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 and his shipbuilders, Richard Chapman,

Peter Pett Peter Pett may refer to: * Peter Pett (shipwright, died 1672) (1610–1672), English master-shipwright at Chatham Dockyard * Peter Pett (shipwright, died 1589) (?–1589), English master-shipwright at Deptford Dockyard * Sir Peter Pett (lawyer) ...

and

Mathew Baker Matthew or Matt Baker may refer to: Entertainment * Matt Baker (artist) (1921–1959), American comic book artist * Matt Baker (born 1977), British television presenter * Matthew Baker (bass-baritone), Australian bass-baritone opera singer * S ...

from 1570 were

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 ...

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 Regulatory agency, commission responsible for the day-to-day civil administration of the Royal Navy between 1546 and 1832. The board was headqua ...

Deptford Dockyard Deptford Dockyard was an important Royal Navy Dockyard, 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 man ...

. 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 (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 ...

References

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