British practice could preserve a ship's name and administrative identity through major rebuilding, while Dutch and Maltese owners more often sold an old hull and built another under the old name. A sixty-year career with three great refits does not mean the original timbers served unchanged for six decades.
Notable Point · 2:55:07-2:55:58
How great refits extended age-of-sail careers
Some exceptionally long Royal Navy careers conceal repeated great refits that replaced much of the physical ship.