Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 2).djvu/116

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thousand tons; if, however, the calculation had been made on the mode of admeasurement usual in England up to the middle of the present century, and known as the old measurement (O.M.), her capacity must have been considerably greater. Besides this great ship, twelve others of the royal navy are mentioned of from one hundred and forty to seven hundred and fifty tons, fourteen galleys of from sixty to four hundred and fifty tons, five pynnasses of from fifteen to eighty-five tons, and eleven row-barges, each of twenty tons, stationed at Portsmouth. In the arsenal at Deptford Stronde there were six vessels, the largest being four hundred and fifty tons, while four other vessels of from twenty to four hundred tons were stationed in Scotland. The crews of these vessels when fully manned consisted of one thousand eight hundred and eighty-five soldiers, seven hundred and fifty-seven gunners, and five thousand one hundred and thirty-six seamen. According to a return printed by the navy-office in 1791, the gross measurement of the fleets belonging to the Crown at the death of Henry VIII. amounted to twelve thousand four hundred and fifty-five tons, which shows that the average size of the vessels then belonging to the royal navy, including the Great Harry, was under two hundred and forty tons each. On the following page will be found an illustration of one of the galliases, called the Galley Subtille, selected from among the fourteen or fifteen curious contemporary water-colour drawings by Anthony Anthony of Henry VIII.'s vessels, preserved in the MSS. department of the British Museum.

The Great Michael. But the Scottish people previous to this time,