s, the more powerful propulsion made ocean-going steam practical as they could be used in battle for greater manoeuvrability because they didn't rely on favourable wind. The first steam-propelled frigates were launched in Britain in 1843. France realised the potential of the steam-powered battle ships before Britain and created the 90-gun 'Napoleon' in 1850.
• Start of the Naval arms race- The creation of the French 'Napoleon' signalled the end of low-cost naval supremacy for the Royal Navy. Both France and Britain poured money into equipping their fleets with steamships at the start of the Age of Steam in the 1850s. France built 10 new steam battleships and Britain built 18.
• Paixhan guns- Created by French engineer Henry-Joseph Paixhan, the shell firing guns had a flat trajectory to hit enemy ships at sea. They were fitted on warships in 1841, 20 years after their creation. The Navy copied this tactic as the guns could destroy wooden ships easily.
• Iron cladding- To counter Paixhan guns, iron plates were fitted as armour onto wooden ships. The cladding utilised the advances in metallurgy and availability of iron. France and Britain both created ironclad ships and decided all ships from then on would be ironclad like the HMS Warrior in 1861.
• Rapid improvements to ships- New technology of steam engines, armour plating and naval guns were implemented. This resulted in bigger, heavier battleships that were more reliant on their engines. Sails were abandoned on the HMS Devastation in 1873 which was a hugely powerful ship that symbolised the finalisation of the end of the Age of Sail.
• Ending the Age of Sail- Allowed for more ports to be aquired across the world on trade routes to India and the Far East. They were vital for steam ships as without restocking coal, they couldn't undertake lengthy voyages. It also eliminated the biggest advantage of the Navy as the experienced sailsmen became useless. The technological advancements and lacking need for a crew meant Japan and Germany could create rival navies.
• The two power standard- The Navy wanted to uphold the idea that they were stronger than the next two navies combined. The Naval Defence Act in 1889 committed Britain to spending £21.5 million on 10 battleships and other boats. It was meant to remove any possible threat but Russia, France and Germany all accelerated their production to challenge the British Naval supremacy.
• Trying to maintain naval supremacy- John Fisher became first lord of the Admiralty in 1904 and introduced a modernisation programme. He removed 154 warships and restructured British fleets to concentrate the best ships in Europe. He wanted to end the arms race by creating technologically advanced ships that no other Navy could challenge like HMS Dreadnought in 1906. Other powers did build them after though so the arms race continued.