The Maritime history of the United Kingdom involves events including shipping, ports, navigation, and seamen, as well as marine sciences, exploration, trade, and maritime themes in the arts from the creation of the kingdom of Great Britain as a united, sovereign state, on 1 May 1707 in accordance with the Treaty of Union, signed on 22 July 1706. Until the advent of air transport and the creation of the Channel Tunnel, marine transport was the only way of reaching the British Isles. For this reason, maritime trade and naval power have always had great importance.
Prior to the Acts of Union, 1707, the maritime history of the British Isles was largely dominated by that of England. (See Maritime history of England for more details.)
Chronology
Eighteenth century
In the eighteenth century, Britain was a major exporter of wool fabric and other manufactured goods.
Lloyd's List was established in 1734 and Lloyd's Register in 1764/5. The Marine Society was set up in 1756 with the aim of sending poor boys to sea.
Steam technology was first applied to boats in the 1770s but sailing ships continued to be developed. In 1794 an experimental steam powered ship called the Kent was built which showed designers the way forward. Nathanial Symonds demonstrated a sinking boat in 1729.
Towards the end of the century, the Napoleonic Wars started with Napoleon, later crowned as French Emperor, and naval battles continued into the 19th century.
Nineteenth century
In 1801 a steamship called the Charlotte Dundas ran trials on a canal near Glasgow, towing barges. In 1815 Pierre Andriel crossed the English Channel aboard the steamship Élise. By the mid-century steamboats were a common sight on British rivers and canals. Regular steamship sailings across the Atlantic started in the 1830s.
Shipbuilders began using iron instead of wood as the ships could be made larger with more cargo space. Ships also began to be fitted with steam engines and paddle wheels but the latter was found to be unsuited to open sea use. From the 1840s screw propellers replaced paddles. In the 1870s new more efficient engines were introduced so that sailing ships began to be phased out. From the 1880s steel began to replace iron for the hulls.
Because of the space required for coal and the large crew requirements on steamships, sailing ships were favoured for long voyages and reached a design peak with the clippers used for transporting tea and wool. Steamships gradually replaced sailing ships for commercial shipping during the 19th century, particularly after more efficient engine designs were developed in the later part of the period.
The Battle of Navarino in 1827 was the last to be fought by the Royal Navy entirely with sailing ships. By the end of the century submarine design had progressed sufficiently to be useful, as had the design of torpedoes.
Twentieth century
At the start of the century 25% of the world's trade was through British ports, 18% of this being to North America. Trans-oceanic travel was important at the start of the century with transatlantic liners competing for the "Blue Riband" for the fastest crossing. A significant event was the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. This led to the Global Maritime Distress Safety System and to the Iceberg Patrol. The rise of air travel led to a decrease in ocean travel but then, towards the end of the century, cruise ships became important again.
During the 20th century new types of cargo ships appeared - the container ship, the oil tanker and the gas container ship. Specialised ports for handling these were also developed.
Most warships used steam propulsion until the advent of the gas turbine in the mid part of the period. Steamships were superseded by diesel-driven cargo ships in the second half of the century. Submarines were mainly powered by a combination of diesel and batteries until the advent of nuclear marine propulsion in 1955.
There were two major wars against Germany and its allies that saw a massive expansion in naval fleets and the use of air power at sea, resulting in the construction of aircraft carriers that became the main centre of sea power. Both wars saw massive destruction of the British merchant fleet but new construction exceeded the rate of destruction. After World War II there was an initial drop in warship numbers but then the rise of the Soviet naval threat resulted in the Cold War with the construction of new warships and submarines. The reduction of the Soviet threat at the end of the century was offset by threats from other sources and piracy as well as sea-borne drug trafficking.