''Nuestra Señora del Rosario'', was a

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships developed in Spain and Portugal. They were first used as armed cargo carriers by Europe, Europeans from the 16th to 18th centuries during the Age of Sail, and they were the principal vessels dr ...

of the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...

laid down in 1587. She was captured by English forces in 1588.

Commission and construction

The name ''Nuestra Señora del Rosario'' translates into English directly as "

Our Lady of the Rosary Our Lady of the Rosary (), also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a Titles of Mary, Marian title. The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, formerly known as Feast of Our Lady of Victory and Feast of the Holy Rosary is celebrated on 7 October ...

", a religious reference to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. The names of contemporary Spanish ships commonly had religious undertones as with general Spanish naming traditions of the period. ''Nuestra Señora del Rosario'' was likely commissioned sometime in the mid-1580s though the exact date is unknown and was laid down and constructed at

Ribadeo Ribadeo is a municipality in the Spanish province of Lugo in Galicia. It has a population of 10,023 ( INE, 2011) and an area of . It is the capital of the A Mariña Oriental comarca. Geography The municipality of Ribadeo has approximately t ...

Lugo Lugo (, ) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 100,060 in 2024, ...

, Galicia. She was designed by Spanish shipbuilder Vicente Alvarez. She was launched in 1587 and handed over to the '' Armada Real'' at Corunna.

Service

Soon after her construction, ''Nuestra Señora del Rosario'' joined the forces gathering for the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

in May 1588 under the command of Teniente General Don Pedro de Valdés at Corunna. She was recorded as having been at Corunna on 13 July 1588, and was subsequently damaged in collisions on 31 July 1588. ''Nuestra Señora del Rosario'' entered the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

together with the Spanish Armada. She was the flagship of Don Pedro de Valdés who commanded the Escuadura de Andalucia which formed up the second line left flank of the fleet. During the actions of 1 August 1588, the Escuadura de Andalucias together with much of the Spanish center maneuvered to support ''Santa Ana''. It was at this time that ''Nuestra Señora del Rosario'' began to drift and was taken off by the current in the opposite direction of the fleet and closer to the English. On 1 August 1588, ''Nuestra Señora del Rosario'' was taken in an action by the English warship ''Revenge'' in the English Channel and sent into

Torbay Torbay is a unitary authority with a borough status in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. It is governed by Torbay Council, based in the town of Torquay, and also includes the towns of Paignton and Brixham. The borough consists of ...

. Thereafter, she was brought to Dartmouth and then to Chatham where she was

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

ed and eventually sunk to support a

wharf A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

References

Bibliography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuestra Galleons of the Spanish Navy Ships built in Spain Spanish Armada 16th-century ships 16th-century maritime incidents