How the Royal Navy's rating system emerged

When did the Royal Navy move from earlier ship types to formally rated warships?

The system developed in the Stuart period and was formally codified by Samuel Pepys under Charles II.

English fleets did not pass through a large galley phase before adopting rated sailing warships. Great ships and other sailing types developed over time, while the recognizable rating system took shape in the Stuart era, especially under Charles II. Samuel Pepys formalized an administrative practice that was already in use rather than inventing it from nothing.