A Jacobean Draught of an 18-gun Ship in the Danish National Archives Drawn by Phineas Pett

Abstract

AbstractThis article discusses an early seventeenth-century draught of an 18-gun ship, which the author believes was drawn by Phineas Pett himself. This is based on handwriting comparisons, dating evidence within the draught, dimensions and armament of the ship possibly portrayed, and a possible explanation of why an English draught is now in the Danish archives.Key words: Phineas Pettseventeenth-century draughtearly ship’s draughtEnglish warshipPhoenix18 gunsrace-builtship designChatham dockyardJames VI and IPrince Henry AcknowledgementsI acknowledge with gratitude the assistance of the late Frank Fox, and Richard Endsor, who answered various queries and made observations on the draught. Richard Barker has also commented upon the draught, and all three have read through a draft of this article and made helpful comments thereon. I am also grateful to the anonymous referees who commented on the article, and to the editor who assisted with the sections dealing with the Danish history of the draught. However, any remaining errors are entirely my own. Richard Endsor and David Antscherl have also enhanced the original image of the draught to provide a more usable version, and my thanks are due to them on this score.Notes1 Rigsarkivet, Copenhagen (hereafter RA), Søetatens Kort- og Tegningssamling, Designation G No. 58682 Dating years follow new style, with years beginning 1 Jan.3 Bjerg, ‘Søetatens kort- og tegningssamling’, 226.4 Bjerg, ‘A Royal Yacht’, 94–6.5 Gardiner, R. ‘The Danish Navy Plans Collection’, 65.6 Howard, Sailing Ships of War, pl. 252.7 Probst, ‘Nordeuropæisk spanteopslagning’, 23–4.8 Although the standard convention seems to have been to draw a ship sailing to the right, there is at least one other plan in the Danish archive that shows a ship sailing to the left, the Hannibal (1664); RA, Søetatens Kort- og Tegningssamling, Des. A. No.931.9 The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, inventory numbers: ЭРР-5541; ЭРР-5542; ЭРР- 5543; Frank Fox, pers. comm.; Perrin (ed.), The Autobiography of Phineas Pett, 75–6.10 RA, Søetatens Kort- og Tegningssamling, Des. E. Nos 1-9. Bellamy, ‘David Balfour’, 5–22.11 Even in the 1630s some doubt existed as to whether Baker’s rule was taken within or without the planking, and perhaps to the underside of the keel. The National Archives, Kew (hereafter TNA): SP, 16/230/104.12 See Rodger, ‘The development of Broadside Gunnery’ for further discussion.13 Probst, ‘Nordeuropæisk spanteopslagning’, 24.14 At that time the term ‘model’ could refer to both a three-dimensional model or a two-dimensional model, i.e. a plan. However, Pett in his autobiography only uses ‘model’ to describe a built, three-dimensional model, using ‘plat’ to refer to a draught.15 British Library (hereafter BL): Add MS 9298. Note that the copy which survives in the British Library as Harleian MS 6279 contains many errors of transcription and should not be relied upon.16 TNA: SP 16/37/37.17 Bellamy, ‘David Balfour’, 5–22.18 Ibid. RA, Søetatens Kort- og Tegningssamling, Des. E. Nos 1–9.19 Bellamy, ‘David Balfour’, 5–22.20 Senning, C. F., ‘The Visit of Christian IV’, 555–72.21 Perrin (ed.), The Autobiography of Phineas Pett, 114; BL: Add MS 9298.22 Oppenheim, A History of the Administration of the Navy.23 Perrin (ed.), The Autobiography of Phineas Pett, 11424 Ibid, 11425 Probst, Christian 4.s flåde, 66; Rodger, The Safeguard of the Sea, 366–7.26 BL: Add MS 61944, Tower of London Ordnance book.27 Court Minutes of the East India Co., 22 Sep. 1624, Calendar of State Papers (Colonial, East Indies), 1622–24, 411; Bellamy, Christian IV’s Navy, 126.28 Bellamy, ‘English Master Shipwrights’, 215.29 Harris, ‘Francis Sheldon in Denmark’, 293–302.30 National Maritime Museum, Caird Library: (hereafter CL) LEC 2, Jacobean Commission of Inquiry, 1618, Duke of Buckingham’s copy; McGowan, The Jacobean Commissions of Enquiry, 289.31 Ibid.32 Perrin (ed.), The Autobiography of Phineas Pett.33 Ibid., 9634 Ibid., 3135 Ibid., 3236 Ibid., 7-837 BL: Add MS 61944, Tower of London Ordnance book.38 TNA: SP14 133/135.39 Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail. The Adventure had an 88-foot keel, so it certainly cannot be the ship in the draught.40 Ibid.41 Perrin (ed.), The Autobiography of Phineas Pett, 96.42 TNA: E 351/2249, Pipe Office Declared Account for 1611, part of which details ‘New Building the Prince Royal at Woolwich’.43 Perrin (ed.), The Autobiography of Phineas Pett, app. IX.44 TNA: SP12 286/36.Additional informationNotes on contributorsMark PorterMark Porter has had a life-long interest in sailing ships, and for the last eight years has been carrying out research into the design, construction and fitting of seventeenth and eighteenth century sailing warships, and also the Georgian royal yacht Royal Caroline of 1749, of which he intends to construct a faithful model. His research has involved many visits to both national and local repositories, and the study of many hundreds of original documents, a goodly number of which have been transcribed, not only as an aid to understanding contemporary styles of writing, but also to render their contents more likely to be absorbed and remembered.