''Hope'' was a

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states 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 War ...

of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

, built in 1559. She was rebuilt in 1583 "into the form of a

galleass Galleasses were military ships developed from large merchant galleys, and intended to combine galley speed with the sea-worthiness and artillery of a galleon. While perhaps never quite matching up to their full expectations, galleasses neverthel ...

", and then again rebuilt from 1603 to 1604 when she was renamed ''Assurance''.The "HMS" prefix was not used until the middle of the 18th century, but is sometimes applied retrospectively. Following her first rebuilding, she was mentioned in the Paris archives as part of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

's fleet in 1588 in ''A Statement of the two fleets possessed by the Queen of England, with numbers and names of the ships'', in which she was listed as "400 tons, 17 pieces each side, four pieces at the prow and the same at the stern." Her complement was 250 comprising 150 mariners, 30 gunners and 70 soldiers. The ship was under the command of

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

in 1588 - "Drake has also six large ships of the Queen's, namely :—the ''Revenge'', the ''Hope'', the ''Nonpareil'', the ''Swiftsure'', the ''Aid'' and the ''Advice'', with 45 of the best merchant ships they could select, at the Isle of Wight." In October 1602 as part of Sir

Robert Mansell Sir Robert Mansell (1573–1656) was an admiral of the English Royal Navy and a Member of Parliament (MP), mostly for Welsh constituencies. His name was sometimes given as Sir Robert Mansfield and Sir Robert Maunsell. Early life Mansel was a W ...

's small fleet he intercepted and with the help of Dutch warships defeated six Spanish galleys in a battle in the Dover Straits. In 1603-04 she was rebuilt a second time as a

great ship The rating system of the Royal Navy and its predecessors was used by the Royal Navy between the beginning of the 17th century and the middle of the 19th century to categorise sailing warships, initially classing them according to their assi ...

(or second rank), and renamed ''Assurance''. Now of 451 tons, she carried 34 primary guns (2 cannon periers, 10 culverins, 12 demi-culverins and 10 sakers) and 4 smaller and more anti-personnel weapons (fowlers). She was sold out of the navy in late 1645.

Notes

Citations

References

*Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . *Winfield, Rif (2009) ''British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates.'' Seaforth Publishing. . *http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=87181&strquery=nonpareil Ships of the English navy 16th-century ships {{UK-line-ship-stub