''São Martinho'' or ''San Martín'' (meaning Saint Martin), built as a

Portuguese Navy The Portuguese Navy (), also known as the Portuguese War Navy (''Marinha de Guerra Portuguesa'') or as the Portuguese Armada (''Armada Portuguesa''), is the navy of the Portuguese Armed Forces. Chartered in 1317 by King Dinis of Portugal, it is ...

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 ...

, became the flagship of the Duke of Medina Sedonia, the commander-in-chief of 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 ...

. When the

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal was a Portuguese monarchy, monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also known as the Kingdom of Portugal a ...

came under the rule of King

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

(Philip I of Portugal), in 1580, the Portuguese had just finished building a large galleon named ''São Martinho''. She was known by Castilians as ''San Martín''. At the time of forming the Spanish Armada, ''São Martinho'' was found to be the best of the fleet and was chosen as the flagship of the Armada commander-in-chief, Duke of Medina Sidonia. ''São Martinho'' had an overall length of about 180 feet with a beam of about 40 feet. She carried 48 heavy guns on two enclosed gun decks, plus multiple smaller weapons. According to a painting by Hendrik Cornelisz Vroom,

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unit ...

, Greenwich, ''São Martinho'' had three masts, two square-rigged masts and a

lateen A lateen (from French ''latine'', meaning "Latin") or latin-rig is a triangular sail set on a long Yard (sailing) , yard mounted at an angle on the mast (sailing) , mast, and running in a fore-and-aft direction. The Settee (sail), settee can be ...

mizzen-mast. She was shown with a stern gallery and with the long beakhead characteristic of a galleon. The foremast was set forward of the forecastle. The São Martinho and crew played a crucial role in defending the armada throughout 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 ...

. An example was the fighting of July 31 to August 2, 1588, from the English coast to

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

, such as the rescue ordered by Medina Sidonia of the galleon São João, commanded by Juan Martinez de Recalde, that after repairs and trying to join the formation, was intercepted and faced alone 12 English galleons and race galleons. In the process, the São Martinho fought, virtually isolated, for one hour, 15 English galleons.

Howard Howard is a masculine given name derived from the English surname Howard. ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names'' notes that "the use of this surname as a christian name is quite recent and there seems to be no particular reason for ...

, however, opted to kept some distance, preventing further approach and giving up the fight in duels of gunfire from both sides. ''São Martinho'' had suffered already heavy damage in the battle of

Gravelines Gravelines ( , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord departments of France, department in Northern France. It lies at the mouth of the river Aa (France), Aa southwest of Dunkirk, France, Dunkirk. It was form ...

in July 1588 when a group of English ships led by Sir

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

in bore down upon her. With the assistance of the galleon ''São Mateus'' she escaped the attack and led the Armada back to Spain through a ferocious storm, where she had to be towed into port at Santander. Because of a storm, ''São Martinho'' had to take refuge at Laredo, where Medina Sidonia found the

galleass A galleass was a warship that combined the sails and armament of a galleon or carrack with the maneuverability of the oared galley. While never quite matching up to the full expectations for its design, the galleass nevertheless remained in us ...

''Napolitana'' and other ships in harbor. The ship was full of sick crew and was itself in sad condition.

Citations

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sao Martinho (1580) Galleons of the Portuguese Navy 16th-century ships