DRY ROT IN SHIPS.
237
England as a main source, and Scotland as a subsidiary one.
It seems to be true, however, that there was still a reasonable
supply of native oak to be had—but there were no funds.
The second Dutch War (1664-7) was not of a kind to put a
great strain on resources ; there were only two battles and after
both the whole fleet returned to port and exhausted the supplies.
During this period half-finished ships lay on the stocks because
of the lack of timber.
The fire of London in 1666 also had its effect, for in the re-
building no timber other than oak was allowed to be used in
the roof, door, window frames or cellar floor of any house.
The third Dutch War (1672-4) showed up the scarcity of
masts and timber ; it was necessary to strip the ships most in
need of repair to patch up others to return to sea. Many
were too rotten to keep at sea, the Diamond, for example, was
"so very leaky that she can but just swim."
The Treaty cf Westminster in 1674 opened up the Baltic
trade and so relieved the Navy of the mast problem, but there
was a critical oak shortage. Many of the largest ships were
rotting and without repair of the damage inflicted during the
battle of Solebay.
Meanwhile the French Navy, under the able direction of
Colbert, was growing in a menacing way, and to counter this,
Parliament in 1677 appropriated £600,000 to build thirty new
ships for "only twenty-three of England's seventy-five ships of
"the line were at sea or preparing for sea, and not one of them was
"a first- or second-rate, while about thirty ships, including eight
"of the two largest rates, were greatly out of repair and in need
"of 'much time and charge to fit them for sea service.'" The
difficulty was to find the necessary timber, and Pepys remarks :
"But God knows where materials can be had for so many first
"and 2d rates however wee shall thinke fitt to propose the
"building of them." The country was ransacked and forests
were literally stripped of their oak with an effect which was
obvious for a century. Great timber and plank were especially
scarce and Baltic oak had to be introduced. There was
great carelessness in building with results recorded by Pepys.
Pepys, the amusing and amorous diarist, was appointed Clerk
to the Admiralty Commission which replaced the Navy Board
when the Duke of York resigned the office of Lord High Admiral