Naval timber control and dockyard enforcement

The Navy treated ship timber as a strategic resource rather than ordinary lumber. The crown's broad-arrow ship mark identified trees reserved for warship construction, and surveyors returned to check them. Cutting a marked tree could bring punishment, while dockyard records made missing timber difficult to hide indefinitely. Contractors and craftsmen could profit, but the state reacted harshly when the promised quantity or quality failed to arrive or when valuable offcuts were diverted into furniture. This early-modern supply system tolerated some private gain while enforcing delivery of the fleet's essential material.