title: William Castle (shipbuilder)
text: # William Castle (shipbuilder)
  
  William Castle or Castell of Rotherhithe (c.1615–1681) was a shipbuilder for the Royal Navy and occasionally for the East India Company. He is mentioned more than once in the Diary of Samuel Pepys.
  
  ## Life
  
  He was the son of William Castle (d.1649) shipwright at Redriff (now known as Rotherhithe) and his wife Margaret (d.1635). His younger brother Thomas was also a shipwright. He entered the Royal Navy in 1629 as a ship's carpenter.
  
  Samuel Pepys first mentions Castle in 1664, commenting on the appearance of his wife.
  
  He is buried with his parents in the floor of Bermondsey Parish Church.
  
  ## Family
  
  In 1636 he married Elizabeth. On 5 July 1663 he married (as a second wife) Martha Batten, daughter of Sir William Batten, Surveyor of the Navy.
  
  His son William Castle died in 1696. A younger son John Castle died in 1700.
  
  ## Ships of note
  
  * HMS Taunton (1654) 40-gun ship launched at Rotherhithe renamed HMS Crown in 1660
  * HMS Dover (1654) a 40-gun ship of the line launched at Shoreham
  * HMS Monmouth (1666) an 8-gun yacht launched at Rotherhithe
  * HMS Navy (1666) an 8-gun yacht launched at Rotherhithe
  * HMS Defiance (1666) a 64-gun ship of the line launched at Deptford Dockyard destroyed in a fire 1668
  * "Bombay Merchant" (1668) for the East India Company launched on the Thames
  * HMS Kitchen (1670) 8-gun yacht launched at Rotherhithe
  * HMS Hope (1678) 70-gun ship of the line launched at Deptford Dockyard
  * HMS Elizabeth (1679) 70-gun ship of the line launched at Barnard's Yard at Deptford Green on the Thames
  
  ## Ships by William Castle the Younger
  
  * HMS Mordaunt (1682) 48-gun ship of the line launched at Deptford, started by father, completed by the son
  * HMS Griffin (1690) 28-gun ship launched at Rotherhithe
  * HMS Hart (1691) 10-gun ketch launched at Rotherhithe
  