Comment by Cthulhu_

Comment by Cthulhu_ 10 months ago

5 replies

> access to vast untapped timber

??? Scandinavia is full of it. But I suppose in the 1600's it was the Netherlands that cut down all the forests, they were the shipbuilding superpower at the time.

tirant 10 months ago

It was the same situation for Spain. Its rise as a naval superpower in the 15th and 16th centuries came at a high environmental cost too. To build its fleet, including those iconic Spanish galleons, Spain logged high amounts of oak and pine, especially from northern regions like Cantabria and the Basque Country.

As ship production ramped up, there were growing concerns about resource depletion. To the point that by the late 16th century, Spain was forced to start importing timber from its colonies to keep up with demand.

  • shmeeed 10 months ago

    What I find so chilling and reminding about this history is that to this very day, the spanish peninsula remains largely deforested because of that fleet they had 500 years ago.

throwaway48476 10 months ago

They didn't have enough.

>The Swedish Navy planted oak trees on the island beginning in 1831 to provide strategically important timber for future ship construction. Once the timber was ready to harvest it was no longer required for ship construction.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visings%C3%B6

speleding 10 months ago

Fun fact: the word "Holland" comes from "Houtland" meaning "Wood" land. There is almost no forrest left there now because they turned the trees into boats during their golden age.

impossiblefork 10 months ago

We have forests, but not like the US. We had to carefully manage our forests in order to keep them.