In 1619 and 1620, two mast docks were made at Chatham, each 120 feet long, 60 feet broad, and five ‘flowers’ deep, and six acres of ground were enclosed with them.[925] A further great extension followed in the shape of a lease from Sir Robert Jackson of 70 or 80 acres of land, called ‘Lordslands,’ on a term of 100 years at £14 a year. Part of this was used for a new dock, part for a ropehouse now put up, and part for brick and lime kilns, etc.[926] The dock cost £2342, and a path, 137 rods long, was made to it from Chatham church.[927] From a new road having been necessary it would seem to have been quite apart from any previously existing buildings. In 1623 another dock was building under the direction of the shipwrights, and the lease of a house on Chatham Hill, for the use of the Officers, bought from the Dean and Chapter of Rochester.[928] In 1614 the principal Officers were lodged at Winchester House as there is a charge of £138, 8s 6d for its repair for their use, and a rent of £70 a year was paid; stores were also kept there.

The chain, placed by Hawkyns across the Medway at Upnor, is not again referred to until 1606, when it was partly repaired and partly renewed. But some time before 1623 it must have become worn out, as in that year it was replaced by a boom made of sixteen masts and forty-three cwt. of iron with cordage proportionate, at a cost of £238, 10s 5d; the hulls of two ships and two pinnaces were also devoted to the strengthening of the barricade. At the same time the water-way through St Mary’s creek was again blocked at a cost of upwards of £400.[929] This boom must have been very light, and its history was short and unfortunate, for in 1624 it was broken by ice and carried out to sea. It must have been quickly replaced since, from an incidental reference it existed in 1625, and in 1635 two small vessels, the Seven Stars and the Moon, were moored at each shore end for its protection. In the latter year it was said to be causing deposits of gravel and closing the fairway, and opinions oscillated between a new boom and an iron chain.

The dockyards shared the disorganisation of the other departments; notwithstanding the exposures of 1608 ten years later the storehouses at Deptford were said to be ‘full of rotten wood and bad cordage,’ the scales were light by one pound in the cwt., and while bad materials were knowingly received, the good were sold to boatswains and other ships’ officers at low prices. In 1624 Chatham yard remained uninclosed so that strangers came and took away timber, nails, or any portable article. In 1604 the stores at Deptford included 210 masts, 322 loads of timber, 41,000 feet of plank, 171 cables, 499 hawsers, 15 serviceable and 28 unserviceable anchors, 24 compasses, 40 bolts of canvas, 24,000 tree-nails, and many other articles down to ‘a decayed pitch pot,’ and it is likely that they were larger in number and better in quality at this date than at any time during the succeeding fifteen or sixteen years.[930] The value of Deptford yard was estimated at £5000, and it was at one time proposed to remove the whole plant to Chatham.[931]

So far as the staff were concerned the ‘ordinary’ of a dockyard included shipkeepers and inferior officers attached to ships lying up, Upnor Castle (for Chatham), clerical work, rents, watchmen, clerks, storekeepers, and the superior officers; the ‘extraordinary,’ shipwrights, carpenters, joiners, pumpmakers, sawyers, sailmakers, and bricklayers. In 1622 wages, per day, were: shipwrights 1s 2d to 2s; caulkers 7d to 2s; carpenters 1s 3d to 1s 10d; pumpmakers 1s 6d to 2s; joiners 1s 4d to 1s 8d; sailmakers 1s 8d; sawyers 1s 2d to 1s 4d; bricklayers 10d to 1s 6d; and labourers 8d or 9d.[932] All these men, except the labourers, had lodging money, varying from 5s 4d in the case of the master shipwrights to so small a sum as twopence, and probably as an allowance by the week.

Ordnance and Ship Armament.

The armament of ships was still very heavy for their tonnage and accounted in some measure for their rolling proclivities and the impossibility of obtaining a comparatively steady gun platform. Sometimes it was necessary to dismount some of the guns,

‘The Dreadnought carries 36, yet four of them for seven years have been buried in her ballast, as some are also in the Answer and other ships.’[933]

This stowage of the guns strained the vessel dangerously and caused leaks, and, as gravel ballast was still employed, an injury was a very serious matter from the difficulty in reaching the damaged part. The following gives the number of guns carried by some of the ships, and their weights:—[934]

Cannon PeriersDemi CannonCulverinsDemi CulverinsSakersFawconsPortpiecesFowlersWeight
Tonscwts.qrs.lbs.
Prince Royal261218134838021
White Bear26121894779323
Merhonour26121284661610
Anne Royal25121384641524
Victory221612424420025
Swiftsure221612424468019
Constant Reformation221612424532023
St George22161242224715224
St Andrew221612424522320
Triumph2216124245010121
Defiance2214124245517025
Repulse22141242452701