HMS Sovereign of the Seas
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".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.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.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.[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.[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.[5] She was smaller than Naseby (later renamed Royal Charles), but she was in regular service during the three Anglo-Dutch Wars, surviving the Raid on the Medway in 1667 by being at Portsmouth at the time.[13] She underwent a second rebuild in 1685 at Chatham Dockyard, relaunching as a first rate of 100 guns,[3] before taking part in the outset of the War of the Grand Alliance.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 there).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 ...
Sovereign of the SeasHMS Royal SovereignHMS SovereignEnglandPeter PettWoolwich DockyardBattle of Kentish KnockBattle of Beachy HeadBattle of La HogueFour Days' BattleSt James' Day Battlefirst-rateship of the lineFull-rigged shipwarshipEnglish NavyCommonwealthCharles I of EnglandChathamWillem van de Velde the YoungerTrinity HouseSir John PenningtonshipwrightPrince RoyalNelsonVictoryRevengeMathew BakerAnthony van DyckShip MoneygildingJohn Brownedemi-cannondrakesculverinsTudor roseHugo GrotiusJohn SeldenWilliam MonsonKing EdgarJames ItransomWilliam SymondsCommonwealth of EnglandGeneral at SeaRobert BlakeUnited ProvincesFranceFirst Anglo-Dutch WarStates General of the NetherlandsfireshipsBattle of the Kentish KnockKentish KnockEnglish RestorationSt. James's Day BattleNasebyAnglo-Dutch WarsRaid on the MedwayPortsmouthChatham DockyardWar of the Grand AllianceIrish SeaBattle of Beachy Head (1690)Battle of La Hougueroyalstopgallant sailsjigger-mastWilliam IIIChatham Dockyardscourt-martialledfloggedMarshalseaJames ThornhillSerjeant PainterPharosColosseMemphique PyramideNeptuneList of world's largest wooden shipsSimon SchamaLongest wooden shipsCaligula's Giant ShipKhufu shipLeontophorosMarsala ShipNemi shipsObelisk shipsRoman ship of MarausaSyracusiaTessarakonteresThalamegosMedieval and modernoar-powered shipsGalera RealGalère RéaleWind-powered onlyAdler von LübeckBaron of RenfrewChinese treasure shipCinco ChagasColumbusFlor de la MarGanj-i-SawaiGhurabGötheborgGrace DieuGreat HarryGreat MichaelGreat RepublicJavanese jongKronanMadre de DeusMahmudiyeOrientOcéan classPeter PomegranatePeter von DanzigPretoriaRahīmīRoanokeSanta AnnaSantisima TrinidadSão João BaptistaSoleil RoyalTenaciousVictoria (1859)William D. Lawrence