Sovereign of the Seas was a 17th-century warship of the English Navy. She was ordered as a 90-gun first-rateship of the line,[1][4] but at launch was armed with 102 bronze guns at the insistence of the king.[4] She was later renamed Sovereign under the republican Commonwealth, and then HMS Royal Sovereign at the Restoration of Charles II.
The elaborately gilded stern ordered by Charles I of England meant enemy ships knew her as the "Golden Devil".[5] She was launched on 13 October 1637, and served from 1638 until 1697, when a fire burnt the ship to the waterline at Chatham.
Sovereign of the Seas was ordered in August 1634 on the personal initiative of Charles I of England, as a prestige project. The decision provoked much opposition from the Brethren of Trinity House, who pointed out that "There is no port in the Kingdome that can harbour this ship. The wild sea must be her port, her anchors and cables her safety; if either fail, the ship must perish, the King lose his jewel, four or five hundred man must die, and perhaps some great and noble peer".[6]
These objections were overcome with the help of Admiral Sir John Pennington, and work commenced in May 1635. This was supervised by Peter Pett, later a Commissioner of the Navy, guided by his father Phineas, the royal shipwright, and was launched at Woolwich Dockyard on 13 October 1637. As the second three-decked first-rate (the first three-decker being the Prince Royal of 1610), she was the predecessor of Nelson's Victory, although the Revenge, built in 1577 by Mathew Baker, was the inspiration for her, providing the innovation of a single deck devoted entirely to broadside guns.[citation needed]
The most extravagantly decorated warship in the Royal Navy, she was adorned from stern to bow with gilded carvings against a black background, designed by Anthony van Dyck, and made by John Christmas and Mathias Christmas. Construction costs of £65,586 was funded by Ship Money, the gilding alone being £6,691, the price of an average warship. For comparison, the total tax generated in 1637 was £208,000.
Charles ordered 102 bronze cannon, to ensure it was the most powerfully armed ship in the world; these were made by John Browne.[4]Sovereign of the Seas had 118 gun ports and only 102 guns. The shape of the bow meant that the foremost gun ports on the lower gun deck were blocked by the anchor cable. Consequently, the fore chase – the guns facing forward – occupied the next ports. There were two demi-cannondrakes – one port, one starboard – some 11.5 feet (3.5m) long, weighing together five tons (5000kg). They had a bore of 6.4 to 6.75 inches (16.3 to 17.1 centimetres) and fired a shot weighing 32 to 36 pounds (15 to 16 kilograms), using around ten pounds of gunpowder.
In the third ports from the bow, there were two 11-foot (3.4m) demi-cannon drakes weighing, together, 4.3 tons (4300kg). Behind them were twenty cannon drakes, nine feet long, and weighing in all 45.7 tons (45700kg). In the third port from the stern were two more 11-foot (3.4m) demi-cannon drakes weighing, together, 4.3 tons (4300kg). The last two ports on either side were occupied by the stern chase – four 10.5-foot (3.2m) demi-cannon drakes weighing a total of 11.4 tons (11400kg).
The middle gun deck had heavy fortified culverins – that is, guns short for their bore – fore and aft. There were two 11.5-foot (3.5m) pieces, weighing 4.8 tons (4800kg), in the fore chase; four 11.5-foot (3.5m) pieces, weighing 10.2 tons (10200kg), in the stern chase. Immediately behind the fore chase were two demi-culverin drakes, eight to nine feet (2.4 to 2.7m) long, weighing some 1.9 tons (1900kg). Then came twenty-two 9.5-foot (2.9m) culverin drakes weighing a total of 30.4 tons (30400kg).
On the upper gun deck there were two 10-foot (3.0m) fortified demi-culverins in the fore chase and two in the stern chase, both pairs weighing 2.8 tons (2800kg). Between them there were twenty-two demi-culverin drakes, eight to nine feet (2.4 to 2.7m) long, weighing over 21 tons (21000kg) in total.
There were eight eight-to-nine-foot (2.4 to 2.7m) demi-culverin drakes weighing 7.7 tons (7700kg) in the forecastle; another six weighing 5.7 tons (5700kg) on the half-deck. The quarter-deck carried two six-foot demi-culverin drake cutts – a cutt, again, being a shorter version of a gun – weighing 16 hundredweight (726kg). Then there were another two six-foot culverin cutts, weighing 1.3 tons (1,179kg), aft of the forecastle bulkhead. In all, Sovereign of the Seas carried 155.9 tons (141,430kg) of guns – and that did not include the weight of the gun carriages. Altogether they cost £26,441 13s 6d including £3 per piece to have the Tudor rose, a crown and the motto: Carolvs Edgari sceptrvm aqvarum – "Charles has established Edgar’s sceptre of the waters" – engraved on them. The gun carriages, made by Matthew Banks, Master Carpenter for the Office of Ordinance, cost another £558 11s 8d.
