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DUTCH] of Castile supplied the squadrons which took an active part in the wars of the 14th and 15th centuries between France and England as allies of the French. Its history is obscure, and it came to an end with the establishment of the full authority of the crown by the Catholic sovereigns Ferdinand and Isabel.

The discovery of America, the acquisition by marriage or conquest of Sicily, Naples and Flanders, gave the kings of Spain a yet stronger motive for maintaining a powerful navy. The maxim that their ships were the bridges which joined their widely scattered dominions was fully accepted by them and their servants. But neither the Catholic sovereigns nor the Habsburgs who held the throne till 1700, made any attempt to organize a common navy. The sources from which the naval armaments of Spain were drawn during the greatness and decline of the country were these. Galleys were maintained in the Mediterranean, but they were mainly found by Sicily and Naples, or by the contracts which the kings of Spain made with the Genoese house of Doria. On the ocean the chief object of the Spanish government was to conduct and protect the severely regulated trade with America. Thus it was mainly concerned for long to obtain the lumbering and roomy vessels called “galleons,” first designed by Alvaro de Bazan, marquess of Santa Cruz, which were rather armed traders than real warships. The crown did not build its own ships, but contracted for them with its admirals. The American convoys sailed from and returned to the Bay of Cadiz. One squadron, the flota, carried the trade, was navigated by the admiral, with whom was associated a general, who commanded the few warships proper, and was answerable for the protection of the whole. Another squadron, called of Cantabria, was maintained on the north coast, and was employed to see the convoy on its way and meet it on its return home. It had its own admiral and general. The ships were always treated as if they were transports for carrying soldiers. The seamen element was neglected. The command was divided between the capitan de mar (sea captain) who was responsible for the navigation and the capitan de guerra (soldier captain) who fought the ship. The same division went through all ranks. The soldiers would neither help to work the ship nor fight the guns. They used musketry only, or relied on a chance to board with sword and pike. Properly speaking there was no class of naval officers, and the overworked and depressed seamen could not supply good gunners. No general naval administration existed. The office of admiral of Castile became purely ornamental and hereditary in the family of Henriquez. It was not replaced by a navy office. One of the innumerable juntas or boards, through which the Spanish kings governed, looked after the making of contracts, and co-operated with the council of the Indes which was specially concerned with the American convoys. After the disasters of the later years of Philip II. (see ) some efforts at improvement were made. Better ships were built, and something was done to raise the condition of the seamen. But no thoroughgoing organization was ever created, and in the utter decadence of the 17th century the Spanish navy and seafaring population alike practically disappeared.

Under the Bourbon dynasty which attained the throne in 1700 the Spanish navy was revived, or rather a navy was created on the French model. Don Jose Patiño, a very able man, was named intendente de la marina in 1715, and in 1717 he drew up a draft naval organization and code, founded on the French ordonnance of 1689. Patiño’s draft was the basis of the ordenanzas generales (general code) issued in 1748. The Spaniards even set up squadron of galleys with a separate staff of officers, also on the French model, which was, however, suppressed in the year of the issue of the ordenanzas generales. Fine arsenals were organized at Ferrol and Carthagena. The navy thus created produced some distinguished officers, and fought some brilliant single ship actions. But the embarrassments of the treasury, the tendency of several of the kings to sacrifice their navy to political schemes requiring mainly the employment of troops and the ruin of the seafaring population during the 17th century, prevented it from ever attaining to a high level of efficiency. During the Peninsular War the new navy all but disappeared as the old had done. The want of pecuniary resources and internal instability have prevented its revival on any considerable scale.

Dutch Navy.

The Dutch fleet arose out of the great struggle with Spain in the 16th century. The Netherlanders had been a maritime people from the earliest antiquity. Under their medieval rulers, the counts of Holland and of Flanders and the House of Burgundy, they had rendered service at sea. The freemen owed the service known as the riemtal (riem, an oar). An admiralty office was established in 1397. But during the revolt against Philip II. of Spain, new naval forces were formed which had no connexion with the medieval navy, save in so far as the governments established in the different states which afterwards formed the Seven Provinces took possession of the jurisdiction and the dues of the medieval admiralty. The naval part of the war with Spain was for long conducted by the adventurers known as the “beggars of the sea,” and was mainly confined to the coasts and rivers. In 1597, when the Confederation was formed and had provided itself with a common government in the states-general, the need for a regularly organized seagoing fleet was felt. In that year the banner of the states-general, the red lion with the arrows in its paw, was first hoisted during the expedition to Cadiz in alliance with England. On the 13th of August 1597 the states-general issued the decree (Instructie) which regulated the naval administration of the Republic until 1795. The attachment of the Netherlanders to their local franchises was too strong to permit of the establishment of a central authority with absolute powers. It was therefore necessary to make a compromise by which some measure of unity was secured while the freedom of the various confederate states was effectually guarded. Five boards of admiralty (Admiraliteits collegien) were recognized. They were: South Holland, or the Maas, sitting at Rotterdam; North Holland, or Amsterdam; Westfriesland (the western side of the Zuyder Zee), at Hoorn or Enkhuizen on alternate years; Zealand at Middleburg; and Friesland at Dokhum, or after 1645 at Harlingen. These bodies enjoyed all the rights of the admiralty and collected the port dues, out of which they provided for the current expenses of their respective squadrons. Extraordinary charges for war were met by grants from the province to which each board belonged. Some measure of unity was secured among these five independent authorities by three devices. Each board consisted of seven persons, of whom four were named by the province and required confirmation by the states-general, while three were chosen from other provinces to secure a representation of the commonwealth. The members of the boards took an oath of fealty to the states-general. The stadtholder was admiral-general. He presided at the board, and commanded the squadron. In his absence his place was taken by his lieutenant admiral-general. An oath of fealty was also taken to him, and all armed ships whether men-of-war or privateers sailed with his commission. He chose the captains from two candidates presented to him by the board. Delegates from the boards met twice a year to consult on the general interest. When the stadtholdership was suspended in 1650 the powers of the admiral-general were absorbed by their high mightinesses (Hunne Hogen Mogen) of the states-general. The staff of officers began with the lieutenant admiral-general and descended through the vice-admiral, the quaintly named Schout-bij-nacht, who was and is the rear-admiral, and whose title means “commander by night.” These flag officers were named by the admiral-general or states-general. The captain (Zeecapitän) was selected from the provincial list. The lieutenants