Peter Pett (shipwright, died 1672)

He protected his scale models and drawings of the King's Fleet during the Dutch Raid on the Medway, in Kent in June 1667, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, which was otherwise disastrous to the British Royal Navy.

He was introduced to King Charles I of England in 1634 and was ordered to construct a new Third Rate ship of 500 tons at Woolwich Dockyard, to be named Leopard.

In June 1634 while at Woolwich and on the Leopard with the king, Phineas Pett, Peter's father, related: "His Highness, calling me aside, privately acquainted me of his princely resolution for the building of a great new ship, which he would have me undertake...." Peter Pett built Sovereign of the Seas at Woolwich Dockyard, from the plans made by his father.

John Evelyn wrote in his Diary on 19 July 1641 "We rode to Rochester and Chatham to see the Soveraigne, a monstrous vessel so called, being for burthen, defence, and ornament, the richest that ever spread cloth before the wind.

[2] Despite his contracts from the King, Peter Pett sided with Parliament during the English Civil War and was consequently retained as Commissioner at Chatham Dockyard during the Commonwealth (1649–60).

Pett was the only member of the group of Commonwealth Commissioners who governed the Navy with any technical knowledge of shipbuilding, and responsibility for the designs of most new ships rested principally upon him.

In 1667 Pett was blamed for the insufficient protection of the British fleet at Chatham, the charge being that he failed to tow the most capital ships higher up the river.

He was seen to be a scapegoat for the incompetence of higher-ranking officers, as shown in part of Andrew Marvell's satirical poem: After this loss, to relish discontent, Someone must be accused by punishment.

Some confusion may arise between the identities of Peter Pett and his many relatives; even the Navy Board had difficulty in keeping its records straight on this matter.

The first of that name was a Master Shipwright at Deptford in the late 16th century, who built a number of English warships and other vessels from the 1570s onwards.