Charles
I ascended the English throne in 1625 to discover a navy
in desperate need of revitalization. For an island
nation, dependent on the protection afforded by armed
ships capable of navigating the surrounding oceans, he
needed to build England into a maritime power. This
meant building new, more powerful ships that
demonstrated not only his nation’s dominance of the sea,
but also its prestige to other countries. One outcome of
this goal was the construction of the Sovereign of
the Seas, the largest warship of her time and the
first to be armed with 100 guns.
She was a “ship of
many superlatives,” and John McKay set out to show why
she deserved this description. (9) An architectural
draftsman and an expert on the design and building of
historical ships, McKay consulted contemporary resources
to craft the many different facets that make up a
warship. Where primary materials didn’t exist, he
consulted others and relied on knowledge of what is
known about wooden ships of the period and somewhat
later. There are aspects of the vessel that remain
unknown, so his drawings include conjecture, but his
plans are based on his expertise and experience to
recreate the Sovereign in as much detail and as
closely as possible to the actual seventeenth-century
ship.
The historical
summary covers how she came to be built, how people –
especially the ship masters of Trinity House, who
safeguarded sailors and shipping – reacted to the idea
of such a large vessel, the effect her building had on
subsequent events in English history, and what happened
to her during and after the Civil War and Restoration.
Costs are also shared, from the initial estimate of
£13,860 to her actual price tag of £65,586 16s 9½d (or
in more digestible terms, the aggregate cost of ten
average newly-built ships of war).
The
coffee-table-sized book is divided into fifteen
chapters, the first three serving as an introduction to
and a historical summary of the ship and those who had a
hand in her design and construction, as well as a recap
of the sources McKay consulted. The remaining twelve
chapters pertain to specific aspects of the ship: hull
design and construction, pumps, steering, ground tackle,
deck arrangements and accommodation, decoration, masts
and yards, sails, rigging, ordnance, and boats. There
are a host of illustrations, including a color section
detailing the ship’s decoration, period portraits and
paintings, and an extensive array of plates rendering
all aspects of the vessel detailed above. Two appendices
discuss Trinity House’s Protest and Sovereign’s
Sail Carrying Capacity. Tables highlight specific
details throughout the text. Unfamiliar nautical terms
are discussed. A bibliography and index are included,
while the endpapers portray overhead and side views of Sovereign
without her masts and her outboard profile. The author
also provides information on how to obtain large scale
copies of the renderings.
From her launch in
1637 to her demise sixty years later, Sovereign of
the Seas was a ship worthy of this unique study.
The book’s beautiful design and McKay’s artful
renderings provide a fitting tribute to this amazing
vessel and those who participated in her planning and
construction.
Review Copyrighted ©2020 Cindy Vallar
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