English fleets and small vessels in the early 1700s

[Dan DSilva]

Hello!  I recently started on this sloop without having given proper thought to the place I wanted it to occupy in my collection and whether it was right for the period.  So that's possibly some time lost.

 

After consideration, I have the notion of eventually doing a few ships from a fleet or squadron from around 1700-1705, but I'd like to start relatively small and simple.  A lot of paintings from the late 1600s-early 1700s show decked, armed, single-masted boats that look to be about as big as Bermuda sloops, like here and here, but I'm having trouble finding information about them.  Would you see these little guys, or any vessels in that size range, accompanying men-of-war out at sea?  If so, do you know where I can learn more about them?  Also, are there any good general resources about the typical composition of English fleets when they were away from home at that time, with numbers of different warships and auxiliary vessels?

Edited April 1, 2023 by Dan DSilva

[Dan DSilva]

I'm finding that a lot of ships of the kind in the paintings are referred to as royal yachts, but I don't know whether at that time that could describe a physical type or just its role.  Royal Museums Greenwich says that they were normally ketch-rigged, so one with a single mast may have been privately owned and not a royal yacht.

 

As for use, HMY Fubbs served in the Mediterranean several times during the War of the Spanish Succession; Mary was deployed to the Baltic in 1700, and William and Mary fought in the Battle of Malaga in 1704.  So yeah, this kind of vessel was being sent a fair distance abroad and serving in battle fleets.

[iMustBeCrazy]

7 hours ago, Dan DSilva said:

Royal Museums Greenwich says that they were normally ketch-rigged,

And here the RMG show otherwise. The wiki entry for HMY Fubbs says James II had 9 yachts. The two paintings in your first post are showing the same vessel at the same event and I suspect it is the same as the closest one in the painting I linked to. I doubt either artist was at that event but both must have had access to the vessel or a painting of it Or perhaps one painter based his off the others painting??

 

 

[realworkingsailor]

If you can find a copy, “Sloop of War, 1650-1763” by Ian McLaughlan is a great resource. 

Andy

[Dan DSilva]

7 hours ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

The two paintings in your first post are showing the same vessel at the same event

I'm not sure...  the boats look very similar, but the first painting is supposed to be at Calais and the second "in the Thames Estuary near Sheerness."  Did I miss something in the file descriptions?

[Dan DSilva]

Just now, realworkingsailor said:

If you can find a copy, “Sloop of War, 1650-1763” by Ian McLaughlan is a great resource. 

Andy

Thanks, I'll take a look!

[iMustBeCrazy]

6 hours ago, Dan DSilva said:

Did I miss something in the file descriptions?

No, sorry perhaps I did. However I do think that the Sailmaker painting is based on the Knijff painting and therefore the same vessel. I think here are just too many similarities. But hey, I could be wrong.

 

[druxey]

In the left image, the yacht has a bezan stern and, unique amongst Charles's yachts, a rectangular light in the side. This represents the new Henrietta of 1679. The light is absent in the right image. 

[Dan DSilva]

Are the single-masted yachts technically hoys?

[JerryC]

[druxey]

A hoy may have been rigged in a similar manner to a yacht, but the hull was a bluff, boxy shape for carrying supplies shore to ship; definitely not built for speed!

[Roger Pellett]

I got interested in these small vessels after reading Frank Fox’s excellent account of the Four Days Battle.  These small tenders accompanying sailing battle fleets appear to be unique to Stuart Era naval battles.  With fireship tactics common, among other things, they were thought to be useful for moving affected vessels out of the way.  These are not the famous Royal Yachts, but the far more humble vessels shown in the Van De Velde drawings.  Many were pink sterned and rigged as ketches.  My interest peaked with the publication of Endsor’s excellent “The Shipwright’s Secrets.”

 

I, therefore, wondered if I could use the information in Endsor’s book to recreate one of these small ketches.  Mc Laughtan’s excellent book also includes much information including dimensions  of known vessels.  I am not a CAD drafter.  My drawing techniques date back to a pre CAD Naval Architecture education of the 1960’s.  In this case I also used 1660’s information from Ensor to make body plan moulds from wood.  The ink on Mylar drawing is shown below.  I never turned the drawing into a model, and probably never will as I decided instead to focus on an existing project.  So, if this interests you you are free to make use of it.  If you would like a better copy send me a PM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dan DSilva]

Hi again,

 

Sorry I had to wander off for a while 'cause the spring university term is starting and I'm spending most of my time on required reading.

 

Jerry, I downloaded a Kindle reader but the price appears to have shot up to $48 in the meanwhile, so it's looking like there may be print editions that'll be cheaper.

 

druxey, thanks for the clarification.  In that case I'll count the yacht and the hoy as different types of small vessel that both fit into my area of interest.

 

Roger, thank you for the information and the offer.

 

I've been doing a few plans inspired by the ones at RMG; probably going to aim for a single-master about the size of the Royal Escape but with a later period aesthetic more like the rebuilt Fubbs -- what I like about that sort of design is its features make it look like a minimized version of a full-sized ship.

 

Edited April 15, 2023 by Dan DSilva