"Builders of the Royal Navy: Contracts of warship constructions at the turn of the eighteenth century"

This paper focuses on the construction of the British navy from the Nine Years War (1688-1697) to the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) to clarify the extent of private yards’ contribution. This period saw the expansion of contracts of naval constructions to private business outside the Thames basin, the construction of royal dockyard at Plymouth, and attempts to standardise warship design. While the importance of the contractors to the British naval power is recognised, studies on their contribution to the projects of warship constructions are limited. Combining previous studies on the contracts, the statistics of the royal navy, and contemporary accounts of the Navy Board and private contractors, I analyse the data in the framework of ‘make-or-buy’ and transaction cost theories. Then, I clarify the benefits that outsourcing provided to warship constructions and the conditions leading to outsourcing. As the Navy Board preferred construction at the royal dockyards, the dockyards presumably had knowledge and technical advantages in warship constructions compared to private yards. Additionally, while having an option to expand the royal dockyards as in the case of Plymouth, the Navy Board chose to expand contracts instead. By exploring the reasons for the decision to outsource, I underline the advantages of outsourcing over constructions at the royal dockyards. Moreover, two conditions were required for the outsourcing: standardisation of ship designs and compatibility of know-how between the military and civilian sectors. I focus on the means of production of private shipbuilders who converted their facilities and knowledge of merchant shipbuilding to warship constructions when the Navy Board extended contracts. By elucidating the characteristics of private yards, I argue that the benefit of outsourcing was predominantly laid on the division of labour between the royal dockyards and private yards more than mere cost efficiency.