How far do you agree that British naval superiority over the French in the years 1793 to 1815 was due to technical advances rather than brilliant leadership
Technical Advances:Rear Admiral Charles Middleton, Comptroller of the Navy from 1778 to 1790, had built up the naval infrastructure and technology after weaknesses had been exposed by the War of American Independence (1775-83)Naval bases like Chatham Royal Dockyard where HMS Victory was built between 1759 and 1765 were improved: the wheelwright’s shop where the fittings for ships were made was built in c.1780 and the factories for the manufacture of rope were rebuilt from 1785 to 1791. HMS Victory had 26 miles of rope in its riggingCoppering of hulls made English ships more seaworthy and faster especially after months blockading French ports because it prevented the attack of shipworm and the build up of weeds. It was introduced in 1779. Corrosion of the iron bolts which were used remained a problem until a suitable alloy was found and in 1786 the decision was made to re-bolt every ship despite the enormous costCarronades, names after the Carron Company in Scotland, became operational in the navy after 1782. They were better manufactured than long guns and so used less gunpowder and could be lighter. This meant that could be mounted on the superstructure of ships. With their short barrels they had a wide angle of fire and so were perfect for grape-shot. In short, they were fearsome anti-personal weapons and gave English ships the edge during pell-mell battlesAt the start of the French Revolutionary War a new standard gun was adopted in 1794 called the Blomefield gun after its inventor, Major-General Thomas Blomefield of the Royal Ordnance (appointed in 1780)It was stronger and more manoeuvrable as it had a characteristic cascabel ring which enabled the gun to be trained at an angle to the side of the shipHe also had all the guns tested at least 30 times before they were installed so that they were highly reliableRear Admiral Sir Charles Douglas (d.1789) introduced the flintlock mechanism rather than matches with which to fire the canons which made gunnery more reliable and accurateIn 1804 Sir William Congreve invented a type of rocket, based on those used by the rulers of Mysore in the 1780’s and 1790’s against the British East India Company. It was used with great effect at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1807 and during the Walcheren campaign of 1809During his period as First Lord of the Admiralty from 1801 to 1804, Admiral John Jervis introduced block making machinery at the Royal Dockyard in Portsmouth. The machinery was designed by Marc Isambard Brunel and Samuel Bentham. This was much more efficient than the old labour intensive method: by 1808 forty-five machines were turning out 130,000 pulley blocks per year. It also meant that the Navy no longer had to rely upon outside suppliers but became self-sufficient in what were vital ingredients of all shipsDuring the winter of 1808-9 the Victualling Board which supplied food and drink to the fleets was reformed to cut out wastage and ensure that the sailors got what they needed on time. Captains made reports of what they needed and convoys were sent out. It led to happier and healthier crews who performed better in battleBrilliant Leadership:Edward Pellow was a famously adventurous commander of frigates. On June 18th 1793 as captain of the Cleopatre he captured the French frigate, Nymphe, which had been attacking English shipping in the Channel by destroying its rigging and boarding it and on January 13th 1797 as Commodore of the Western Frigate Squadron and captain of the Indefatigable he attacked a French 74- ship of the line, Drots de L’Homme, carrying troops to Brest. Undeterred by his inferiority he gave chase along with HMS Amazon, caught up with it and proceeded to engage it avoiding the French guns by some skilful sailing in the stormy waters. In the early morning all three found themselves in trouble and likely to run aground on the shore of Brittany. Only Pellow succeeded in bringing his ship home Admiral Duncan at Camperdown in 1797 attacked the Dutch before they had time to form a defensive Line of Battle formation and won a crushing victoryNelson at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797 pushed his ship, HMS Captain, out of line to get at the Spanish and force a pell-mell battle. In the ensuing struggle he captured two ships by first boarding one and then going front it onto the other!Nelson at the Battle of the Nile in 1798 countered the French tactic of Fighting at Anchor by dividing his fleet and sending each half down one side of the enemy formation thereby catching them in a cross-fire with devastating effectsNelson at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 ignored the orders of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker to withdraw, putting the telescope to his eye patch, and persisted winning a notable victory over the DanesNelson conducted an expert open blockade of Toulon between 1803 and 1804 in the hope of luring the French out so that they could be destroyed. Eventually, Villenueve managed to slip out during a storm and the chase across the Atlantic was on which led to the Battle of TrafalgarNelson created a special bond with his commanders and took them into his confidence – the so-called Band of Brothers. This proved especially effective during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 when communication was impossible and each ship had to fight its own pell-mell battleThomas Cochrane was another fine commander of frigates, this time during the Peninsular War when he earned the nickname of Le Loup des Mers/The Sea Wolf by destroying French ships while they road at anchor and attacking French fortresses from the sea. In 1808 with the help of some Spanish guerrillas he captured the castle of Mongat on the road between Gerona and Barcelona thereby holding up a French advanceBut the politicians etc had to pursue the right strategy:Britain sought to defend itself while at the same time defeating FranceTo defend itself it built up the navy and tried to keep control of any raw materials it might need for the navy from the Baltic: in 1801 Nelson fought the Battle of Copenhagen in order to achieve thatIt sought to prevent a French invasion by blockading French ports like Brest and Toulon and stopping them getting control of places like the Low Countries or IrelandIt tried to break any French blockade of its trade with the continent and defended its empire by using convoys to protect its merchant ships and seized new bases like Cape Colony in 1795 and, permanently, in 1806To defeat France it tried to seize its colonies especially the rich sugar islands of the Caribbean. Martinique and Guadeloupe were captured in 1793-4 but returned to France in the Treaty of Amiens (1802) only to be definitively regained in 1809-10It launched amphibious assaults like the disastrous Walcheren Campaign of 1809 and supported the campaigns of its army in the Peninsular after 1808
