Peter Pett
(1610-1670), ShipbuilderSitter in 1 portrait
The son of Phineas Pett, a shipbuilder and naval administrator. He was brought up as a shipwright, while still very young was his father's assistant at Deptford and Woolwich. Pett was appointed master-shipwright at Chatham in 1647. The following year he became the resident commissioner of the navy at Chatham, where he was notorious for filling all the more important posts in the yard with his close relatives. In 1667 Pett was charged with being the main cause of the disaster at Chatham, when the Dutch had attacked the English fleet. He was accused (but acquitted) of neglecting or disobeying orders to move the navy's flagship, the Royal Charles, to a place of safety and to defend the Medway channel.
possibly after Sir Peter Lely
oil on canvas, probably 18th century
NPG 1270
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