Timber Shortage In The 1770s

The domestic policy greatly caused the timber shortage in 1803, unlike the situation in the 1770s. As a result of Lord St. Vincent’s reform in the naval administration including the dockyards to make them rational and economical, the navy suffered from the shortage of the timber supply. In addition, the consumption of oak timber increased in the early nineteenth century Britain. The stock of timber in the dockyard was not ample in 1803. The Napoleonic Wars resumed and the navy’s demand for timber raised after the short peace of Amiens. In order to cope with the shortage of timber the Navy Board began to search for the source of timber and hemp in many areas from 1702.
Compared with the situation in the War of American Independence, the Board had the more interest in the procurement of naval stores from eastern European regions. The navy considered whether the Adriatic areas could be good suppliers of timber, especially oak to the base in Malta. Moreover, the navy attempted to procure timber from the Black Sea. The
reason why the navy paid attention to the source of timber in Europe was probably the stable supply of timber in the Mediterranean. In order to gain the superiority over Napoleon, Britain attempted to maintain the naval supremacy in this sea. The resumption of the war raised the importance of the bases in the Mediterranean, as Toulon on the Mediterranean coast was French chief naval base and Britain watched this naval port with the Mediterranean Fleet. The Navy estimated that the direct transportation from the Adriatic areas and the Black Sea to British bases in the Mediterranean could assist the operations in this area. In addition, the traditional sources of timber, such as the Baltic areas, had the difficulty in supply sufficient timber with many countries due to the globalisation, which prompted the navy to seek new sources in Europe.
The navy’s interest in Canadian masts and timber continued after the Independence of United States. In 1793, the significance of the Halifax yard as the supplier of timber and masts raised because of the outbreak of the war against France. The mastships sailed from Halifax to England, Antigua, and Jamaica. Canadian masts and timber were indispensable for both the mother country and the bases in the Western Hemisphere. In 1804, among British North America, New Brunswick, which was established in 1784, became the chief source of Canadian masts. However, the voyage of mastships was not safe. Convoys were required to transport Canadian wood products, as French frigates and privateers often captured British mastships.
In the early nineteenth century, the situation of shipbuilding in India changed drastically.
During the Napoleonic Wars, Britain hoped that the dockyards in India constructed warships and India became the source of timber for the navy. In 1804, Lord Melville promoted the construction of warships in the dockyard of the East India Company at Bombay by using Indian woods. The navy considered Indian teaks as suitable for building ships and planned to use teak in Cochin. However, there were not sufficient teak forests in the areas where British could approach easily. In 1806, the Navy Board reported the difficulty in securing sufficient number of large teak. Although the navy desired that India contribute to the growth of British naval power, the import of Indian timber and the construction of ships for the navy were scarce in the Napoleonic Wars. Bombay had prospered as the centre for the construction of warships made with Indian teak since
1815.
Britain could secure sufficient quantity of timber and masts from the eastern Baltic between 1801 and 1807, although the navy searched for new sources of wood products all over the world and the price of timber increased. Britain failed to procure timber from the Baltic ports under Napoleon, but it could import goods from other ports without serious problems. From the seventeenth century, Britain had had a continuing interest in the relationships among the Baltic areas, because the change of the diplomatic relationships in this region had serious effects on the condition of Britain’s procurement of naval stores. Therefore, Britain dispatched the squadrons frequently in order to keep the balance of power in the Baltic and prevent a single power from controlling exclusively the Baltic Sea, especially the Sound. In 1801 and 1807, Britain attacked Copenhagen for the purpose of that.
The timber shortage in 1803 did not had serious influence on the timber supply in the navy, although the stock of timber became unstable. The Baltic areas and Canada exported sufficient amount of wood products to Britain. However, this shortage prompted the navy to search for new sources of wood products which could provide the naval bases in the Mediterranean. The effective supply of wood products to the naval bases was quite important from the viewpoint of the strategy for France.
The situation within the empire changed certainly. Canadian masts played an important role in the navy’s dockyard in England, Antigua, and Jamaica, as the import of them increased steadily after the War of American Independence. In India, the navy attempted to use native woods instead of goods imported from the mother country. The problem about how to transport materials for shipbuilding to the East India and the West Indies was solved gradually, thanks to Canadian and Indian forests. In contrast, the essence of the project for supplying Oceanian woods for India was declining. However, some kauri pine mast timber for the navy was imported regularly from New Zealand by 1804. The navy continually had an interest in forests in Australia and New Zealand.