British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714 (ePub)
Design Construction, Careers and Fates
The seventeenth century saw the transformation of Britain from a minor state on the fringes of Europe into a global economic power, whose interests were protected and promoted by the largest navy in the world. The character of this navy was forged by a bloody civil war, three fiercely disputed conflicts with the Dutch, and the first of many wars with the French. In the process the ships themselves were transformed from the surviving galleons that had defeated the Spanish Armada, through huge prestige vessels like Prince Royal and Sovereign of the Seas and the lightly built frigates of the Commonwealth era into warships that were recognisably ships of the line.
These radical developments in the design and employment of warships can be followed in detail for the first time in this comprehensive new reference book, which outlines the history of every ship built, purchased or captured that saw naval service during this era. Like its companion volumes on the 1714-1792 and 1793-1817 periods, the book is organised by Rate, classification and class, with outline technical and building data, but followed by a concise summary of the careers of each ship in every class.
With its unique depth of information, this is a work of the utmost importance to every naval historian and general reader interested in the navy of the sailing era.
Only the British navy publishing industry, and the Seaforth Publishing House in particular, could give life to an absolutely definitive cyclopean work on this subject, whose overall price is amply justified by a quality never seen before in other similar works.STORIA militare, February 2018
This book has a steep price but is cheap in comparison to what it contains and what it too to research. In mere physical terms, this is a beautifully made book, properly bound, good paper, and the kind of intelligent typesetting that helps the reader, to put it crudely, quickly distinguished what goes with what.714 - Speedreaders.info - Oct 2011
Beautifully-produced, to a very high quality level, this is an indispensable volume for any researcher, maritime historian or serious student of the naval ships of the emerging major seapower which was the Britain of the 17th Century.Ships in Scale, May/June 2010
This book is frankly quite superb and deserves to be included in the library of anyone interested in this period of maritime history.David Clement- South West Maritime History Society