Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part One The General Organisation of Victualling the British Navy
- Part Two The Bases
- 4 The Victualling Board's Principal Bases
- 5 An Example of a Victualling Yard under the Jurisdiction of the Victualling Board: Plymouth, Satellite of British Logistical Power
- 6 Victualling in the Secondary Home Ports and in the Overseas Stations
- 7 An Example of Stations Managed by a Private Contractor in the Service of the Crown: The Caribbean Staging-Posts
- Part Three The Main Markets
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- Sources and Bibliography
- Index
- Other Works of Christian Buchet
4 - The Victualling Board's Principal Bases
from Part Two - The Bases
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 April 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part One The General Organisation of Victualling the British Navy
- Part Two The Bases
- 4 The Victualling Board's Principal Bases
- 5 An Example of a Victualling Yard under the Jurisdiction of the Victualling Board: Plymouth, Satellite of British Logistical Power
- 6 Victualling in the Secondary Home Ports and in the Overseas Stations
- 7 An Example of Stations Managed by a Private Contractor in the Service of the Crown: The Caribbean Staging-Posts
- Part Three The Main Markets
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- Sources and Bibliography
- Index
- Other Works of Christian Buchet
Summary
The Victualling Board's principal bases were under the direct jurisdiction of this Admiralty office responsible for organising the different operations relating to victualling. An Agent of the Victualling Board was in charge of personnel, the number of which varied according to the situation of the base, and he managed victualling activities in close liaison with the Board Commissioners based in London.
The number of bases directly under the jurisdiction of the Victualling Board noticeably decreased during the first three conflicts in the eighteenth century (see Table 4.1). There were eleven bases during the War of the Spanish Succession, but then, with the abandonment of victualling at Lisbon and Harwich in 1713, there were only nine bases left to be directly victualled by the Victualling Board during the 1739–48 war. During the Seven Years War, this number fell to six. The fortress at Port Mahon in Minorca fell at the outbreak of hostilities, which led to the court martial, death penalty and subsequent execution of the British naval commander, Admiral Byng, who had failed to relieve the fortress. Victualling for Jamaica and Kinsale was entrusted to a private contractor who was responsible for meeting all the needs of any of the ships, according to an established procedure. This will be examined more closely in Chapter 6, which is devoted to victualling in the secondary ports and outlying centres.
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- Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2013