• Home
• Study
• Study Information
• Modules
• Module Information

Navy and Nation: The Royal Navy in the Long Eighteenth Century, 1688-1815

Module description

During the eighteenth century, the Royal Navy was one of the most important institutions in Britain. This module places the history of the Navy in the wider context of the British state and society, examining the manifold ways it impacted on national life. It analyses the Navy as a fighting force, explores the political and economic background that allowed Britain to project power at sea, and addresses the links between naval power, trade and empire. The module also considers the Navy’s impact ashore, revealing how it shaped British society and culture.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module introduces you to key ideas, debates and interventions in eighteenth-century naval history. You will be made aware of the remarkable influence the Navy had on British history during this period, from economics and politics to society and culture. The module encourages you to think beyond the traditional remit of naval history, and consider how new approaches to the subject are re-defining how it is conceived and practiced. As such, it will also show how naval history can offer a perspective on broader historiographical debates, such as the development of the nation-state, the creation of national identity, the onset of the industrial revolution, and the advent of the ‘consumer revolution’.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Locate and evaluate critically the relevant primary and secondary source materials required to investigate a specific historical or methodological question
• 2. Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of key themes and approaches in the study of the Royal Navy in the eighteenth century

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Demonstrate the ability to analyse and synthesise widely different types of historical material and evidence
• 4. Identify and understand the nature of original sources
• 5. Demonstrate a critical understanding of key historical concepts and debates
• 6. Research for themselves and present independent accounts and interpretations of different historical issues

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. Develop the capacity for independent critical study and thought
• 8. Apply key bibliographical skills (including the use of on-line finding aids)
• 9. Construct and defend a sustained argument, both in written form and orally, using primary and secondary materials
• 10. Work as an individual and with a tutor and peers in an independent, constructive and responsive way (e.g. lead a group discussion or task)

Syllabus plan

The exact syllabus may vary year to year but the module will examine topics such as:

• Introduction
• Naval and maritime strategy
• Building a Navy: finance, naval administration and the Royal Dockyards
• Trade and Empire: The Seven Years War
• The wooden world: the social make-up of the Navy
• Imperial overstretch: The American War of Independence
• Exploring the Pacific Ocean
• The French Revolutionary Wars
• Health at sea
• The Napoleonic Wars
• The Navy and popular culture

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Instead of reflecting on the delivery of the presentation and its reception, as in the original assessment, the reflective commentary will explore the objectives and intended delivery methods of the presentation.

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of referral will be capped at 50%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Jeremy Black, Naval Power: A History of Warfare and the Sea from 1500 (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).
• Michael Duffy, ed., Parameters of British Naval Power 1650-1850 (Exeter University Press, 1992).
• Jan Glete, Navies and Nations: warships, navies and state building in Europe and America 1500-1800 (Stockholm, 1993).
• Richard Harding, Seapower and Naval Warfare, 1650-1830 (London: UCL Press, 1999).
• John B. Hattendorf, R.J.B. Knight, et al, British Naval Documents, 1204-1960 (Navy Records Society, 1993).
• John B. Hattendorf, ‘The Struggle with France, 1690-1815’, in J.R. Hill, ed. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Royal Navy (Oxford, 1995), pp. 80-119.
• Timothy Jenks, Naval Engagements: Patriotism, Cultural Politics, and the Royal Navy 1793-1815, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006).
• Lincoln, Margarette, Representing the Royal Navy: British Sea Power, 1750-1815 (Ashgate, 2002).
• Roger Morriss, The Foundations of British Maritime Ascendancy. Resources, Logistics and the State, 1755- 1815 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011).
• N.A.M. Rodger, The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815 (London, 2004).
• Brendon Simms, Three Victories and a Defeat (London: Allen Lane, 2007).
• Clive Wilkinson, The British Navy and the State in the 18th Century (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2004).

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=11611 

Key words search

Royal Navy, naval history, maritime history, British state, social history, cultural history, trade, warfare, empire