By 1642, her armament had been reduced to 90 guns.[1] Until 1655, she was also exceptionally large for an English vessel; no other ships of Charles were larger than Prince Royal.
Pett and Sovereign of the Seas showing her gilded stern carvings depicting King Edgar as the perceived founder of English naval strength and dominion
Sovereign of the Seas was not so much built because of tactical considerations, but as a deliberate attempt to bolster the reputation of the English crown. Her name was, in itself, a political statement as Charles tried to revive the perceived ancient right of the English kings to be recognised as the 'lords of the seas.' English ships demanded that other ships strike their flags in salute, even in foreign ports. The Dutch legal thinker Hugo Grotius had argued for a mare liberum, a sea free to be used by all. Such a concept was mainly favourable to Dutch trade; in reaction, John Selden and William Monson published the book Mare Clausum ("the Closed Sea") in 1635, with special permission of Charles, which attempted to prove that King Edgar had already been recognised as Rex Marium, or "sovereign of the seas" – this book had been previously repressed by James I. The name of the ship explicitly referred to this dispute; King Edgar was the central theme of the transom carvings.[7]
Rear-Admiral Sir William Symonds noted that after the ship's launch she was "cut down" and made a safe and fast ship. In the time of the Commonwealth of England all ships named after royalty were renamed; it was first decided to change the name of the ship into Commonwealth, but in 1650 it became a simple Sovereign.[8] In 1651 she was again made more manoeuvrable by reducing upperworks after which she was described as "a delicate frigate (I think the whole world hath not her like)".[9] She served throughout the wars of the Commonwealth and became the flagship of General at SeaRobert Blake. She was involved in all of the great English naval conflicts fought against the United Provinces and France and was referred to as 'The Golden Devil' (den Gulden Duvel) by the Dutch.
Medal on Sovereign of the Seas
When, during the First Anglo-Dutch War, on 21 October 1652 the States General of the Netherlands in a secret session determined the reward money for the crews of fireships that succeeded in destroying an enemy vessel, Sovereign was singled out: an extra prize of 3000 guilders was promised 'in case they should ruin the ship named the Sovereign'.[10] The ship had not seen action during the Civil War, remaining laid up. After being refitted in 1651, she had her first fight in the Battle of the Kentish Knock, armed with 106 guns.[11] In this battle she ran aground on the Kentish Knock itself.[12]Although repeatedly occupied by the Dutch in the fiercest of engagements Sovereign was retaken every time[citation needed] and remained in service for nearly sixty years as the best ship in the English fleet. By 1660 her armament had been changed to 100 guns.[1] After the English Restoration she was rebuilt at Chatham in 1660 as a first-rate ship of the line of 100 guns,[2] with flatter gundecks and renamed Royal Sovereign; most of the carvings had been removed.
Sovereign became leaky and defective with age during the reign of William III, and was laid up at Chatham Dockyards for repairs late in 1695.
She ignominiously ended her days, in mid January 1696,[3][4] by being burnt to the water line as a result of having been set on fire by accident (it was 1697 in continental Europe, due to more modern calendar). A bosun, who was on night watch, left a candle burning unattended. Admitting to his fault he was court-martialled on 27 January 1696[16] and not only publicly flogged but also imprisoned at Marshalsea for the rest of his life.[17]
In her honour, naval tradition has kept the name of this ship afloat, and several subsequent ships have been named HMS Royal Sovereign.
In popular culture
A painting from this ship survives on the ceiling of Commissioners House at Chatham Dockyard, over the grand staircase. It depicts an assembly of the gods and depicts Mars being crowned by Neptune, surrounded by the goddesses Hope, Peace, Justice and Plenty. The painting is surrounded by a gilded frieze depicting sea creatures. It is attributed to James Thornhill, the King's Serjeant Painter. He painted the ceilings of the Royal Hospital Greenwich and the Dome of Saint Paul's Cathedral.
Thomas Carew's poem "Upon the Royal Ship called the 'Sovereign of the Seas', built by Peter Pett, Master Builder; His Father, Captain Phineas Pett, Supervisor: 1637" is a paean to the vessel, calling it the eighth wonder of the world:[18]
...Monarchal Ship, whose Fabrick doth outpride The Pharos, Colosse, Memphique Pyramide... We yt have heard of Seaven, now see ye Eight Wonder at home; of Naual art the height... Neptune is proud o'th burden, and doth wonder To hear a Fourefold Fire out-rore Iouv's Thunder...
