Why choose the West Indies as a typical example of the secondary ports and overseas stations by which to illustrate and deepen our understanding of the management of such victualling? First, because apart from the example of the western squadron whose victualling was studied in the chapter focusing on Plymouth, it was in the West Indies that the highest concentration of warships occurred. Second, because of this example's geographical position: the Caribbean (sometimes described as the ‘American Mediterranean’) provides an excellent opportunity to study the impact of being supplied both from Europe and from America. Finally, because the Caribbean arena had already been researched by the author for a doctoral thesis through a thorough archival analysis covering a wide period from 1689 to 1763.

The period in question was a dynamic one, rich in consequences. Britain found itself in the enviable situation of being increasingly able to meet the needs of the ever growing naval forces that it brought together in this theatre of operations. The victualling process which started out as a series of ad hoc operations took on a more and more effective shape until it became an efficiently functioning system. There were three main stages in this evolution: the setting up of a victualling system in the West Indies under the jurisdiction of the Victualling Board (1689–1715); a period of improvement by experimentation (1715–48); and finally, the era of the contractor (1756–63).