HMY Fubbs

Type

Royal Yacht

Period

17th Century

Nation

Great Britain

Overview: HMY Fubbs was a royal yacht of the Royal Navy of Great Britain, built in 1682 for King Charles II. The yacht's name came from the King's pet name for one of his mistresses, Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth, "Fubbs" meaning plump or chubby, a fashionable body type at the time. Specifications: As built she was rigged as a ketch, of 148 tons burthen, 63 ft overall length, 21 ft beam and 10 ft draught. Following a 1701 rebuild at Woolwich she measured 73 ft 6 in on the gundeck, 21 ft 1 in beam, carried a complement of 40 and 12 guns; after a further 1724 rebuild at Deptford she grew to 76 ft 9 in on the gundeck, about 22 ft beam, and mounted 6 × 3-pounders. Service History: Designed by Phineas Pett and launched at Greenwich in 1682, she remained in service for 99 years. After Charles II's death she passed to King James II's fleet of personal yachts, served as a bomb ketch in Sir George Rooke's Mediterranean fleet from 1703, and was later used to carry royal brides such as the Princess Royal and Princess Louise to their continental marriages. She underwent major rebuilds in 1701 and 1724 plus several repairs, before finally being withdrawn and broken up in July 1781. Notable Facts: As a Royal Yacht her hull resembled a small sixth-rate but was really closer to a ketch-rigged sloop, with a mizzen mast passing through the great cabin and no true orlop deck; her apparent stern quarter galleries were actually just decorative quarter badges. Contemporary Baroque marine painters such as the Van de Veldes and L. de Man, who recorded her alongside other royal yachts, are said to have visually exaggerated her size, and during the 1724 refit most of her ornate carved decoration was removed and replaced with painted frieze work.