HMS ''Royal James'' was a 102-gun

first rate In the rating system of the British Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era The Jacobean era was the period in English and Scot ...

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, built by Anthony Deane at

Portsmouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is l ...

at a cost of £24,000, and launched on 31 March 1671. She was the first Royal Navy vessel to be assembled using iron as a part of her frame, rather than merely in bolts and nails. Her shipwright, Sir Anthony Deane modified the vessel's plans to include U-shaped iron bars to secure the planking of the hull, despite stern disapproval from Admiralty's representative, the Clerk of the Acts

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

. Deane defended his actions by claiming there was a shortage of usable wood. His defence was personally reviewed by the King, Charles II, who upheld the use of iron. However, the innovation was not repeated in other Royal Navy vessels until adoption of the

1719 Establishment The 1719 Establishment was a set of mandatory requirements governing the construction of all Royal Navy warships capable of carrying more than 20 naval long guns. It was designed to bring economies of scale through uniform vessel design, and ens ...

nearly fifty years later. ''Royal James'' was also one of only three Royal Navy ships to be equipped with the Rupertinoe naval gun.Spencer, p.351; Endsor, p.9. She fought at the

Battle of Solebay The naval Battle of Solebay took place on 28 May Old Style, 7 June New Style 1672 and was the first naval battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War. The battle began as an attempted raid on Solebay port where an English fleet was anchored and large ...

on 7 June 1672 (28 May 1672 O.S.) as Admiral Edward Montagu's flagship. She was attacked by first ''Dolfijn'', and then ''Groot Hollandia'', before finally coming under attack by

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

fireships. ''Royal James'' was destroyed by the fire and sank. Montagu died, although the ship's Captain,

Richard Haddock Admiral Sir Richard Haddock (c. 1629 – 26 January 1715 Old Style) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the Anglo-Dutch Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral in August 1690. In Herge's ''Adventures of Tintin'', Rich ...

, survived and went on to hold a distinguished career in the Navy. She had seen barely four months service. The Burning of the Royal James (Later in the Day), wandtapijt door Willem van de Velde de Oude.png, ''The Burning of the Royal James (Later in the Day)'', tapestry by

Willem van de Velde the Elder Willem van de Velde the Elder (1610/11 – 13 December 1693) was a Dutch Golden Age seascape painter, who produced many precise drawings of ships and ink paintings of fleets, but later learned to use oil paints like his son. Biography W ...

Notes

References

*Endsor, Richard. (2009) ''Restoration Warship: The Design, Construction and Career of a Third Rate of Charles II's Navy.'' London: Anova Books. *Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . *Spencer, Charles. (2007) ''Prince Rupert: The Last Cavalier.'' London: Phoenix.

External links

* Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1670s ships {{UK-line-ship-stub