For his interest in the Navy, England owes a debt to Henry VIII. Under him it became a separate, organised force instead of being a mere auxiliary of the army. About eighty vessels and thirteen row-barges of twenty tons were added during his reign to the ships inherited from his predecessor. Many were purchased from the Venetians and the Hanseatic League, who were the great merchant seamen of this time. Some also were prizes taken from the enemy, but about forty odd were actually built during this reign, among which may be mentioned the _Tiger_, which was flush-decked without any superstructures and heavily armed; and the _Ann Gallant_. Whereas clinker-built vessels had been almost universal from the times of the Vikings, carvel-built ships were now being used, as being both stronger and faster. Coloured cloths were put round the fighting-tops, and the hulls, besides being carved and gilded, were painted various colours. Sometimes the Tudor colours of green and white were seen, but ash and timber shafts became common under Elizabeth. In the ships of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the yellow colour above the waterline of our ships was more pronounced. The crews of Henry VIII.’s ships wore the Tudor colours of white and green also, cloth being used for the sailors and satin or damask for the officers.[73] Under Edward VI. the power of the Hanseatic League began gradually to wane, and consequently the superiority which in respect of ships it had possessed over those of our nation became less marked. Perhaps no maritime incident of this reign is more interesting than the preparation, the setting out, and the partial accomplishment of the voyage from our shores to discover a passage by way of Archangel to China. Those who know their Hakluyt will agree that few yarns written nowadays by either professional or amateur sailormen are so absorbingly interesting as this record: those who have still to read this record will enjoy it thoroughly. It is not possible here to give even a summary of this lengthy voyage, in which Sir Hugh Willoughby and his crew perished of cold and starvation, though Richard Chancellor reached as far as Archangel. But there are some details given in the account that are pertinent to our inquiry of the sailing ship. Among the instructions given to the voyagers were that the fleet should keep together as far as possible. A log was to be kept by day and night, “with the points and observation of the lands, tides, elements, altitude of the sunne, course of the moon and starres.” The fleet comprised the _Bona Esperanza_, flagship, of 120 tons, “having with her a pinnesse and a boate,” the _Edward Bonaventure_, 160 tons, and the _Bona Confidentia_, 90 tons, the last two ships having the same number of boats as the first. Their progress down the Thames was not rapid, for it took them from the tenth of May till the twenty-second to get from Ratcliffe to Hole Haven.