Anthony Deane, naval architect expert to the Surveyor of the Navy, and Samuel Pepys, kingpin of the Admiralty, both Members of...

The United Provinces and France have been at war for five years. They have been struggling for ruling the seas while the Royal Navy has fallen third. A key character, Samuel Pepys, 44 years old, convinces his peers to initiate an unexpected recovery through an extraordinary investment. Samuel Pepys A member of the Royal Society and positioned as the mainstay at the Admiralty, he became Secretary of Admiralty in 1673 and, the same year, a Member of Parliament. His influence

Anthony Deane, 37 years old, Master Shipwright at Portsmouth dockyard since 1668, publishes his Doctrine for Naval Architecture . Anthony Deane Eight years ago, this atypical future master shipwright won an influential patron, and a friend, in Samuel Pepys, of the same age, Clerk of the Acts to the Navy Board, himself under the patronage of Admiral Edward Montagu, earl of Sandwich. Deane impressed Pepys for, first he had developed a vision of

The three-deckers have multiplied lately. They also tend to inflate up to tremendous sizes. Their design and building remain quite intricate though. Ironically, this year, four giant vessels have been launched, one in Sweden and three in France, in two countries which have not developed blatant competencies in shipbuilding so far. They have even hired foreign shipwrights to build warships. Six years ago, if we leave aside the surviving English galleons heightened twenty ye

King Charles II The second Anglo-Dutch war goes to an end after two years. ‘In all things, in wisdom, courage, force and success, the Dutch have the best of us and do end the war with victory on their side.’ Samuel Pepys, clerk to the Navy board ‘Don’t fight the Dutch, imitate them.’ Charles II, king of England Pepys, 34, a complete naval administrator, and King Charles, 37, keen on scientific and naval matters, are fine observers. Effectively, the Dutch have held the strai