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304 australian maritime issues 2009: spc-a annual
When an inland parish supplied a crew for its ship it found itself hard pressed to
find any experienced sailors among its numerous peasants. The parish would supply
untrained crewmen for manning the oars and trained fighting men from the fyrd, ‘a
semi-professional force made up of men of some social standing, small landowners who
could afford proper weapons and equipment … and the time for thorough training in
their use’ to fight the ship. 1 The man in command of the ship, the steersman, would be
a member of the fyrd and would most likely possess no knowledge of how to actually
sail a ship. To this end the parish would have to employ professional seamen whose
main duties dealt entirely with the sailing of the vessel.
In this way the composition of the crew would mirror the composition of feudal society
itself. The untrained oarsmen would be drawn from, and equate to, the peasantry. The
professional seamen would be considered a slightly higher class by virtue of their
specialised knowledge, roughly equivalent to civilian tradesmen. Finally the command
structure would be in the form of landowners charged with leadership and fighting.
With little change in ship design over the next several centuries, there was little need
to change the composition of the crew. Changes did happen, but at a very slow pace
and with little impact on the rank structure.
History
After the invasion of 1066, Norman feudalism rapidly replaced the more centralised
Anglo-Saxon feudalism. With political power resting mostly with the barons, little
incentive existed to maintain a standing navy and sea power in Britain was allowed to
fade away for a time. What little navy remained was employed as a royal ferry service
to shuttle the Norman kings and their courts to and from Normandy. During this period
‘technological’ advances were limited. The addition of fixed structures fore and aft, the
so-called ‘fore-castles’ and ‘after-castles’, allowed archers to attack other ships and land
positions from on board. Even with this ability, the primary use of warships remained
the transport of troops and equipment to landings where they would fight ashore.
With the reign of King John there was finally a substantial standing fleet paid for by
the crown. He also caused the first dockyard to be built at Portsmouth and appointed
a ‘Keeper of the King’s Ports and Galleys’ to take over administration of his navy.
In the late 13th century the practice began of appointing Admirals from the nobility to
take command of formations of ships for tenures of a year or for specific campaigns.
These knights or barons had little to do with the command of their fleets but rather dealt
more with the administration and finances. They were also charged with impressing
ships from merchants and communities to serve in the King’s Fleet. By the end of the
14th century the Fleet Admirals were often drawn from the higher ranks of English
earls who looked at this as a way to increase their personal wealth.