 Complete the following phrase:  Historian Nicholas Rodger called EdwardIIIs claim to be the Sovereign of the Seas into question, arguing there was hardly any royal navy before the reign of HenryV 14131422. Despite Rodgers view, King John had already developed a royal fleet of galleys and had attempted to establish an administration for these ships and others which were arrested privately owned ships pulled into royalnational service. HenryIII, his successor, continued this work. Notwithstanding the fact that he, along with his predecessor, had hoped to develop a strong and efficient naval administration, their endeavours produced one that was informal and mostly ad hoc. A formal naval administration emerged during Edwards reign which was composed of lay administrators and headed by William de Clewre, Matthew de Torksey, and John de Haytfield successively with them being titled Clerk of the Kings Ships. Robert de Crull was the last to fill this position during EdwardIIIs reign and would have the longest tenure in this position. It was during his tenure that Edwards naval administration would become a base for what evolved during the reigns of successors such as Henry VIIIs Council of Marine and Navy Board and Charles Is Board of Admiralty. Rodger also argues that for much of the fourteenth century, the French had the upper hand, apart from Sluys in 1340 and, perhaps, off 