The race-built galleon was a type of war ship built in England from 1570 until about 1590. Queen's ships built in England by Sir

John Hawkins John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and his shipbuilders, Richard Chapman,

Peter Pett Peter Pett (6 August 1610 – 1672) 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, d ...

and Mathew Baker from 1570 were

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 ...

s of a "race-built" design. The description derived from their "raced" or razed fore-and aft-castles, which, combined with their greater length in relation to their beam, gave them a purposeful, sleek look. Their builders described them as having "the head of a cod and the tail of a mackerel". These ships were purposely designed and built to the new design, not

razee A razee or razée is a sailing ship that has been cut down (''razeed'') to reduce the number of decks. The word is derived from the French ''vaisseau rasé'', meaning a razed (in the sense of shaved down) ship. Seventeenth century During the ...

d older

s. In 1570 Hawkins began a partnership with Richard Chapman to build or rebuild warships for the Queen's

Navy Board The Navy Board (formerly known as the Council of the Marine or Council of the Marine Causes) was the commission responsible for the day-to-day civil administration of the Royal Navy between 1546 and 1832. The board was headquartered within the ...

Deptford Dockyard Deptford Dockyard was an important naval dockyard and base at Deptford on the River Thames, operated by the Royal Navy from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. It built and maintained warships for 350 years, and many significant events a ...

. The prototype of these new style galleons was the 295-ton ''Foresight'' in 1570, built by Chapman. Her success was followed in 1573 by the 360-ton ''Dreadnought'' (built by Matthew Baker) and 350-ton ''Swiftsure'' (built by Peter Pett). In 1577 the 464-ton ''Revenge'' was built, together with the smaller (132-ton) ''Scout''. Following Hawkins's appointment as Treasurer of the Navy in 1578, further vessels along similar lines emerged during the next decade, as the '' Dainty'' in 1588. All these ships were to do sterling service during the fight against the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...

References

Naval sailing ship types Nautical terminology Naval warfare History of the Royal Navy Galleons Tall ships {{UK-mil-ship-stub