Elizabethan Naval Administration

This is the first general selection from the substantial body of surviving documents about Elizabeth’s navy. This collection mainly concentrates on the early years of Elizabeth’s reign when there was no formal war. From 1558-1585 the navy was involved in a number of small-scale campaigns, pursuit of pirates and occasional shows of force. The documents selected emphasize the financial and administrative processes that supported these operations, such as mustering, victualing, demobilisation, and ship maintenance and repair. The fleet varied in size from about 30 to 45 ships during the period and a vast amount of maintenance and repair was required. The documents illustrate just how efficiently the dockyards functioned. They were one of the great early Elizabethan achievements.