Third Prize:The Cost of Admiralty: The development and condition of Britain’s modern naval shipbuilding programme, 1832-2015

Authors

  • M. P. Findlay Royal Military College of Canada

Abstract

This paper discusses the evolution of British naval shipbuilding policy from the establishment of several reforms in the nineteenth century to the current construction of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers today. The nineteenth century proved to be the period that established the Royal Navy as a modern, professional fighting force through reforms to its administration and professionalization of both the officer corps and naval architects. The nationalization of Britain’s shipbuilding capability ensured that this vital asset remained ready for the nation’s beck and call. The current system of privatization and myopic defence and expenditure planning has sidelined the Admiralty’s role as the vanguard of Britain’s defence to a mere tool in the government’s toolbox of foreign policy instruments. These current trends have all been revealed through the current construction of the Queen Elizabeth Class carriers.

Author Biography

M. P. Findlay, Royal Military College of Canada

Michael Findlay is a graduate of the Master of War Studies program at the Royal Military College of Canada. He has completed a BA in Honours History at RMCC and is currently a Second Lieutenant in the Canadian Army. He is looking into beginning his PhD at Queen’s University this fall. His research interests include the evolution of the Royal Navy, economic history during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, political and institutional history, and war and diplomacy during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Downloads

Published

2015-07-14

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 2 (2015)

Section

JMSS Awards of Excellence