A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which involved the two columns of opposing warships manoeuvering to volley fire with the cannons along their broadsides. In conflicts where opposing ships were both able to fire from their broadsides, the faction with more cannons firing – and therefore more firepower – typically had an advantage.
Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships developed first in Spain and Portugal and used as armed cargo carriers by Europeans from the 16th to 18th centuries during the Age of Sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the mid-17th century. Galleons generally carried three or more masts with a lateen fore-and-aft rig on the rear masts, were carvel built with a prominent squared off raised stern, and used square-rigged sail plans on their fore-mast and main-masts.
Admiral Sir John Hawkins was an English naval commander, naval administrator, privateer and slave trader.
Peter Pett was an English Master Shipwright and Second Resident Commissioner of Chatham Dockyard. He protected his scale models and drawings of the King's Fleet during the Dutch Raid on the Medway, in Kent in June 1667, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, which was otherwise disastrous to the British Royal Navy.
Phineas Pett was a shipwright and First Resident Commissioner of Chatham Dockyard and a member of the Pett dynasty. Phineas left a memoir of his activities which is preserved in the British Library and was published in 1918.
Mathew Baker (1530–1613) was one of the most renowned Tudor shipwrights, and the first to put the practice of shipbuilding down on paper.
Revenge was an English race-built galleon of 46 guns, built in 1577 and captured by the Spanish in 1591, sinking soon afterwards. She was the first of 13 English and Royal Navy ships to bear the name.
Dreadnought was a 41-gun galleon of the Tudor navy, built by Mathew Baker and launched in 1573. Like HMS Dreadnought of 1906, she was a radical innovation over contemporary ships. When John Hawkins became Treasurer of the Navy in 1577, he had sailed all over the world, and his ideas contributed to the production of a new race-built series of galleons—of which Dreadnought was the second, following Foresight of 1570—without the high forecastle and aftcastle prevalent in earlier galleons. These "marvels of marine design" could reputedly "run circles around the clumsier Spanish competition."
The Tudor navy was the navy of the Kingdom of England under the ruling Tudor dynasty (1485–1603). The period involved important and critical changes that led to the establishment of a permanent navy and laid the foundations for the future Royal Navy.
The Antelope was a ship of the English Tudor navy, launched in 1546. She was rebuilt three times, in 1558, 1581 and 1618. She thus served in various forms from the time of King Henry VIII to the English Civil War. She is mostly remembered for being a part of the fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada.
Lyon's Whelp or Lion's Whelp is the name of a historical British ship, it is also found in the Bible in Genesis 49:9 “Judah is a lion’s whelp." Popular today, the name was given to a series of 16th-century naval ships, then in the 17th century to a fleet of ten full rigged pinnaces commissioned by the first Duke of Buckingham.
Triumph of 1562 was the first vessel of record to hold the name. She was a 60-gun English galleon built in Deptford in 1561–62 and launched in October 1562, and once the flagship of Admiral Robert Blake.
Ark Royal was an English galleon, originally ordered for Sir Walter Raleigh and later purchased by the crown for service in the Tudor navy. She was used as the English flagship in a number of engagements, including the battles that resulted in the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and had a long career spanning over 50 years. Her fame led to a number of later warships of the Royal Navy being named Ark Royal in her honour, including a number of flagships of the fleet.
Nonsuch was a galleon of the English Navy. She was built on the orders of Queen Mary in 1555–56 as the Philip and Mary and renamed twice during her career — first to Nonpareil when she was rebuilt at Deptford in 1584, and later as Nonsuch when she was again rebuilt from 1603 to 1605.
HMS Anne was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the English, built under the 1677 Construction Programme by Phineas Pett II at Chatham Dockyard during 1677/78. She fought in the War of English Succession 1688 to 1697. She fought in the Battle of Beachy Head where she was severely damaged and ran aground. She was burnt by the English to avoid capture by the French. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England.
Foresight was a 28-gun galleon of the English Tudor navy, built by Mathew Baker at Deptford Dockyard and launched in 1570. It was a radical innovation over contemporary ships. When John Hawkins became Treasurer of the Navy in 1577, he had sailed all over the world, and his ideas contributed to the production of a new race-built series of galleons - of which the Foresight was the first - without the high fore- and after-castles prevalent in earlier galleons; these "marvels of marine design" could reputedly "run circles around the clumsier Spanish competition." As such, the Foresight was part of the English fleet which destroyed most of the Spanish Armada in 1588.
The Battle of São Vicente was a minor naval engagement that took place off São Vicente, Portuguese Brazil on 3 February 1583 during the Anglo–Spanish War between three English ships, and three Spanish galleons. The English under Edward Fenton on an expedition having failed to enter the Pacific, then attempted to trade off Portuguese Brazil but were intercepted by a detached Spanish squadron under Commodore Andrés de Equino. After a moonlit battle briefly interrupted by a rainstorm the Spanish were defeated with one galleon sunk and another heavily damaged along with heavy losses. Fenton then attempted to resume trading but without success and thus returned to England.
The Battle of the Barbary Coast was a minor naval engagement that took place off in the Barbary Coast not far from the Gibraltar Strait, on July 26, 1592 during the Anglo-Spanish War. The hard fought action by an English merchant galleon in the Amity of London captained by Thomas White resulted in the capture of two Spanish ships which included a galleon despite them being outnumbered four to one. The prizes were heavily laden with quicksilver and a large amount of very important Papal bulls bound for the West Indies.
Dainty was an English race-built galleon that began to be built in 1588. The original name was Repentance, but this was soon changed. It participated in some naval engagements in the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604). In 1593 it sailed from England under Richard Hawkins to navigate the Pacific Ocean and circumnavigate the world, but was captured the following year by the Spaniards when it was sailing off the coast of what is now Ecuador. It was commissioned by the Spaniards as Nuestra Señora de la Visitación, serving in the South Pacific for several years. She was also known informarly by her nickname, La Inglesa.
Peter Pett was an English master-shipwright at Deptford.
