Britain as a contractor state: Cooperation between the Navy and private shipbuilders (1688-1714)

Fugetsu, Shoya (2025) Britain as a contractor state: Cooperation between the Navy and private shipbuilders (1688-1714). PhD thesis, University of Glasgow, Kyoto University.

Abstract

This study argues for the importance of a mutually beneficial relationship between the English/British navy and private shipbuilders for the state’s efforts in naval shipbuilding at the turn of the eighteenth century. Historically, Britain has been viewed as a ‘fiscal-military state’ that efficiently gathered funds via Parliament-endorsed taxation and debt. More recent scholars introduced the term ‘contractor state’ to describe Britain’s strategy of mobilising private resources flexibly with many contractors, compared to its rivals like France and Spain. Britain’s broad contractor network enabled its naval power to grow efficiently.

This thesis investigates the Navy’s collaboration with private shipbuilders, especially their role in constructing frigates, which was crucial to Britain’s maritime control and economic growth. Key research questions address who these contractors were, how they managed large-scale naval shipbuilding, and their motivations for engaging in naval projects. Through a synthesis of contractors’ correspondence, navy records, and existing historical studies, the thesis re-examines the Navy-private yard relationship, previously characterised by conflicts over resource procurement and quality. Instead, it emphasises cooperative aspects that highlight contractors as ‘military entrepreneurs’, using extensive shipbuilding resources, business networks, and personal ties to exploit the high demand for warships.

The thesis is structured around specific inquiries, with early chapters providing a literature review and historical context. Chapter 3 investigates contractors’ profiles and defines them as military entrepreneurs who exploited naval demand. Chapter 4 examines the Navy’s interactions with private shipbuilders and argues that the Navy Board, a department responsible for constructing and maintaining warships, assisted the contractors beyond its formal obligations. Although practices like impressments disrupted operations, the Navy generally cooperated with private yards, enabling a rapid expansion of warship production. Chapter 5 analyses the motivations behind private yards’ involvement in warship contracts, underlining that a wartime recession of mercantile shipbuilding drove many shipyards to naval shipbuilding as an alternative revenue source.

Chapter 6 synthesises the thesis’ findings, proposing three main factors behind the expansion of warship contracts: the presence of large-scale entrepreneurs, wartime change in the shipbuilding market, and the active Navy Board’s support. The thesis portrays Britain’s ‘contractor state’ as an ‘embedded state’, wherein mutual benefits allowed both maritime and naval interests to flourish, creating a sustainable ecosystem that underpinned Britain’s eighteenth-century maritime success.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain; H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory; H Social Sciences > HF Commerce
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Economic and Social History
• Funder's Name: William Lind Foundation (WILLLIND), Sasakawa Science Research Grant [2024-1003]
• Supervisor's Name: Miller, Dr. Christopher and Ross, Professor Duncan
• Date of Award: 2025
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2025-85285
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 02 Jul 2025 15:24
• Last Modified: 09 Jul 2025 09:02
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.85285
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/85285