FourthRyte100

rival the british navy in the 18th and 19th century?

was the royal navy really that superior

Delenda est Roma

Combined their numbers did in fact rival the British.

irishcrusader95

yet the cadre of the british sailors were far better then the french and spanish who didn't have their initiative or prestigious history which often inspired new recruits.

Belgarion

France and Spain were contintental powers, albeit Spain had extensive overseas colonies. Britain relied on seaborne trade to survive and therefore had an incentive to build a navy to protect this trade.
English innovation in the 16th century led to the concept of the ship itself being the weapon. Rather than a transport for troops to close and board an enemy, the ship would now stand off and use its superior sailing abilities to hammer the enemy with gunfire.

By the time of the Napoleonic wars the Royal Navy had extensive experience and was committed to training in a way no other navy was at the time. Also the revolution had decapitated the leadership of the French navy and the blockade enforced by the RN esnured that the fleets of Spain and France were kept in harbour and unable to gain valuable sea experience while the RN was at sea in all weathers on blockade duty, constantly training and gaining experience.

Ironically, French warships were generally better built than the English. Louis XVI had instigated schools of naval architecture, new dockyards and forests for timber and a shipbuilding programme that was designed to make france the worlds leading naval power. Unfortunatley the Naval leadership and expreience of the sailors in general was not of the same standard as their ships.

Mangekyou

They rivalled in numbers, but not always in quality and definitely not in doctrine.

Delenda est Roma

Not sure if this counts

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battl...chy_Head_(1690)

Battle of Grand Port - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mangekyou

Battle of Beachy head was one of the few times the French navy bettered thae British in a major naval action.

In fact, between the seven years war and the end of the Napoleonic wars the only time the French ever bettered/outmaneouvred us during the American revolutionary years, and the commander in charge then was not the best of Admirals; Richard Howe and Baron Rodney had left.

During the Napoleonic wars, the British were entirely dominant in naval warfare. They defeated the French, the Danish, the Dutch, the Spanish, the Americans and during the continental blockade, they forced the Russian Baltic fleet back inside their ports.

Delenda est Roma

The Denmark and Russian actions were attacks on neutrals.

Isoroku295

French was in fact Britains challange in the time of the Sun King. Britain had gotten lazy with shipbuilding, so French, while outnumbered (which was MORE then balanced by Britains naval requirement elsewhere in the globe), had better ship designs, and excellent crews. In the end though the British managed to win a big battle, and restarted it's good ship building, finally saving them from the threat of the previously growing French navy.

Delenda est Roma

The Revolutionary War was a good showing by the French.