Military Power

Seapower has always been an important component of English Military capability. If one thinks back to the great days of sail one would obviously recall such famous ships as 'The Victory, (Nelson's Flagship at Trafalgar) or perhaps the 'Mary Rose', Henry VIII magnificent but ill-fated warship.

Much earlier in time, by 1417, King Henry V owned some thirty ships employed on regular patrols from Harfleur and Honfleur which ensured unparalleled supremacy in the English Channel. This created a great deal of work for shipwrights, carpenters and masons in many ports in England.

One such vessel was the Grace Dieu, the fourth of Henry's great royal ships. When she was launched in 1418 with the blessing of the Bishop of Bangor she had already cost £289 and had taken 'Tens of Men' over two years to build. Her construction had consumed 2,735 Oaks, 14 Ash trees, 1,145 Beeches and 12 Elms, from the royal New Forest (Hampshire) and the neighbouring monastic forests.

The Grace Dieu would see much service in the King's Navy as a patrol ship in the Channel under the command of the Earl of Devon.