THE FRENCH WARS 



hopelessly disorganised and suffered several humiliating defeats, the 

 principal one being at the hands of the Sieur de Penheurt in 1403. 

 Prince Thomas of Lancaster. 



At the age of seventeen the King appointed Prince Thomas, his 

 second son, to be Admiral of England and to cruise against the French, 

 and at the same time he commissioned a number of privateers. There is 

 nothing particular to mention about his period of command, except a 

 few unimportant raids which led to nothing. The main object of the 

 fleet was to intercept an invading force, but they contrived to slip through 

 and to land in Wales, although they sustained considerable loss in doing 

 so, while their Spanish allies under Don Pedro Nino inflicted consider- 

 able damage on the British coast towns. 



Henry V. 



The accession of the war-like Prince Hal in 1413 meant a renewal of 

 the struggle with France, and full credit must be given him for his 

 appreciation of the sea and sea power. Under his rule the Royal Navy 

 was increased to a size greater than it ever had been before, and he 

 copied the wise example of de Vienne in building ships specially for 

 naval purposes rather than for the escort and transport of troops, as had 

 been the idea of Edward III. His ships were still generally smaller than 

 the Italian, Spanish, or German vessels, but at the same time he 

 encouraged a considerable increase in size both in merchant ships and 

 men-of-war. He also encouraged the arming of his ships with cannon, 

 although very few in number. In his fleet it appears that the most 

 heavily armed vessel was the Holigost of 1414, a ship of 760 tons which 

 mounted six pieces, although their bore is unknown. It was Henry's 

 aim to put the Navy on a footing that would enable him to rely upon it 

 for every purpose, except the transport of troops and stores in abnormal 

 circumstances, but he was kept so busy with the war with France and 

 died so young that he was unable to carry this aim fully into effect. 

 Nevertheless, he did a lot in the right direction, although it is a little 

 doubtful how pleased his contractors were with his plans, especially 

 one, William Soper of Southampton, who supervised the construction of 

 several men-of-war, and certainly had the greatest difficulty in getting 

 back the money that he had advanced out of his own pocket. At the same 

 time the King attempted to get ships built abroad, and in this he was 

 hoist of his own petard, for he had to pay out biggish sums in advance 

 and got very little back, our gallant allies at Bayonne especially being 

 labelled as a crowd of thieves. 



The Patrol of the Narroip Seas. 



As soon as he came to the throne, Henry V ratified the truce with 

 France and Spain, and with the latter country he gave it some force by 

 including a clause that each country should insist that any armed ship 

 which left its shores should give a cash security for its good behaviour. 

 This was far more effective than the previous King's agreement with 

 France that armed ships should be forbidden to sail without a special 

 licence, an agreement that does not seem ever to have been acted upon 



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