England harbor strategy

jeffking

Banned
What would have happened if England had used their one biggest strength, the Royal Navy to take the harbors of the Colonists? With Boston, NY, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Charlotte and Savannah all occupied could this have been the war winning strategy that was missed?
 
What would have happened if England had used their one biggest strength, the Royal Navy to take the harbors of the Colonists? With Boston, NY, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Charlotte and Savannah all occupied could this have been the war winning strategy that was missed?
They pretty much did take all but Boston, they briefly held Boston, but Boston is in New England, the British had issues with holding territory in New England

Wouldn't have won the war, as long as the French and Spanish get involved the colonists get independence
 
What would have happened if England had used their one biggest strength, the Royal Navy to take the harbors of the Colonists? With Boston, NY, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Charlotte and Savannah all occupied could this have been the war winning strategy that was missed?

they did...they even burned down half of washington dc in th war of 1812 ( to 14), but they lacked any major force on teh continent to actually hold areas...they dominated the sea but could nver establish a long term base to push in
 
I believe that the Royal Navy was caught unawares by the American Revolution and had a huge majority of in warships mothballed. There were a lot of ships of the line also being scrapped and their replacements were still on the slipways.
 

jeffking

Banned
they did...they even burned down half of washington dc in th war of 1812 ( to 14), but they lacked any major force on teh continent to actually hold areas...they dominated the sea but could nver establish a long term base to push in


The Royal Navy never made a sustained effort to take the harbor ports, they controlled NYC throughout the war and occupied Philly but never all US ports and left most of them alone, The Royal Navy had enough ships to force a total blockade of the entire East Coast, strangling the Colonists and starving them into submission.
 
The Royal Navy never made a sustained effort to take the harbor ports, they controlled NYC throughout the war and occupied Philly but never all US ports and left most of them alone, The Royal Navy had enough ships to force a total blockade of the entire East Coast, strangling the Colonists and starving them into submission.
That's harder than you think, especially when they have to face off with the French and Spanish navies as well

Americans of the time were quite effective smugglers and the US has a lot of coast and small fishing ports, any British blockade would leak like a sieve
 
Boston

The British, Royal Navy and all, had to evacuate Boston due to a seige. They might well have been able to come back--but a navy can't control a port without forces on the ground. If a port falls, the fleet has to leave. In most cases, the fleet can be bombarded in relative safety, since the army can use large mortars from behind hills--and even its artillery can be WELL protected, and only disabled by a direct hit.
 
The Brits take all ports, and then Washington and the Continental Army defeats each of these garrisons one by one in detail. The Brits have to destroy the CA, that's the only way to win, and the amount of guns or cannons they can import is of no consequence. Despite thousands of miles of unblockaded coastline, the CA was always poorly armed compared to the Brits.
 
The East coast of the USA is bloody huge and indented as hell, its not going to be sewn up completely. Also whilst a powerful navy may well help you seize ports, what's going to hold them in the face of a hostile land?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
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