Description
TYPE OF BOAT: Liner
YEAR OF LAUNCH: 1637
COUNTRY OF CONSTRUCTION: United Kingdom BUILDING
: Peter Pett, Woolwich Dockyard
ARCHITECT: Phineas Pett
HISTORY: The Sovereign of the Seas shines with an unparalleled amount of carvings, gilded brass ornaments and bas-reliefs from bow to stern designed by the best artists of the time (van Dyck among others). It cost over 65,000 pounds sterling to the Crown and is nothing less than the expression of the will of the Sovereign Stuart who adored ships and the beauty that emanated from them. Its impression of solid gold – added to the “Ship Money” aroused great displeasure from the English. Nicknamed the “Golden Devil” in the chronicles of the time, the ship took part in many battles in the three naval wars which opposed the English to the Dutch in the second half of the 17th century.
AND TODAY ? In January 1696, while the Admiralty was considering its demolition, the ship was destroyed by fire in the port of Chatam. It is said that a cook forgot to put out a candle before leaving the ship. The candle would have fallen and the fire would eventually spread to the whole building.