AbstractThe year 2003 was also a commemoration of Pepys, whose lifespan corresponds exactly with that of Elizabeth a century before. The Navy was Pepys's professional concern, and in his Diary and other writings he frequently, and with increasing shrewdness, compared Elizabethan glories with the poorer record of his own day. Pepys also collected and bequeathed important sources for the history of the Elizabethan Navy. This paper uses these materials to consider the perceived failure of Restoration seamen to match the achievements of their grandfathers.