The Tudor Navy: How Henry VIII Built England's First War Fleet

Long before the Spanish Armada or Francis Drake's golden voyages, England's navy was a chaotic collection of merchant vessels. That changed under Henry VIII, who poured unprecedented resources into building a permanent royal fleet. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the dockyards, the ships, and the men behind England's first standing navy. They discuss the construction of the Mary Rose, the revolutionary Great Harry, and the role of the Navy Board. They also examine how Henry's naval ambitions drained the treasury and sparked a new kind of state bureaucracy. Along the way, they meet figures like Sir John Hawkins, who modernised ship design, and the forgotten shipwrights of Portsmouth. This is a story of wood, canvas, and gunpowder — and the birth of a maritime empire. #TudorNavy #HenryVIII #MaryRose #GreatHarry #PortsmouthDockyard #NavyBoard #JohnHawkins #Shipbuilding #TudorHistory #RoyalNavy #NavalHistory #EnglishHistory #16thCentury #History #FexingoHistory #MaritimeHistory #Warships #TudorEngland Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo