The Lost Ships of Charles II's Navy: Understanding the Seventeenth-Century Warship

A comprehensively researched and beautifully illustrated history of the design of the ships of Charles II's Navy, using reconstructed architectural plans based on contemporary records.

The Royal Navy of the late seventeenth century was the greatest enterprise in the country, and in 1677, with Samuel Pepys as Secretary of the Navy, the House of Commons voted to fund the building of 30 new ships, the largest single shipbuilding project up to this point. This new history by award-winning naval historian Richard Endsor describes the history of this great endeavor, and seeks to recreate architectural plans of these ships based on detailed measurements and calculations left behind by Edmund Dummer, an assistant to master shipwright Sir Anthony Deane and later Surveyor of the Navy from 1692 to 1699.

Using Dummer's surviving notebook, supported by the official specification dimension list for the ships, large-scale, artistic drawings and several surviving models, The Lost Ships of Charles II's Navy contains dimensioned and accurate architectural plans for several named ships alongside numerous other illustrations, including contemporary Van de Velde drawings of the ships.

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The Lost Ships of Charles II's Navy: Understanding the Seventeenth-Century Warship

A comprehensively researched and beautifully illustrated history of the design of the ships of Charles II's Navy, using reconstructed architectural plans based on contemporary records.

The Royal Navy of the late seventeenth century was the greatest enterprise in the country, and in 1677, with Samuel Pepys as Secretary of the Navy, the House of Commons voted to fund the building of 30 new ships, the largest single shipbuilding project up to this point. This new history by award-winning naval historian Richard Endsor describes the history of this great endeavor, and seeks to recreate architectural plans of these ships based on detailed measurements and calculations left behind by Edmund Dummer, an assistant to master shipwright Sir Anthony Deane and later Surveyor of the Navy from 1692 to 1699.

Using Dummer's surviving notebook, supported by the official specification dimension list for the ships, large-scale, artistic drawings and several surviving models, The Lost Ships of Charles II's Navy contains dimensioned and accurate architectural plans for several named ships alongside numerous other illustrations, including contemporary Van de Velde drawings of the ships.

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The Lost Ships of Charles II's Navy: Understanding the Seventeenth-Century Warship

The Lost Ships of Charles II's Navy: Understanding the Seventeenth-Century Warship

by Richard Endsor
The Lost Ships of Charles II's Navy: Understanding the Seventeenth-Century Warship

The Lost Ships of Charles II's Navy: Understanding the Seventeenth-Century Warship

by Richard Endsor

Hardcover

$90.00 
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Overview

A comprehensively researched and beautifully illustrated history of the design of the ships of Charles II's Navy, using reconstructed architectural plans based on contemporary records.

The Royal Navy of the late seventeenth century was the greatest enterprise in the country, and in 1677, with Samuel Pepys as Secretary of the Navy, the House of Commons voted to fund the building of 30 new ships, the largest single shipbuilding project up to this point. This new history by award-winning naval historian Richard Endsor describes the history of this great endeavor, and seeks to recreate architectural plans of these ships based on detailed measurements and calculations left behind by Edmund Dummer, an assistant to master shipwright Sir Anthony Deane and later Surveyor of the Navy from 1692 to 1699.

Using Dummer's surviving notebook, supported by the official specification dimension list for the ships, large-scale, artistic drawings and several surviving models, The Lost Ships of Charles II's Navy contains dimensioned and accurate architectural plans for several named ships alongside numerous other illustrations, including contemporary Van de Velde drawings of the ships.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781472866691
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Publication date: 06/02/2026
Pages: 304
Product dimensions: 9.45(w) x 12.28(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Richard Endsor has written extensively on the structures and the building process of seventeenth-century ships, including The Restoration Warship (2009), The Warship Anne (2017) and most recently, The Master Shipwright's Secrets (2020) for which he was awarded the prestigious Anderson Medal for the best maritime book published in 2020. He has also co-authored other books including The Great Ordnance Survey of 1698 (2013) with Frank Fox.

Table of Contents

Foreword: The Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery
Introduction
Chapter 1: Gloucester
Chapter 2: London
Chapter 3: The 30 New Ships
Chapter 4: Captain
Chapter 5: Windsor Castle
Chapter 6: Dutchess
Chapter 7: Grafton
Chapter 8: Essex and Kent
Chapter 9: Berwick
Chapter 10: Burford
Chapter 11: Elizabeth and Hope
Chapter 12: Dummer's Last Surveys
Chapter 13: Dummer's Ships from Start to End
Chapter 14: Shipbuilding
Chapter 15: Thomas Fagge's Third-Rate Ship
Appendix: Scantling List
Endnotes
Index

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