Free The Pirate Queen by Susan Ronald

“ready money for the doing thereof.” The recommendation at the end of The Book was that “the Queen’s Majesty’s Navy” (this was the first time the term was employed) should be laid up in the Medway and Gillingham Water below Rochester Bridge in Kent, and that Portsmouth on the south coast should be used as an advanced base of operations in the summer months only.
    The Book ’s main author, William Winter, was a colorful rapscallion who would eventually be knighted for his service to queen and country later in Elizabeth’s reign. He had been one of the plotters in the Wyatt’s Rebellion against Elizabeth’s sister, Queen Mary, the leaders of which had wanted to put the Protestant Elizabeth on the throne. While Winter had been sent to the Tower for his efforts, even Queen Mary of England had to recognize his usefulness at sea when England declared war on Valois France with Spain. She was forced to release him for the good of the realm, and, as expected, Winter proved his mettle. He was undoubtedly the best and most able sea officer of his generation, and would soon prove his worth for Elizabeth, too.
    By the time Winter was released into action, Elizabeth had already promoted him from surveyor of the navy to master of naval ordnance. There is every indication that he was most likely the decisive voice in the shaping of the new naval program. During the next few years, he oversaw the building of the 1,200-ton Triumph and the 1,000-ton White Bear . He also arranged for the 800-ton Victory to be purchased from its merchant owners. Yet despite these early advances, the poor state of the royal fleet meant that the total number of great ships in operation by 1565 had fallen to seventeen. 16 Winter found this unacceptable, and was undoubtedly one of the first commanders to believe that England’s ships were the best “walls” to protect the realm.
    Fortunately, Winter’s formidable naval talents extended beyond seamanship and surveying. When war with the Queen of Scots and her French Guise relations to expunge the popular Protestant movement became a certainty, Winter was dispatched by Elizabeth in December 1559, the worst possible time of year to engage in a naval battle in the North Sea. His instructions via the Duke of Norfolk, incharge of the land expedition, were clear: “He [Winter] shall aid the Queen’s said friends and annoy their enemies, specially the French, without giving any desperate adventure; and this he must seem to do of his own head as if he had no commission of the Queen or of the Duke of Norfolk. And that the Queen’s friends may be the sooner comforted the Duke thinks it not amiss that either the said Winter himself or some of the captains, do forthwith show themselves in the Firth, leaving the rest behind to receive the said five hundred or 600 harquebusiers to follow.” 17
    The high winds and swirling icy tides of the North Sea in December did not deter the queen’s indomitable sea dog. Not only did he and his fleet of thirty-four ships surprise the French by preventing reinforcements from landing; but the French were driven back all the way to the Spanish Netherlands for shelter. Exhausted and glad to be alive, the French clambered upon the shore, only to be subjected to pillage from pirates of an unknown nationality. Within a few weeks, in January 1560, it was a confident Winter who boldly sailed into the Firth of Forth at Leith, cutting off the French army at Fife. The French troops almost immediately abandoned their weapons, and Winter captured two French galleys as prizes for himself, his men, and the glory of England. When the dispatches reached the queen at court, Elizabeth could hardly believe Winter’s phenomenal achievement. An order to attack by land as well was issued, and the courier rode day and night to Berwick to deliver the message. If Winter could do it, then surely the Duke of Norfolk could follow suit and beat the French roundly, she reasoned. Winter’s successes