ABSTRACT
The first naval paper found in the Elizabethan State Papers is a ship list drawn up four months after the Queen's accession, and a month before the more substantial 'Book of Sea Causes'. Since the latter is printed in British Naval Documents, it is not repeated here. Both documents were part of the general stocktaking at the start of the new reign. It also includes incidental information, affirming that operational costs should not be charged against the ordinary, and listing the seven merchant ships at that time in royal service. From about a year later come the first ordinances for the Admiralty officers which are mainly a systematic record of the changes which had been introduced after the 1557 review. They are important because they mark a stage in the bureaucratisation of naval administration, and because they emphasise the interdependence of the marine officers, particularly the extent by which they were required to check up on each other.
