Pirates And The Construction Of The English Navy (1558-1588)

In 1558,Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne and England in a time of internal and external strife.She felt the urge to build a strong navy to counter Spanish military repression and safeguard Britain’s maritime interest.The Queen’s attention was drawn to the rampant piracy in Britain,which provided an opportunity for her to build a navy.After much thought and consideration,the Queen connived and guided the British pirates in their plundering of Spanish ships,she also deepened the ties and cooperation between the pirates and the navy and finally integrate them into one.The pirates thus became a political tool in the Queen’s hands to train the British navy and improve its combat effectiveness.Queen Elizabeth developed a different way of organising and building the British navy.The Queen pioneered the model of integrate piracy and the Royal Navy under the banner of the "British Navy",which enabled Britain to win the naval battle of 1588.The restructuring of the British naval and the defeat of the Spanish Invincible Armada demonstrated the success of the British navy under Elizabeth I’s lead.This success emphasized the important role of British pirates in building the British Navy,marked the beginning of a better-structured British navy with higher combat effectiveness,and the emergence of the British Navy as a military force among the most advanced navies in modern times.