DRY ROT IN SHIPS.
239
"Divers of them appearing not to have been once Grav'd nor brought
"into Dock, since they were Launched. Others that had been Dockt,
"sent out again in a Condition needing to be brought in a second time.
"Their Holds not clear'd nor air'd, but (for want of Gratings and
"opening their Hatches and Scuttles) suffer'd to heat and moulder, till
"I have with my own Hands gather'd Toadstools growing in the most
"considerable of them, as big as my Fists. Some not once heel'd or
"breem'd since their building, but expos'd in hot weather to the
"Sun, broiling in their Buttocks and elsewhere, for want of cooling
"with Water (according to the Practice of our own, as well as all
"Forreign Nations) and that Exposure yet magnifi'd, by their want
"of Ballast for bringing them deep enough into the Water. Port-
"Ropes also wanting wherewith to open the Ports, for airing them in
"Dry weather ; and Scuppers upon their Gun-decks in Wet, to prevent
"the sinking of Rain through their shrunken Seams into their Holds
"and among their Timbers. Planks not open'd upon the first Dis-
"covery of their Decays, nor Pieces put in, where defective; but in-
"stead thereof, repair'd only with Caps of Board and Canvas. Which
"ought also to have been done upon the Ordinary Estimate of the
"Navy, that provides for every thing needful to the Preservation
"of Ships in Harbour, but more especially for the Graving one Third
''of the whole every Year; whereas some (even of the Old Ships)
"appear not to have been so look'd after, in five or six."
It is difficult not to suspect that Pepys was interested in
stating a case, but, whether or not, he understood the problems
far better than anyone else of his period. In 1686, following
a suggestion made by Pepys that the Principal Officers and
Commissioners of the Navy should be at liberty to contract for
oak planks of foreign growth, the Navy Board held a con-
sultation with a number of shipwrights to consider introducing
Baltic plank into the Navy as a regular policy. It was unani-
mously agreed that "large Plank, well chosen, of the Forreign
"growths before-mention'd, is in its service at least as durable,
"in its cost less Chargeable, and the use of it (through the
"scarcity of English) become at this day indispensable." An
order in Council authorized contracts for the plank and the
naval contracts in future omitted the word English from the
specifications "good substantial English Oaken Timber and
Plank."
The origin and spread of dry rot has been attributed at
different times to the use of unseasoned timber, the use of
certain foreign woods, improper construction, and lack of ven-
tilation. Though occasionally all were supposed to contribute
to the trouble it seems clear that these may be reduced to two—