According to the Reports of Proceedings of the Batavian Association at Rotterdam, 1850, pp. 94 _et seq._, the Briel pass was practicable only for vessels drawing from 3 metres to 3 m. 50 and larger ships had to go by the “Goereesche Gat” to reach Rotterdam, using successively the “Hollandsche Diep” and the “Dortsche Kil”. There was at these places, even at high tide, only a depth sufficient for a maximum draught of 5 m. 70. (See Dr. ~Blink~, “_Nederland en zijne Bewoners_”, Vol. I, p. 447.) Navigation along this route, furthermore, was difficult on account of the narrowness of the channel. It was this condition which made necessary the digging of the canal by way of Voorne (1827-1829). But in spite of this new navigable highway, the maximum draught of water continued to depend, none the less, on the depths to be found, at ordinary high tide in the “Goereesche Gat” and the “Stellegat”. These depths were respectively 5 m. 70 and 5 m. 20 (~W. F. Leemans~: “_De Nieuwe Waterweg_”, etc. _Gedenkboek K. Inst. Ing._ p. 13 and p. 130.) [Sidenote: II 140] [Sidenote: III 14] The situation became more critical for the Netherlands navy as ships abroad increased their size, and meanwhile, foreign activity was redoubled! England gave to her navy four-fifths of the revenues of the Crown in 1656-1657, two thirds in 1657-1658, and nearly three-fifths in 1658-1659. (~Holmes~, p. 108.) Four of the the largest vessels built during this period had a capacity greater than one thousand tons. In 1673, was launched _The Royal Charles_, a ship well known to us, which was taken later by the Dutch. The largest number of English war ships still belonged, at this period, to the third class. The classification was stated as follows in 1666: +-------+---------+--------+-----------+-----------+--------+ | CLASS | LENGTH | BEAM | DEPTH | TONNAGE | GUNS | | | OF KEEL | | | | | +-------+---------+--------+-----------+-----------+--------+ | 1 | 128-146 | 40-48 | 17.9-19.8 | 1100-1740 | 90-100 | | 2 | 121-143 | 37-45 | 17-19.8 | 1000-1500 | 82-90 | | 3 | 115-140 | 34-40 | 14.2-18.3 | 750-1174 | 60-74 | | 4 | 88-108 | 27-34 | 11.2-15.6 | 12.8-17.8 | 32-54 | | 5 | 72-81 |23.6-27 | 9.9-11 | 11.6-13.2 | 26-32 | | \----------------V----------------/ | | Dimensions are in English feet. 1 foot = 0 m. 3048 | The year 1646 saw the first frigate built in England and in 1679 the bomb-ketch, built according to the model invented by the French builder Bernard Renan, was adopted. After 1700, English naval architecture fell completely under the influence of that of France. “It may truly be said”, writes ~Holmes~ (p. 114) “that during the whole of the eighteenth century, the majority of the improvements introduced in the forms and proportions of vessels of the Royal Navy, were copied from French prizes”.