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CHAPTER V

CHARLES THE SECOND

The Henrietta—Lead sheathing—Stowage of ballast—The Charlotte—Ruyter's victory at Chatham—The Fanfan—Panther—Folly—Monmouth—Merlin—The London docks—Plague and fire—Rebuilding of London—The yacht Lenox—The Solalis—The Kitchin and other royal yachts—Striking topsails to the colors—The yacht Industry's voyage to Maryland, the first English yacht to cross the Atlantic—The King's last yachting cruise—His dying words.

IN 1663 only one yacht appears to have been added to the fleet—the Henrietta, built at Woolwich, by Christopher Pett, and named after King Charles's mother. She was one of the first vessels that milled lead sheathing was applied to as a protection against worms, it being done under the personal inspection of King Charles himself at Sheerness, in March, 1671. At about the same period, milled lead-sheathing was used also upon the ships Dreadnought, Harwich, Phoenix, and other vessels, but the lead was soon found to corrode rapidly the iron fastenings and bolts. It was therefore abandoned in 1682. The dimensions of the Henrietta were: Length of keel, 52 feet; breadth 19 feet 5 inches; depth, 7 feet; draught, 7 feet; 104 tons; a crew of 30 men, and carrying 8 guns.

On July 7, 1663, Christopher Pett asks for "a

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