The royal ships formed a small part of the fleet used for English expeditions. In 1338, only 14 of 361 ships in royal service belonged to the king. The examples include 288 ships in 1230 and 305 in 1297, the latter carrying about 9,000 men with more than 6,000 seamen. At least 750 ships supported Edward III's crossing to Normandy in 1346, and the following year's siege of Calais needed a fleet of similar scale. Some vessels made repeated voyages to carry the required forces.
Notable Point · 21:12-22:08
Royal expeditions mobilized hundreds of merchant ships
Only 14 of the 361 ships in royal service in 1338 belonged to the king, and other expeditions needed still larger fleets.