This History Channel series takes a fascinating look at the rise and decline of one of the most powerful fleets the world has ever known The Royal Navy.

   Wooden Walls 1600 - 1805
   During the 17th century, the Royal Navy's war efforts were aided immeasurably by Samuel Pepys' visionary reforms of the Admiralty and the codification of naval tactics in "The Fighting Instructions" which transformed naval battles from uncontrollable melees into linear chess games on water. Led by Admirals Robert Blake, George Monck and others the Royal Navy's MIGHTY WOODEN WALLS confronted the great Dutch Admirals, such as Maarten Tromp, in decisive battles that sustained Britain's naval might. However, reforms initiated by France's brilliant Minister of Marine, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, begin to bear fruit. The French built better designed, faster ships and trained their sailors more effectively than the British.
   During the American War for Independence, Admirals such as Francois de Grasse and Pierre Suffren won astonishing victories over the Royal Navy that, ultimately, helped free America and threatened to topple England from the pinnacle of naval power. However, a little-known Scottish landlubber named John Clerk, stimulated a revolution in naval tactics and when the incomparable naval leader, Admiral Horatio Nelson, took the helm of HMS VICTORY at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, Britain's mastery of the waves was re-established.