Timber Shortage In The 1770s

The domestic policy greatly caused the timber shortage in 1803, unlike the situation in the 1770s. As a result of Lord St. Vincent’s reform in the naval administration including the dockyards to make them rational and economical, the navy suffered from the shortage of the timber supply. In addition, the consumption of oak timber increased in the early nineteenth century Britain. The stock of timber in the dockyard was not ample in 1803. The Napoleonic Wars resumed and the navy’s demand for timber raised after the short peace of Amiens. In order to cope with the shortage of timber the Navy Board began to search for the source of timber and hemp in many areas from 1702.
Compared with the situation in the War of American Independence, the Board had the more interest in the procurement of naval stores from eastern European regions. The navy considered whether the Adriatic areas could be good suppliers of timber, especially oak to the base in Malta. Moreover, the navy attempted to procure timber from the Black Sea. The
During the Napoleonic Wars, Britain hoped that the dockyards in India constructed warships and India became the source of timber for the navy. In 1804, Lord Melville promoted the construction of warships in the dockyard of the East India Company at Bombay by using Indian woods. The navy considered Indian teaks as suitable for building ships and planned to use teak in Cochin. However, there were not sufficient teak forests in the areas where British could approach easily. In 1806, the Navy Board reported the difficulty in securing sufficient number of large teak. Although the navy desired that India contribute to the growth of British naval power, the import of Indian timber and the construction of ships for the navy were scarce in the Napoleonic Wars. Bombay had prospered as the centre for the construction of warships made with Indian teak since