Model of Sovereign of the Seas
Model of Sovereign of the Seas on display in the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology, Bodrum, Turkey, with royals
Stern of Sovereign of the Seas
Carvings on Sovereign of the Seas' beakhead bulkhead
The demi-cannon was a medium-sized cannon, similar to but slightly larger than a culverin and smaller than a regular 42 pounds (19 kg) cannon, developed in the early 17th century. A full cannon fired a 42-pound shot, but these were discontinued in the 18th century as they were seen as too unwieldy. The lower tiers of 18th century English warships were usually equipped with demi-cannons.
The Antelope was a ship of the English Tudor navy, launched in 1546. She was rebuilt three times, in 1558, 1581 and 1618. She thus served in various forms from the time of King Henry VIII to the English Civil War. She is mostly remembered for being a part of the fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada.
HMS Northumberland was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Francis Bayley of Bristol in 1677/79. She partook in the last great battle of the War of English Succession and the first battle of the War of Spanish Succession. She was lost in the Great Storm of November 1703.
HMS Ruby was a 40-gun frigate of the Commonwealth of England, built by Peter Pett at Deptford. She took part in actions during all three of the Anglo-Dutch Wars of 1652–1654, 1665–1667 and 1672–1674. She later served in the West Indies, and in 1683 was sent to the Leeward Islands to protect British settlements against Caribbean pirate raids. In 1687, the English pirate Joseph Bannister was captured by the crew of Ruby and brought to Port Royal for trial. She was rebuilt in 1687. She was captured by the French in October 1707.
Loyal London was an 80-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 10 June 1666 at Deptford Dockyard with a burthen of 1,236 tons. She was established with 80 guns comprising 22 cannon-of-seven, four demi-cannon, 26 culverins and 28 demi-culverins; in July 1666 this was raised to 92 guns, comprising seven cannon-of-seven, 19 demi-cannon, 28 culverins, 26 12-pounders and 12 demi-culverins.
Nonsuch was a galleon of the English Navy. She was built on the orders of Queen Mary in 1555–56 as the Philip and Mary and renamed twice during her career — first to Nonpareil when she was rebuilt at Deptford in 1584, and later as Nonsuch when she was again rebuilt from 1603 to 1605.
HMS Unicorn was a 46-gun second rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, launched at Woolwich in 1634.
Constant Warwick was a 32-gun privateer, built in 1645 as a private venture between the Earl of Warwick and Sir William Batten. Hired for service in the Parliamentarian navy during the First English Civil War, her captain William Batten defected to the Royalists during the 1648 Second English Civil War. After her crew mutinied in November 1648, she returned to England and was purchased by Parliament on 20 January 1649. Described as an "incomparable sailer", she was noted for her sharpness and fine lines, and is considered by some as the first true frigate of the Royal Navy. Mainly used for patrolling, she was captured by the French in 1691.
HMS Adventure was a 34-gun fourth-rate of the English Navy, built by Peter Pett II at Woolwich Dockyard and launched in 1646. With the outbreak of the English Civil War she served on the Parliamentary side until 1649. She was incorporated into the Commonwealth Navy in 1650. She partook in the Battle off Dover in 1652, the Battle of Portland and the Battle of Gabbard in 1653. Adventure was employed on Bulstrode Whitelocke's embassy to Sweden, 1653–1654. After the Restoration she was incorporated into the Royal Navy. She was present at the Battle of Lowestoft (1665) and the Battle of Solebay (1672). She also participated in the Golden Horse and Two Lions actions in 1681. She was in the Battle of Barfleur in 1692. She captured several ships in the later part of her career, before being captured by the French in 1709.
Fairfax was a third rate frigate of the navy of the Commonwealth of England from 1653 to 1660. With the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660 she was recommissioned as HMS Fairfax and served with the Royal Navy until 1674.
HMS Assistance was one of six 40-gun fourth-rate frigates, built for the Commonwealth of England under the 1650 Programme, after the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 she was incorporated into the navy of the Kingdom of England. During her time in the Commonwealth Navy she partook in the First Anglo-Dutch war being present in the battles of Kentish Knock, Portland and The Gabbard. In the Mediterranean she was present at the Battle of Santa Cruz and the bombardment of Porto Farina, In the Second Anglo-Dutch War she was involved in the Battle of Lowestoft, Battle of Vagen and the St James Day Fight. She did not participate in fleet actions after this. She spent the rest of her service life undergoing several rebuilds and plying the waters as a cruiser protecting British trade and projecting British sovereignty. After nearly 95 years of Service she was sunk as a break water at Sheerness at the end of 1745.
HMS Hampton Court was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Deptford Dockyard in 1678. Her initial commission was to move her to Chatham where she spent in the next ten years in Ordinary. She held an active commission for the War of the English Succession, participating in the Battles of Beachy Head and Barfleur. She was rebuilt at Blackwall in 1699/1701. During the War of Spanish Succession she served mainly in the Mediterranean. In 1707 she was taken by the French and incorporated into the French Navy for four years. She was sold to the Spanish in 1712. She was wrecked in Spanish service off the coast of Florida in a hurricane in 1715.
