Page:The history of yachting.djvu/207



N 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