HMS Duke of Kent

External image
Royal Museums Greenwich photographs of model

The design survives in the form of a 1:96 scale model of the ship which is now in the ships models collection of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.^[3] This model includes most major rigging (but no sails) and features a paint scheme with white bands across the gun decks accented with red and black bands. The gun ports are in black to give a chequered effect. The model, including its mahogany baseboard, measures 1,230 mm (48 in) in length, 246 mm (9.7 in) in width and 795 mm (31.3 in) in height.^[3] The model, described as a "beautiful work of art", was donated to the Greenwich Hospital by Tucker's widow in 1852 and was originally displayed in its Painted Hall.^[2][3][9] It has been part of the National Maritime Museum's collection since at least 1970.^[10]

A set of 1:48 scale designs for the vessel are held in the collection of the Science Museum, London. They were presented to the museum by J Scott Tucker in 1865.^[4]

Naval historian Geoffrey Swinford Laird Clowes cast doubt on the claimed 1809 date for the design in his 1932 book Sailing Ships: Their History and Development. He noted that the inscription on the drawings refers to Sir William Symonds, Surveyor of the Navy from 1832 to 1847 and to two of his ships: Queen laid down in 1833 and Royal Albert of 1844. The design also includes innovations more usually attributed to Seppings and Symonds. These included the round bow, the round stern, rounded rudder heads, larger proportionate beams, and larger rises in floor timbers. Clowes suspected that the drawings may have been the work of one of Tucker's supporters to embellish his reputation some time after his death.^[4]