of war and merchantmen. The sovereign had neither naval arsenals
nor dockyards, nor any regular establishment of civil or naval
affairs to provide ships of war. Sir Edward Howard, Lord High
Admiral of England, at the accession of Henry VIII., actually
entered into a "contract" with that monarch to fight his enemies.

This singular document is still preserved in the State Paper
office. Even after the establishment of royal dockyards, the
sovereign--as late as the reign of Elizabeth--entered into formal
contracts with shipwrights for the repair and maintenance of
ships, as well as for additions to the fleet.

The King, having made his first effort at establishing a royal
navy, sent the fleet to sea against the ships of France. The
Regent was the ship royal, with Sir Thomas Knivet, Master of the
Horse, and Sir John Crew of Devonshire, as Captains. The fleet
amounted to twenty-five well furnished ships. The French fleet
were thirty-nine in number. They met in Brittany Bay, and had a
fierce fight. The Regent grappled with a great carack of Brest;
the French, on the English boarding their ship, set fire to the
gunpowder, and both ships were blown up, with all their men. The
French fleet fled, and the English kept the seas. The King,
hearing of the loss of the Regent, caused a great ship to be
built, the like of which had never before been seen in England,
and called it Harry Grace de Dieu.

This ship was constructed by foreign artizans, principally by
Italians, and was launched in 1515. She was said to be of a
thousand tons portage --the largest ship in England. The vessel
was four-masted, with two round tops on each mast, except the