master of a barge or ballinger, £3 6s. 8d. The James and Swan were attached, probably as tenders, to the Holy Ghost and the Trinity respectively.[1]
It is noteworthy that the revolution which, in 1460, deposed the House of Lancaster, and set up the House of York, was, to a large extent, a naval one. The attitude of the navy was the almost inevitable result of the commercial policy which had been pursued by the Lancastrian kings, and especially by the last two of them. With the exception of a decreasing number of king's ships, all
1 Mr. M. Oppenheim ('History of the Administration of the Royal Navy,' vol. i. p. 12) has compiled from the accounts of William Catton and William Soper, successive keepers of the ships, a list, which he believes to be the fullest so far printed, of the navy of Henry V. This list is given below, but, for the sake of brevity, the affix "of the Tower," which is therein applied to each of the vessels, except the Marie Hampton and Marie Sandwich, and which is simply equivalent to the modern prefix "H.M.S.," is omitted. The list is, of course, of a date a few years later than the one given in the text: —
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Built. Taken. Tons.
Ships:- Jesus Holigost Trinity Royal Grace Dieu Thomas[2] Grande Marie Little Marie Katrine Christopher Spayne Marie Spayne Holigost Spayne Philip Little Trinity Great Gabriel Cog John Red Cog Margaret
Carracks: — Marie Hampton. Marie Sandwich George Agase Peter Paul Andrew
Barges: — Valentine Marie Bretton
Ballingers: — Katrine Bretton James Ann Swan Nicholas George Gabriel Gabriel de Harfleur Little John Fawcon Roos Cracchere
1414
1416
1418
1420
21416 +20
1000
760
540
8 1416
1117
$1417
$1417
180
140 1418 100 1417 600 41417 $ 1417 290
21416
1417
1417
1417
1418
120
120
120
120
120
21416 500 1416 550 21416 600 30 56
1 Rebuilt. 2 Captured by the Duke of Bedford. 3 Taken in Soutbampton Water or at Dartmouth. 4 Captured by the Earl of Huntingdon.
The Holigost seems to have carried six, the Thomas four, the George and Grace Dieu each three, and the Katrine and Andrew each two guns. The Grace Dieu was accidentally burnt at Bursledon in 1439. The Georges, both carrack and ballinger, Christopher, Katrine Bretton, Thomas, Grande Marie, Holigost Spayne, Nicholas, Swan, and Cracchere, were all sold in 1423. Only two of the vessels, the Trinity and Holigost, seem to have remained in 1452; when they, rotten and useless, practically constituted the entire Royal Navy of England.
