Sovereign of the Seas

·        17th Century English Man-of-War

·        Her design and size were about 100 years ahead of their time

·        Launched in 1637 and served till 1696 – a long time for a wooden ship

·        She was the most extravagantly decorated warship in the Royal Navy – ever

·        She was the first ship with three fully covered gun decks

·        Her enormous cost helped to create the financial crisis for King Charles I that contributed to the English Civil War, and his subsequent downfall and execution

·        She carried 102 bronze and iron cannons and a crew of over 900

·        She was later  modified and renamed Sovereign, and then Royal Sovereign

·        A cook’s candle, left unattended,  is said to have started a fire that burned her to the waterline in 1696