A Second-Rate Navy, 1714-1795
The final section investigates the decline of the Dutch navy in the years following the financially devastating War of the Spanish Succession, and the various attempts to reinvigorate the Dutch economy through overseas shipping. It is divided into five parts: convoys and the containment of Barbary corsairs; favouritism, innovation, and malpractice within the navy; the restructuring of the roles and responsibilities of naval officers; the role of naval seamen; and a final part concerning the aftermath of the overthrowing of the Dutch Republic in 1795 by the French Revolutionary Army. It concludes by summarising the state of the navy in 1795 - naval administration had become centralised; officers undertook institutionalised education; the fleet undertook new duties; and the advent of steamship technology was beginning to transform the navy with more vigor than ever before.