THE NAVY AND THE STUARTS 



the rapid increase of British prestige abroad, and even the mismanage- 

 ment of the subsequent era could not totally destroy this work for some 

 years. At the same time the Commonwealth's idea of naval manage- 

 ment was by soldiers rather than sailors and the commanding officers 

 were officially known as generals at sea. There is an old story that 

 Blake ordered his fleet to wheel to the right the first time he took com- 

 mand of it, and although this lacks confirmation it is not by any means 

 impossible of many of his colleagues. Among these soldiers at sea were 

 some of the finest commanders of their age, but nevertheless the 

 Commonwealth was not always well treated by its subordinates. Most 

 of its captains were promoted on account of their ability as seamen with- 

 out reference to their moral or general character and it is to be feared 

 that they did not hesitate to rob their employers to the very limit of 

 their opportunity. This was in spite of the fact that the Government 

 tegan by treating the men very well, both in respect of their wages and 

 also of the prize money that they earned, while they encouraged 

 individual effort by the award of medals, both for seamen and officers. 

 The Mediterranean Station. 



Hitherto England had taken but few measures to enforce her naval 

 position in the Mediterranean although ample warning had been 

 received that these waters were becoming more and more important 

 from the point of view of commerce. When Blake pursued Prince 

 Rupert into the Mediterranean, however, our people at home began 

 to realise that the sea had possibilities, and a powerful fleet there now 

 added greatly to the respect with which our flag was treated. The 

 Dutch did not like this at all, but at that time we were too big to be 

 touched and the two fleets remained on the spot in mutual jealousy 

 without caring to tackle one another. In addition to maintaining our 

 prestige the ships that we sent " up the Straits " were a very great 

 hindrance to the operations of the Barbary corsairs who by this time 

 practically ruled the Middle Sea. 



The Perils of Shipping. 



In the early days of the Commonwealth peaceful shipping was in 

 a very perilous position. Not only was it attacked by the Sallee rovers 

 l50th inside and outside the Mediterranean but it was also the prey of 

 more or less legitimate Royalist privateers, a horde of small craft who 

 hailed from Dunkirk no matter what the political situation happened 

 to be, and in addition a number of out-and-out pirates who made Jersey 

 their base until Blake routed them out in 1651. Yet after all this the 

 Commonwealth was making progress and the prestige of Britain was 

 gradually increasing, to be put on a firm basis as a result of Cromwell's 

 war against the Dutch. 



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