Project

 

"SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS" - Anatomy of a model ship.

The Concept - To build an unusual radio-controlled model ship - a challenge to a competent 'bodger'!

The Choice - Question:- Which was the most spectacular ship ever built?
    A debatable point but I concluded it was 'Sovereign of the Seas', Charles the First's great ship, launched in 1637 and 'built' by Phineas and son Peter Pett.
    By today's standards, and based on the perceived national average wage, this ship would have cost something in the region of £450,000,000 - and that is without radar and cruise missiles!
    The commissioning of this ship could be said to be a major factor leading to the English Civil War and the beheading of its patron. For 60 years the ship was undefeated in battle, though it was unpopular with the privateers (officers) who sailed in it. There was insufficient living room for the large number required. It also had too great a draught to operate inshore and in rivers.
    The 'Sovereign of the Seas' or Royal Sovereign - or even just Sovereign - stood 220 feet tall, 48 feet wide, 234 feet long overall and the top of her stern lantern, which could hold 12 persons, was 78 feet above the keel bottom.
     It was the 'prototype' for future first rate ships of the line and was of similar size to H.M.S. Victory, launched 130 years later.
     The transportation of the timbers was a major operation in itself. From Brancepeth forest near Durham they had to be dragged overland as much as 20 miles to the nearest seaport. "One great piece of timber, which made the kelson, was so great and weighty that twenty-eight oxen and four horses with much difficulty drew it from the place where it grew, and from whence it was cut down, unto the water side".
    The amount of timber that went into the ship was so great that two small vessels - the Greyhound (120 tons) and the Roebuck (90 tons) - were built entirely from the 'chips' or waste. The ship was built to carry 104 guns.
    She was consumed by fire in 1696, due to a candle, or lamp, left burning, and parts of her may still lie in the silt of the Medway.
    The Sovereign's enormous stern lantern delighted many observers. One was Samuel Pepys:
'. . . down we went to see the Sovereign, which we did, taking great pleasure therein, singing all the way, and, among other pleasures, I put my Lady, Mrs Turner, Mrs Hempson, and the two Mrs Allens into the lanthorn and I went in and kissed them, demanding it as a fee due to a principall officer, with all which we were exceeding merry, and drunk some bottles of wine and neat's tongue, &c'.
The Construction - Plans, or indeed any clear documentation, were not found for 'Sovereign' - the closest I could find were for the Royal Katherine, a smaller, Dutch ship of similar style and proportions. These plans were enlarged to give a final scale of 1-58.
    The purchase of a bandsaw with built-in disc sander was the best decision I made and I would probably have dropped the project had it not been available.
    The keel was Oak, the ribs made from 9mm resin-bonded plywood and the planking was 12mm x 4mm Ash, steamed in a home made 'kettle'. I considered at one point using the hull as a 'plug' for a fibreglass version but decided against it.

The Cost - The most expensive items were the numerous cannons, gunportsand decorations.

The Conclusion - I had a great time constructing the model - on a very part-time basis - but realise you cannot put a time limit on its completion. It was a long-term project.

The Update - To get best authenticity I decided to purchase a set of die-cast decorations from Amati Ship fittings, of Italy. Although they are not accurate to the representations available, they are the best I am likely to find. I haven't the skill to produce my own.
    Having constructed the hull with single planking I have given the inside a generous coating of resin to keep out moisture and prevent separation and injected foam insulation for buoyancy and strength.
    Two individually controlled 540 type motors with brass propellers were installed as it would be extremely diffficult to arrange the vast number of sail winches to sail the ship in the authentic manner.
    The rigging of the ship was no less problematical than the main construction. Without any reliable information I had to rely on assumptions made by people who have studied general rigging techniques from the same period.      This in itself is a dubious way of doing things as the ship in question was the first of it's type in the world to that date.
    Stays, deadeyes and ratlines I understand. Futtock shrouds, carthapins and euphroes I am not so sure about.

Final update - Where do you stop? There is a lot more rigging to be done to be more or less authentic but the overall image could be spoilt by adding too much - and it gets a bit tedious! So after about 7 years' work (very much part-time) I now feel justified in saying it is finished. Would I do it again? - probably not.

 

 
The Airfix kit which started it all.

The keel and ribs at an early stage of the building.

The basic hull after planks have been installed

Some of the decorations have been applied to the upperworks

Adding the rigging

Waiting for ratlines

On her maiden voyage

.....the end.