“Only with hindsight is it possible to see how many of the foundations of sea power had been laid. The myths as much as the reality of the Elizabethan naval war had persuaded Englishmen that their future hopes somehow lay at sea and overseas. Success at sea had become a mark of national pride, and failure at sea a symbol of national humiliation. The governing classes of England, both the Parliamentarians in control and the Royalists in exile, had learnt by hard experience the high cost of modern war; and the still higher cost of lacking an effective navy. In this way the groundwork had been la…