HMS Lenox was a 70-gun third rate built at Deptford Dockyard in 1677/78. She was in active commission for the War of English Succession fighting in the Battles of Beachy Head and Barfleur. She was rebuilt in 1699. Again in active commission for the War of Spanish Succession fighting in the Capture of Gibraltar and the Battle of Velez Malaga. She followed this with the Battle off Passero. She was rebuilt again in 1721. She was active in the War with Spain, capturing the Princesa then serving in Home Waters, the Mediterranean and finally the West Indies. She was in action off Havana in 1745. She returned home and was placed in Ordinary. She was finally sunk as a breakwater at Sheerness in 1756.
HMS Expedition was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line built at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1677/79. She was in active commission during the War of the English Succession participating in the battles of Beachy Head and Barfleur. She was rebuilt in 1699. Again, for the War of Spanish Succession she was in commission for the operation at Cadiz then returned to England where she sat for two years. She was in the Mediterranean for the Battle of Marbella in 1705. She then went to the West Indies and fought in Wager's action off Cartagena in 1708. She was rebuilt in 1709-14 to the 1706 Establishment. She spent her time split between the Baltic and as guard ship at Portsmouth before being broken at Portsmouth in 1736. She was rebuilt in 1736/40 at Deptford Dockyard.
HMS Gloucester was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line built for the Royal Navy during the 1690s. She spent most of her career in the West Indies and participated in the 1701–15 War of the Spanish Succession. The ship was hulked in 1708 and broken up in 1731.
Hope was a galleon of the English navy, built in 1559. She was rebuilt in 1583 "into the form of a galleass", and then again rebuilt from 1603 to 1604 when she was renamed Assurance.
Adventure was a 26-gun galley in the service of the English Navy Royal. She spent her early career in expeditions as far as West Indies, Cadiz and the Azores. She later was assigned to the Channel Guard during two more attempts by Philip II of Spain to invade England. She would spend the rest of her time in Home Waters, mainly the English Channel and North Sea. She was broken in 1645.
The 1637 Group of two 300 ton 'pinnances' to carry fourteen pieces of ordnance and sixteen banks of oars were ordered on 12 December 1636. These vessels would carry thirty pieces of ordnance with ten pairs of gun ports on the lower deck with two pair forward and four pairs aft on the upper deck. The waist would be unprotected until two more pairs of gun ports were added later. Their measurements would compare favourably to the 'frigate' type vessels built a decade later. Their beam to length ratio of 3.46 to 1 would make a more true frigate than the Constant Warwick.
HMS Milford was a 32-gun fifth rate built under contract by William Hubbard of Ipswich in 1694/95.
HMS Lowestoffe was a 32-gun fifth rate built at Chatham Dockyard in 1696/97. She spent her career on counter piracy patrols and trade Protection duties. She participated in the capture of Port Royal in Nova Scotia. She was rebuilt in 1722/24 as a 20-gun sixth rate. She was sold in July 1744.
↑ Evelyn Berckman, Creators and Destroyers of the English Navy — as related by the State Papers Domestic, London 1974, p.81
↑ Rodger, N.A.M. (2004), The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain 1649–1815, Penguin Group, p. 216
↑ Age Scheffer, Roemruchte jaren van onze vloot, Baarn 1966, p.21: ingeval sijluyden het schip genaemt de Souverain komen te ruineren
↑ Angus Konstam, Warships of the Anglo-Dutch Wars 1652–74. Osprey Publishing 2011, p.28
↑ Rodger, N.A.M. (2004), The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain 1649–1815, Penguin Group, p. 14
↑ Rodger, N.A.M. (2004), The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain 1649–1815, Penguin Group, p. 77
↑ Rodger, N.A.M. (2004), The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain 1649–1815, Penguin Group, p. 144
↑ Age Scheffer, Roemruchte jaren van onze vloot, Baarn 1966, p. 193
↑ Public Records Office: Secretary's Department of the Admiralty In-Letters 5256
↑ Famous Fighters of the Fleet, Edward Fraser, 1904, p.201
↑ Dunlop, Rhodes (April 1941). "Thomas Carew, Thomas Carey, and The Sovereign of the Seas". Modern Language Notes. 56 (4). Johns Hopkins University Press: 268–271. doi:10.2307/2910435. JSTOR2910435.
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Model of Sovereign of the Seas on display in the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology, Bodrum, Turkey, with royals
Stern of Sovereign of the Seas
Carvings on Sovereign of the Seas' beakhead bulkhead
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