Model of the Great Michael
The Scottish Navy
The effects of naval history on overall Scottish history have been down played in the past. From the earliest period until the eighteenth century there existed a Scottish navy which had an important effect on Scottish history. Scottish naval forces were essentially divided in to two forms. On the North Sea coast they consisted of sail-driven ships common throughout northern Europe. In the west particularly in the Irish Sea it was more common to use oar-driven galley’s inherited from the previous Viking tradition. Warships were used from the earliest times but it was only from the time of the the first written sources that there are detailed records of the use of these ships. In particular from the thirteenth century onwards kings such as Alexander II are documented as making extensive use of naval forces in their campaigns often against the Norwegian controlled Western Isles. His successor King Alexander III successfully completed the conquest of the Western Isles in 1263, forcing the Norwegian King Hakon IV to withdraw from them. Alexander III is also reported to have ordered the building of several large oared ships at Ayr in 1263.
King Robert the Bruce
Soon after these events one of the most extensive periods of naval activity in Scottish history occurred during the Wars of Independence. During these conflicts King Robert the Bruce significantly developed Scottish naval capabilities which greatly assisted Robert I’s eventual victory in these wars. In particular in the prevention of the shipping of supplies to English forces in Scotland. This was particularly the case in 1318 when combined Scottish and Flemish naval attacks disrupted the shipment of supplies up the east coast to the English garrison of Berwick. This gravely weakened the garrison which was eventually forced to surrender to the besieging Scottish forces later in the same year. On the west coast the strengthening of the galley forces allowed Robert I to dominate the Irish Sea and to launch an invasion of Ireland in 1315. At the successful conclusion of the war King Robert continued to maintain the navy including in the building of new warships.
King James I
Though some shipping was maintained the next Scottish king to take a significant interest in a Scottish naval presence was King James I. He ordered warships to be constructed in a new purpose built ship yard at Leith. James I also founded the office of hereditary Lord High Admiral and mounted naval expeditions supplied from Leith including one to the Western Isles in 1429.
King James IV
The Stewart kings from James II onwards maintained a small number of warships. King James III used two warships, the Flower and the Yellow Carvel in the campaign against the rebel nobility which led to his death at the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488. However it was his son James IV who on his accession to the throne really initiated an expansion in Scottish naval activity. In particular from 1504 he ordered the construction of a new harbour at Newhaven. Like his predecessors James IV conducted ‘progressions’ through the Western Isles involving warships transporting infantry and artillery. In 1504 James conducted a naval campaign against the Lord of the Isles then Clan leader of the Macdonald’s. The kings naval artillery battered the Macdonald fortresses in to submission resulting in the surrender of the Macdonald’s and the abolition of the post of Lord of the Isles. By the time of his death in 1513 James had acquired some 38 ships for his navy culminating in the building of the then largest warship in Europe in 1511. Known as ‘the Great Michael’ it was built in the newly constructed dockyard at Newhaven. The ‘Great Michael’ was 240 feet(73 metres) in length and weighed some 1000 tons. The ship was designed to carry 24 large cannon. The ship was used briefly in 1513 but then after James IV’s death at the Battle of Flodden it was sold on to the French navy.
The Sixteenth century
The new king James V had little interest in the Scottish navy though he did receive the gift of a warship from the King of France. This new flagship was called the ‘Salamander’ and was fitted with 15 large guns and 10 smaller calibre cannon. With this ship as the flagship James V conducted a ‘progression’ by leading a fleet to the Western Isles in 1540. With the attack on Scotland by King Henry VIII of England Leith fell to the invading English forces who captured the stores and ships in Leith including the flagship ‘Salamander’. More Scottish ships were captured during the major English invasion of 1547. A small number of warships were maintained during the rest of the sixteenth century. In 1589 King James VI decided to sail to Norway to meet his future Queen Anne of Denmark with a fleet of six ships.
The Seventeenth Century
As before a few warships were maintained as part of a Scottish Navy and in 1626 a squadron of three ships was specifically equipped for anti-privateer work. During the Covenanting era (1638-1651) naval operations played a major part in the outcome of the wars. This was especially true during the course of the Bishop’s Wars (1638-41) where Charles I initially attempted to blockade Scotland. He also planned to launch amphibious invasions but could not assemble the necessary resources during the conflict. After the signing of the alliance between the Scottish and English parliaments in late 1643 a patrol squadron was established on the Atlantic and North Sea coasts of Scotland to safeguard against any Royalist attempts to intervene there. Known as the ‘Scottish Guard’ it was expanded after the end of the war in England in 1646. However it was unable to resist the large English naval force that backed up Oliver Cromwell’s invasion of Scotland in 1650. This proved vital as Cromwell retreated to Dunbar and was sustained there by the Parliamentarian navy enabling him to win his decisive victory there in September 1650. During the rest of the century a small number of ships continued to be maintained which was particularly important during the wars of 1688- 1713.