246 



CHAPTER VII. 



CHARLES i. continued. THE NAVY. 



Charles had resolved to assert his claims to the sover- 

 eignty of the sea by force if necessary, it was obviously essen- 

 tial that he should have a strong and capable fleet. During 

 the peaceful reign of James the navy had greatly deteriorated 

 from what it had been under Queen Elizabeth. 1 The expedition 

 to Cadiz in 1625, and that to Rhd two years later, revealed 

 startling inefficiency and disorganisation, and efforts were soon 

 made to bring it into a better state. When he assumed the 

 crown, his fleet consisted of thirty ships ; in 1633 it numbered 

 fifty, including the ten small vessels called the " Lion's Whelps " ; 

 and when the Civil War broke out there were forty-two, the 

 difference being due to the shedding of the smaller ones. 2 



There were many reasons why a strong fleet should be pro- 

 vided, apart from any question of enforcing a new political 

 sovereignty over the North Sea and the Channel. The mari- 

 time strength of the United Provinces was growing quickly, 

 and France, under the wise and energetic guidance of Richelieu, 

 was rapidly becoming a formidable naval power. Within the 

 space of about five years before 1631, as Charles knew, the 

 Cardinal had created a fleet of thirty-nine ships, of which 

 eighteen were of 500 tons or over, and no less than twenty- 

 seven had been built in French ports. 3 These two states were 

 drawing closer together, and while it was known that their 

 alliance, which was then mooted and was soon realised, would 



1 Oppenheim, A History of the Administration of the Royal Navy, i. 215, 

 217, 221. 



2 Ibid. ; Hannay, A Short History of the Royal Navy. 



3 Oppenheim, op. cit., 265. 



