The flaps would be opened in a battle so the cannon could poke out while they were being fired. These gunports were flaps that covered holes in the side of the ship. Watertight ‘gunports’ with hinges were also invented. The great cannon could now fire a ‘broadside’, which meant all guns along one side of the ship firing at once. Warships now carried much heavier cannon on board, about 20 heavy and 60 light ones. How did ships change during Henry VIII’s reign? All ships were built of wood, which meant that very many trees were needed, and there were still quite large forests in parts of Kent and Sussex. Shipbuilding materials were sourced from the South of England. Henry also set up the Navy Board, the administrative wing of the navy, which oversaw the running of the navy. He built the first naval dock at Portsmouth.Īs well as space for building the ships, great storehouses had to be built, because the new ships needed lots of supplies. Both the new yards were very close to Greenwich, where Henry had a royal palace. Henry VIII built dockyards on the River Thames at Deptford (1513) and Woolwich (1512). By the time Henry VIII died in 1547, the navy had been built up to more than 40 ships. Two of them were new four-masted carracks, much larger than the usual English merchant ship. By the time he died, there was five royal warships. Henry VIII's father Henry VII began a programme of building warships for a navy. Was there no navy before Henry VIII came to the throne? An important part of his legacy was his establishment of the Royal Navy, encouraging shipbuilding and creating dockyards. Henry VIII (1491–1547) is one of the most famous kings in English history.
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