Only a few years after Thomas Seymour was born in Wiltshire, the King’s navy built the Peter Pomegranate (1510) as a sister ship to the Mary Rose. Both were considered war ships and mammoth in size. The Peter Pomegranate was presumably named in honor of Saint Peter, while the pomegranate was in honor of Katherine of Aragon and held 185 sailors, 185 soldiers, and 30 gunners. The Mary Rose, on the other hand held 200 sailors, 185 soldiers, and 30 gunners
The Peter Pomegranate’s name was shortened to just “Peter” after it was rebuilt (and Katherine of Aragon had died) in 1536.
In 1544, King Henry decided to join the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V and his war against France. Henry raised over 40,000 troops to fight against the French.
Recalled from his position as ambassador to the Low Countries, King Henry entrusted Thomas Seymour with command of the English fleet. The King’s army was commanded by Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.
Sometime prior to the 3rd of November 1544, Thomas Seymour was named Captain of the Peter.¹ This was around the time of/ shortly after England had captured the city of Boulogne. It is quite possible that naming Seymour as captain of the Peter was in direct correlation with his results as commander of the fleet.
Let’s just sit with that for a minute. That is a lot of men to be Captain of a ship over. Pretty impressive actually. This should tell the reader something about Thomas’ skill as a captain and why he later was made Lord Admiral. Thomas had an impressive naval career.
¹ History of Parliament. Sir Thomas Seymour.
