Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
If you would like to write a summary for this topic, email phil [at] gyford [dot] com
Paid for with Charles I’s very unpopular Ship Money, the Sovereign of the Seas was launched in 1637. The world’s first true three-decker, she was very big for her day at over 1500 tons and carried 100 guns plus. She was rebuilt as Royal Sovereign in 1660, and again in 1685 when her upper works were cut down to make her more seaworthy. An overturned candle set her on fire at her moorings at Chatham in 1697 and destroyed her. Her replacement, Royal Sovereign II was launched in 1701. She was feared by the Dutch who called her the”golden devil” on account of the lavish gold leaf applied to her ornaments.
Soverayne from Arthur on Sun 18 Jan 2004,
Is this the
Yup! I have one of those sites in fact - www.thesovereignoftheseas.com
Link for the above
L&M say the 1637 copper plate engraving by John Payne (1608-1648) was the print of the ‘Sovereign of the Seas’ acquired by Pepys 31 January 1663, and hung by him in his Green Chamber 15 February. http://www.ingenious.org.uk/See/Transport/Watertransport/?target=SeeLarge&ObjectID={E36C428F-3E02-0CBD-5D2E-3CF6D4544FA6}&viewby=images
Alternate image of the 1637 copper plate engraving by John Payne of the ‘Sovereign of the Seas’
http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10266004&wwwflag=&imagepos=4
Another image
The Sovereign of the Seas, circa 1630:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19396/19396-h/images/384.jpg
Sovereign of the Seas.
In July of 1641 John Evelyn had visited Chatham while at Gravesend and waiting to sail to Flushing. In the dockyard was the jewel of the fleet, the Sovereign of the Seas, double the tonage of any previos ship in the English navy and built for an astounding £40,000.
The prodigious vessel, “for burthen, defense and ornament the richest that ever spread cloth before the wind”, was built using taxes raised without parliamentary sanction but legalised by the judicary… “It cost his Majestie the affections of his subjects” Evelyn would write.
(John Evelyn, Living for Ingenuity by Gillian Darley)
I have the print in my personal collection. It is #8 of 2659 and was hand colored. If any one is interested in purchasing this piece they can contact me via my email address.
“Sovereign of the Seas: Dreadnought of the 17th Century” by James Bloom
(*Sea Classics*, Apr 2006) http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4442/is_200604/ai_n17181914/pg_1
