| Summary: | This chapter describes the competition Britain faced in its two century journey of becoming the possessor of the world’s largest trading fleet and the world’s most powerful navy. It stops at several important benchmark dates in European shipping trade history, including the growth of the East Coast coal trade; trade with the Mediterranean; oceanic fishing off the coast of Iceland and the Newfoundland Banks; voyages to the Indian Ocean; colonization in North America and West Indies; increase in demand for timber and marine stores; and the rapid expansion of slave trade from West Africa. The chapter also documents the increased employment levels as a result of trade growth, and estimates at the number of sailors employed at significant dates in maritime history, and investigates their geographical origin, wage, and approach to teamwork.
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