Henry Grace à Dieu by Anonymous Source: wikimedia commons |
"(...) there was a threat of war from England's Catholic neighbours, France and Spain. Portsmouth was a long way from the Armouries in the Tower of London, where all ships were equipped with cannon and artillery. To make the building of warships more convenient, Henry decided to build two dockyards on the Thames in 1513. These would be close to London where it was easier to get arms, supplies for building the ships and a ready labour force. Henry chose Woolwich and Deptford as his sites as they were also conveniently near his Palace at Greenwich, which meant that he could watch the shipbuilding in progress." Source: The Royal Dockyards of Deptford and Woolwich
Soon it became apparent that ship is too heavy therefore in 1536 was rebuild which make Great Harry lighter by 1 000 tons. Although powerful ship saw little action. The most known naval battle in which Henri Grace a Dieu take part was Battle of the Solent, against the French navy. More often act as diplomatic vessel e.g. taking Henry VIII to the summit with Francis I of France in June of 1520. After Henry VIII death ship fate is unknown - one theory is that was destroyed by fire at Woolwich in 1553.
Woolwich dockyard by Nicholas Pocock Source: wikimedia commons |
Woolwich dockyards, beside Henri Grace a Dieu, give birth to many ships including such notable as:
- 1610 - HMS Prince Royal - first warship with three complete gun decks (55 cannons)
- 1751 - HMS Dolphin - first ship that twice circumnavigate around the world
- 1820 - HMS Beagle - on which Charles Darwin make his famous voyage to Galapagos
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