THE TUDORS 

 England a Catspaw. 



The Spanish marriage had considerable influence on the Navy, for 

 it landed us in a useless and inglorious war with France and Scotland. 

 The principal result of this war was that we lost Calais for good, which 

 perhaps was a blessing in disguise, though it was a sad blow to the 

 British. A big landing party from a British Fleet that had been sent out 

 to convoy the fishermen home from the Icelandic grounds was cut up in 

 the Orkneys, and the Vice-Admiral of England was drowned in attempt- 

 ing to get off to his ship. A squadron of British ships, arriving off Grave- 

 lines at a time when a fierce action was in progress between the English 

 and French troops, was able to bombard the French flank so severely 

 that it turned the fortunes of the day, just as the Navy was able to do 

 in the Russian-Japanese War and in the recent struggle with Germany. 

 The greater part of the fleet attempted a raid on the coast of Brittany 

 which did no good. 



The Accession of Elizabeth. 



Queen Elizabeth certainly deserves her place among Briton's Sea 

 Kings, for one of her first cares within a few days of coming to the throne 

 was to establish a Channel Patrol for the suppression of piracy and to 

 prevent possible plotters entering the country — a precaution that was 

 made very necessary by the circumstances of the time. The fleet had 

 fallen into evil plight in the last two reigns, and the Queen immediately 

 set about putting it right as far as she could, although to begin with an 

 empty Treasury meant the purchase of merchantmen rather than the con- 

 struction of specially built men-of-war, which was later her policy. 

 These men-of-war helped the history of exploration and trade as well 

 as of the Navy. 



Wynter and the Scots. 



The first trouble of the reign was with France, for although peace 

 was concluded at the first opportunity, the fact that Elizabeth was the 

 champion of the French Protestants, and the French Court the champion 

 of the Catholics, prevented the agreement ever being respected. When 

 Francis II came to both thrones as the husband of Mary Queen of Scots 

 there was no hope of peace, and William Wynter, who had already 

 shown considerable promise as a naval commander, was sent up to the 

 North to co-operate with an army that was to expel the French from 

 Scotland. Wynter destroyed the French squadron and blockaded Leith 

 with conspicuous ability. The French were sending a fleet to raise the 

 blockade, but it was damaged by a storm and returned home, after which 

 an agreement was reached and, when Francis II died and Queen Mary 

 returned home, France had no immediate concern with Scottish affairs. 



The Second Struggle with France. 



Peace was not of very long duration, for when the French Catholics 

 and Huguenots began a regular Civil War both sides sent alleged priva- 

 teers out to the Channel who were really nothing better than pirates, and 

 preyed on British commerce much more than they did on one another. 



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