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HMS Royal Oak |
The strength and elasticity of oak make it really good for building. For a long time, huge oak beams were used in the construction of England’s homes. These oak beams were sometimes elaborately carved.
Historically we also needed oak for the coastal defences of England - the forts, castles and Naval Ships constructed to protect us from invasion. For this reason Henry VIII made a law to stop oak trees being cut down. His flagship, the Mary Rose, was made of oak in 1509-11.
During the 1500s, Spain was the most powerful country in the world. Philip II, the king of Spain, dreamt of invading England for many years.
In 1585 Philip began to prepare a great fleet to conquer us. The oaks of the Forest of Dean provided much of the material used for our English ship building. After almost two decades of war between Spain and England, the king of Spain exclaimed …all the oaks of the forest must be destroyed if victory is to be achieved!
In 1605 a Treaty finally brought an end to the war.
So much Oak was used in ship building for England, that Horatio Nelson (1758 - 1805) drew up a special petition advising the need to replant England's forests with Oak. Royal Oak Day is a great day for planting oak trees.
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Admiral Collingwood, a great friend of Nelson, always carried a pocket full of acorns which he would carefully plant wherever he went.
In memory of Charles II’s escape in the oak tree a number of Royal Navy ships have been named HMS Royal Oak.
The first HMS Royal Oak was launched in 1664. The most recent was attacked and sank in 1939.
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