Christopher Pett Explained

Christopher Pett (1620 - 1668) was an English shipbuilder for the Royal Navy and part of the Pett dynasty of shipbuilders. He is mentioned in the Diary of Samuel Pepys.^[1]

History

He was born on 4 May 1620, the eleventh child of many children to Phineas Pett, shipbuilder to the King, and his wife Ann Nicholls.

In 1647, he was appointed Master Shipwright at Deptford Dockyard in place of Peter, who moved to be Commissioner of Chatham Dockyard.^[2]

In the 1660s, he began building private yachts, over and above his Royal Navy commissions, as part of a current fashion, including a yacht for Sir William Batten.

He died suddenly in March 1668.

Ships built

• HMS Speaker (1650) 50-gun ship of the line launched at Woolwich Dockyard
• HMS Antelope (1652) 56-gun frigate launched at Woolwich Dockyard
• HMS Swiftsure (1653) 56-gun ship of the line launched at Deptford Dockyard
• Rose, 6-gun pink (1657) launched at Woolwich
• Hart, 8-gun pink (1658) launched at Woolwich
• HMS Richard (1658) 70-gun ship of the line launched at Woolwich
• Anne, 8-gun yacht (1661) launched at Woolwich
• Charles, 6-gun yacht (1662) launched at Woolwich
• Henrietta, 8-gun yacht (1663) launched at Woolwich
• HMS Royal Katherine (1664) 84-gun ship of the line launched at Woolwich
• HMS Falcon (1666) 42-gun ship launched at Woolwich
• HMS Greenwich (1666) 58-gun ship of the line launched at Woolwich
• HMS St Andrew (1670) 100-gun ship of the line launched at Woolwich, one of the largest ships built at that date with a crew of 730 men. Begun by Pett finished by his brothers.

Family

His widow Ann Pett wrote to Samuel Pepys to help her gain a pension from the King. She later married shipwright Daniel Furzer.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Christopher Pett (The Diary of Samuel Pepys) .
2. Web site: Christopher Pett (1620-1667/68) .