History Channel - History of the Royal Navy (2002) Part 2 Wooden Walls 1600-1805

This History Channel series, hosted by Prince Andrew, Duke of York, explores the dramatic rise and decline of British naval power over the last 500 years. Since its creation under orders of King Henry VIII, the Royal Navy heralded Britain's emergence as a global superpower, presiding over what was the largest colonial empire in world history. This documentary series explores the evolution of British sea power from wooden galleons and ships-of-the-line, through to ironclad dreadnoughts and modern aircraft carriers. Discover how the Royal Navy was created during the reign of King Henry VIII, travel with Sir Francis Drake aboard his famous ship Golden Hinde in 1577, admire Admiral Nelson's triumph at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and learn why so many illustrious ships were decommissioned at the end of the Falklands War.

Part 2 Wooden Walls 1600-1805

During the 17th century, the Royal Navy's war efforts were aided by Samuel Pepys' visionary reforms of the Admiralty and the codification of naval tactics in “The Fighting Instructions” which transformed naval battles from uncontrollable mellees into linear chess games on water. Led by Admirals Robert Blake, George Monck and others, the Royal Navy's Mighty Wooden Walls confronted the great Dutch Admirals, such as Maarten Tromp, in decisive battles that sustained Britain's naval might. However, reforms initiated by France's brilliant minister of Marine, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, begin to bear fruit. The French built better designed, faster ships and trained their sailors more efficiently than the British. During the American War for Independence, Admirals such as Francois de Grasse and Pierre Suffren won astonishing victories over the Royal Navy that, ultimately, helped free America and threatened to topple England from the pinnacle of naval power. However, a little-known Scottish landlubber named John Clerk, stimulated a revolution in naval tactics and when the incomparable naval leader, Admiral Horatio Nelson, took the helm of HMS VICTORY at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, Britain's matery of the waves was re-established.

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