The Royal
Charles, flagship to King Charles II
Completed
in Portsmouth, England, 1673, during the second Dutch War, the HMS
Royal Charles was the second built in a trio of 100-gun first-rate
ships designed and constructed by Sir Anthony Deane.
Structurally
almost identical to the first built of the three 100-gun ships (the HMS
Royal James), the Royal Charles was nonetheless strikingly
different in her outward appearance. The new ship introduced elegant rows
of windows and projecting galleries, even a balcony projecting forward
from the quarter-gallery. A look likely inspired from the French fleet,
it became a trend that would be carried into the design of future ships.
The most dramatic change lay in the design of the figurehead. Gone was
the standard single-entity sculpture and in its place was an ornately
decorated high relief grouping. It depicted a helmeted warrior charging
bravely into battle, his chariot drawn by two racing horses. At his side
stood the driver and an armed escort. Intricately carved, baroque in detail,
it heralded a new age of art in shipbuilding.
During
her first battle, the Royal Charles was plagued by a deep roll
that interfered with cannon operations in the lower decks. Ballast adjustment
proved unsuccessful, and it wasn’t until the end of the war that
girdling, which increased her beam by 1 ft. 4in., resolved the issue of
stability.
A
swift and magnificent vessel, the Royal Charles, in all her incarnations,
had a service life that spanned well over a century. Modified in 1693,
she was renamed the HMS Queen. Later, in 1715, her salvaged parts were
used to build the HMS Royal George, a ship that remained in service until
her sinking at Spithead anchorage in 1783.
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