Sovereign of the Seas: Dreadnought of the 17th Century

Sea Classics, Apr 2006 by Bloom, James

The British HMS Dreadnought of 1906 (closing the Ironclad epoch) is commonly accepted as inaugurating the age of the Big Battleship, predating the behemoths that were (wrongly) expected have decided the War at Sea in the 20th century, giving its name to a type of warship that epitomized the Naval super weapon. Much as Dreadnought was the breakthrough, or pioneer, warship of the 20th century, as was the 1861 British ironclad HMS Warrior that of the 19th, the HMS Sovereign of the Seas was the 17thcentury counterpart. It was the prototype for Nelson's Victory of a century later, and not very different from Trafalgar's ships-of-the-line. In short, it was designed as a "super-battleship" of its day, intended to overawe and possibly overwhelm any challengers. The operative word is "overawe" because King Charles first and foremost intended this vessel as a prestige item, its affect largely achieved through its impressive appearance. There is some evidence that the design team tried to discard some of the "showy" elements that hindered performance, but were largely cowed by their sovereign's persistent insistence on visual glamour during the design and construction phases.

Quite simply, the Sovereign of the Seas was perhaps the most revolutionary man-o'-war ever built in England and was so innovative she set a basic pattern for the construction of large warships which endured for over 200years, until the end of the age of sail. She was the largest and most ornately decorated ship of her time and was the first-ever bona fide full three-decker. Her hull was tripleplanked for protection against the enemy's broadsides. She was also the first ship to carry the additional level of royal sails on her fore and main masts (royal sails did not become a general feature of warships until 150-years later).

The current impression of SoS is dependant on a few 17th-century paintings and sketches, and a few narrative descriptions. In order to appreciate the visual impact of the ship in three dimensions, we have an abundance of ship models of varying exactitude, depending on the intended audience and the asking price. Augmenting the overabundance of often whimsical Santa Marias, Golden Hinds, Mayflowers, Cutty Sarks and Victories, it's no wonder that the Sovereign is a favorite subject for model makes and purveyors of model kits and ready-built models.

For those who would adorn their homes with eyecatching maritime décor, SoS is an extremely striking ship. However, artists and model-builders, as is the case with the other favored topics (with the exception of Cutty Sark), mainly operate from conjecture. SoS was built before the inception of builder's plans and the science of Naval architecture. So, modern paintings and drawings as well as models, vary. However, with the SoS, this is less so than with the others. For example, the Santa Maria (built circa 1475) too often is depicted as being identical with the Mayflower (built circa 1595) or even as a Spanish galleon, early 17th-century pattern, whereas it was probably closer in appearance to the famous San Mateo votive model (approximately 1470) now housed in Rotterdam.

Of course, the faithfulness of the SoS models depends on whether they were prepared for the mass market... so that folks wanting a nautical den or office theme could adorn their mantels, shelves or desktops... or by someone who wanted to replicate the original concept to every last bit of rigging and treenail. Fortunately for the purists, the distinction and renown of the vessel assured that posterity would have some more or less reliable guides to assist latter-day model makers and artists.

The nautical engineers, the father and son team of Phineas and Peter Pett, worked without benefit of blueprints, using their own rules of thumb and expert eyes in the planning, framing, planking and finishing phases of construction. So the appearance of this famous ship must be derived from near-contemporary eyewitness paintings and sketches as well as written records of her form and details. The senior Pett, Phineas, did make a model of the ship prior to setting her up on the ways so that the ship's inspiration, Charles I, could give his approval. Alas, this model is lost to posterity. The following accounts, and the accompanying illustrations, are based upon the best records available, including paintings, woodcuts and especially trustworthy scale models. Use of some modem models, annotated as to likely accuracy, might help the reader to visualize this path-breaking and influential warship, which would, like the Dreadnought of some 270- years from that time, strongly influence warship design for many decades.

On 26 June 1634 (regrettably the chronicler was not, subsequently, similarly precise) Charles I went to the shipyard of Woolwich, near London, to inspect the ship Leopard, then being erected under the supervision of Phineas Pett. The Pett family was wellestablished in the fledgling field of ship design, at least since the time of Henry VIII a century earlier. It was during this visit to the shipyard that Sir Phineas' demonstrated his expertise and perhaps some advanced technical data that the skilful designer pointed out to him, inspired Charles to direct Pett to design a powerful warship that would surpass those of the other aspiring Naval powers of the day - notably Spain, France and the upstart Dutch. Several days later, the King summoned Pett and ordered the construction of what was intended to be the most powerful and spectacular ship ever built.