High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! In 1628, the very wealthy Duke of Buckingham built a private fleet of 10 three-masted, armed full rigged pinnaces, each of which carried the name Lion`s Whelp. At least one Lion`s Whelp participated in the English attempt to relieve the Huguenot citadel of La Rochelle during the Anglo-French War. Little information has survived about the careers of the other Lion`s Whelps and they disappear from the historical record in 1654. Important documents about their finance and construction have survived and made a lasting contribution to our understanding of the Navy Royal during the early 17th century.