Ships had been built which were fit to go to sea.

An excellent order had been issued increasing the allowances of Captains, and at the same time strictly forbidding them to carry merchandise from port to port without the royal permission.

The effect of these reforms was already perceptible; and James found no difficulty in fitting out, at short notice, a considerable fleet.

Thirty ships of the line, all third rates and fourth rates, were collected in the Thames, under the command of Lord Dartmouth.

The loyalty of Dartmouth was above suspicion; and he was thought to have as much professional skill and knowledge as any of the patrician sailors who, in that age, rose to the highest naval commands without a regular naval training, and who were at once flag officers on the sea and colonels of infantry on shore.