Sovereign of the Seas
 Contemporary engraving by J. Payne
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
The Sovereign of the Seas was launched as the world's first 100-gun warship under King Charles I of England in October 1637 in Woolwich . The largest and heaviest ship in history to date was also the first ship with three steplessly continuous decks. It was designed by the shipbuilder Phineas Pett , who had built the largest ship to date, the Prince Royal with 55 cannons, for James I of England in 1610 . Charles I had to introduce a new, unpopular ship tax to finance the new ship.
features
The impetus for building the largest warship to date is said to have come from King Charles I himself. On the occasion of a tour of the shipyard in Woolwich in June 1634, he is said to have expressed his intentions to Phineas Pett (I) for the first time. Phineas Pett was commissioned with the design, the construction work was incumbent on his son Peter Pett . The largest royal ship before the Sovereign had been the Prince Royal , which, however, did not yet have smooth, continuous decks, but rather tiered decks in the aft part of the hull due to its course. The three gun decks of the Sovereign were not only continuous, but also fully equipped, so that a total of 102 cannons could be set up on the ship. Another change compared to the Prince Royal was the rounded stern of the underwater hull of the Sovereign . Like all ships of that time, the Prince Royal had a Plattgatt .
Due to its innovations and the magnificent baroque decoration, it was one of the most extraordinary warships of its time. The ship's hull was decorated with over 1,000 allegories with gilded leaf that served to glorify Charles I. It was the first sailing ship to have a royal sail over the Bramsegeln . The Sovereign became the model for all later triplane , but apparently only became usable after some changes.
First renovation
In 1651 the ship was brought back to the shipyard to improve its stability. The grating decks attached over the forecastle, the kuhl and the aft deck, which were supposed to protect the gun crew from falling parts of the rigging, were removed. This shifted the center of gravity further down, making the ship much more stable. Because of this, however, it cannot be called a two-decker, as no battery deck has been removed. A further improvement was the reduction in the long Galions and a steeper angle of Galionsknies, whereby the tip of the Galion with the Galionsfigur up to the height of the upper edge of the front bulkhead handed.
Second renovation
The Sovereign of the Seas was built from 1658 in the Chatham naval yard under the direction of master shipbuilder Capt. John Taylor rebuilt again. The large, cumbersome stern lantern, which could seat ten people without touching, was replaced by three smaller stern lanterns that were common at the time. The rather cumbersome cat corridors, balcony-like extensions of the side pockets towards the bow, disappeared. This enabled additional gun ports to be cut into the bulwark on the quarterdeck, increasing the number of guns in the quarterdeck from three to seven on each side. In 1660 the Sovereign of the Seas was launched again and was renamed Royal Sovereign by Charles II Stuart, son of Charles I.
Third conversion, destruction and new construction
In 1684 the ship, which was no longer in perfect condition due to the sea battles in the three Dutch-English naval wars , was carried out again by Robert Lee, also in the shipyard of Chatham. During this conversion, the stern of the Royal Sovereign , the new stern design introduced in 1677 for English warships, was adapted and the figurehead, which until then represented a rider, was replaced by a lion. Although this ship had all the merits of an excellent warship, it was only used as a flagship in the sea battles of Beachy Head and Barfleur after the last modifications in 1684 . The reason for this was possibly that the ship was previously too narrow in the stern area and therefore not comfortable for high officers. During the renovations carried out again in 1696, there was a fire caused by a candle, in which the ship was destroyed up to the waterline. Nevertheless it was not removed from the ship lists. Instead, a new ship was built from the remains, which was described as rebuilt and carried out as a conversion for the budget. This was a well-known ploy to take advantage of the Navy's parliament-controlled budgets. This new Royal Sovereign was in service until 1768 when it was scrapped.
The illustration shows a contemporary engraving of the ship by J. Payne.
Tactical-technical data
- 1st rank warship
- Keel length 1637: 127 ft (38.7 m )
- Cannon Deck Length: 167 ft 9 in. (51.1 m)
- Overall length: 71 meters
- Largest width: measured on the outside of the planking on the main bulkhead 47 feet 10 inches (14.6 m)
- Depth in space: 19 feet 2 inches (5.8 m)
- Hull weight 1637: 1522 t
- Hull weight 1660: 1545 t
- Hull weight 1684: 1605 t
- Crew: approx. 800 men
- Armament: 104 cannons
The model
As with many English sailing warships of the 17th century, there is no longer an original model of the Sovereign of the Seas .
Around 1830, Sir Robert Seppings , master shipbuilder and at that time marine inspector, had a model made. The contemporary Payne engraving and the main dimensions served as models. From this model, which is in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich , there is also a plan with a frame plan, line plan and the very elaborate decoration of the ship. The problem with the model and consequently with the plan is the fact that the transom does not match that of the contemporary painting "Peter Pett and the Sovereign of the Seas ". It has been proven that this painting shows the original ship - with its extraordinary decoration, which had the purpose of declaring Charles I as ruler of the seas.
gallery
Carvings on the bow bulkhead
Stern of the Sovereign of the Seas by Wolfgang Rotter
Side view of the Sovereign of the Seas by Wolfgang Rotter
further reading
- Hendrik Busmann: Sovereign of the Seas. The sculptures of the British royal ship from 1637 (= writings of the German Maritime Museum. Vol. 54). Convent, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-934613-19-5 (also: Cologne, University, Dissertation, 1998).
- Frank Fox: Great Ships. The Battle Fleet of King Charles II. Conway Maritime Press, Greenwich 1980, ISBN 0-85177-166-1 .
- Brian Lavery: The Ship of the Line. Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet, 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press, London 2003, ISBN 0-85177-252-8 .
- Brian Lavery, Simon Stevens: Ship Models. Their Purposes and Development from 1650 to the Present. Press of Sail Publications, Rotherfield 1995, ISBN 0-948864-33-8 .
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Brian Lavery: Stagnation sets in 1697-1714. In: Brian Lavery: The Ship of the Line. Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet, 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press, London 1983, ISBN 0-85177-252-8 , pp. 64-68.
