The Royal Navy 1806-15

Context: 

• After Trafalgar, Britain ruled the waves but Napoleon ruled most of Europe between 1806-1812
• Possible revival of the French Navy couldn't be ignored --> Napoleon ordered a large shipbuilding programme. 
• Was possible that he could build a fleet that could swap the RN

The Continental System: 

• 1806 = Napoleon introduced the Berlin Decrees (forbidding Europe to trade with Britain) to try and destroy them economically --> economic blockade 
• Became known as the Continental System 
• 1807 = Tsar Alexander I signed Treaties of Tilsit - outlaw trade Russian trade with Britain 
• Aim: force Britain to make peace --> didn't work
• 1807 - Britain hit back = banned trade with any ports complying with the Berlin Decrees. 
• RN could stop and search any shops they thought were trading with the enemy 
• Lots of small ships built to help with blockades
• Europe, starved of imports from around the world suffered more economic problems than Britain. 

• Napoleon and Alexander agreed that Denmark should come under French control 
• British didn't want the Danish fleet to be in French hands so sent 17 SOTL, 21 frigates and 18,000 troops to attack Copenhagen. British troops besieged the capital while the ships bombarded the city. Danes surrendered their whole fleet. 
• Admiral Saumarez gave a free passage of British ships into the Baltic (vital materials) 
• 1808-1814 --> RN transporting troops and supplies to and from Spain/Portugal 
• British frigates terrorising European coastlines, damaging local trade and tying down large numbers of enemy ships  
• 1805 --> Seized Cape Colony, Ceylon, Sierra Leone, Tabago etc... from Netherlands and France. 
• 1811 - French Navy posed no threat - money for shipbuilding ran out. (1812-1815 only 4 SOTL were launched) 

• The British blockade of Europe angered American merchants who profited from the Napoleonic wars. 
• So did the fact that British sailors boarded American merchant ships searching for British deserters 
• The USA declared war in 1812
• The 'War of 1812' was seen by the British as a side war to the main battles with the French. 
• British blockaded American ports
• US frigates were bigger and so initially out-fought British counterparts, but blockade won in the end.