DreadnoughtThe 'HMS' prefix was not used until the middle of the 18th century, but is sometimes applied retrospectively was a 41-gun galleon

Galleon

A galleon was a large, multi-decked sailing ship used primarily by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries. Whether used for war or commerce, they were generally armed with the demi-culverin type of cannon.-Etymology:...

 of the English

Kingdom of England

The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...

 Navy Royal

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

, built by Mathew Baker

Mathew Baker

Mathew Baker was one of the most renowned Tudor shipwrights, and the first to put the practice of shipbuilding down on paper.The first list of 'Master Shipwrights' appointed 'by Patent' by Henry VIII of England included 'John Smyth, Robert Holborn, Richard Bull and James Baker,' in 1537...

 and launched in 1573. Like HMS Dreadnought of 1906

HMS Dreadnought (1906)

HMS Dreadnought was a battleship of the British Royal Navy that revolutionised naval power. Her entry into service in 1906 represented such a marked advance in naval technology that her name came to be associated with an entire generation of battleships, the "dreadnoughts", as well as the class of...

, she was a radical innovation over contemporary ships. When John Hawkins

John Hawkins

Admiral Sir John Hawkins was an English shipbuilder, naval administrator and commander, merchant, navigator, and slave trader. As treasurer and controller of the Royal Navy, he rebuilt older ships and helped design the faster ships that withstood the Spanish Armada in 1588...

 became Treasurer of the Navy

Treasurer of the Navy

The Treasurer of the Navy was an office in the British government between the mid-16th and early 19th century. The office-holder was responsible for the financial maintenance of the Royal Navy. The office was a political appointment, and frequently was held by up-and-coming young politicians who...

 in 1577, he had sailed all over the world, and his ideas contributed to the production of a new race-built

Razee

A razee or razée is a sailing ship that has been cut down to reduce the number of decks. The word is derived from the French vaisseau rasé, meaning a razed ship.-Sixteenth century:...

 series of galleons - of which the Dreadnought was the second (following the Foresight

HMS Foresight (1570)

ForesightThe 'HMS' prefix was not used until the middle of the 18th century, but is sometimes applied retrospectively was a 28-gun galleon of the English Navy Royal, built by Mathew Baker at Deptford Dockyard and launched in 1570. It was a radical innovation over contemporary ships...

 of 1570) - without the fore-

Forecastle

Forecastle refers to the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters...

 and after-castles

Aftcastle

An aftcastle is the upper deck of a sailing ship positioned behind the mizzenmast. It was used in medieval shipping such as galleys or galleasses to provide a heightened platform from which to fire upon other ships; it was also a place of defense in the event of boarding. More common, but much...

 prevalent in other contemporary ships; these "marvels of marine design" could reputedly "run circles around the clumsier Spanish competition."

Dreadnought took part in many of the naval engagements in the naval conflicts between Britain and Spain in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Under Captain Thos. Fenner, she was part of Drake's fleet which "singed the King of Spain's Beard" with the raid on Cadiz in Spring 1587

Singeing the king of Spain's beard

Drake's 1587 expedition took place in the Bay of Cádiz, in April and May 1587. The English privateer, Francis Drake, led a military expedition against the Spanish naval forces assembling at Cádiz. Much of the Spanish fleet was destroyed, and substantial supplies were destroyed or captured. There...

. She was part of the English fleet which destroyed most of the Spanish Armada

Spanish Armada

This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...

 in 1588. She was rebuilt for the first time in 1592. In 1596, with Sir Alexander Clifford as her captain, she was part of the Anglo-Dutch fleet which captured Cadiz

Capture of Cadiz

The Capture of Cádiz in 1596 was an event during the Anglo-Spanish War, when English and Dutch troops under Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and a large Anglo-Dutch fleet under Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, with support from the Dutch United Provinces, raided the Spanish city of...

. In 1599 she was in the Western Channel under G. Fenner, while in 1601 under Sir H. Palmer she was on the Thames.

On 2nd June 1602, captained by Ed. Manwaring, Dreadnought was part of Leveson's fleet which succeeded in capturing the Portugese carrack Sao Valentinho at Cezimbra Roads In 1603, as hostilities with Spain concluded, she was in the Channel under captain Hamphrey Reynolds.

Dreadnought was rebuilt again at Deptford

Deptford

Deptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...

 in 1614 as a middling ship of 32 guns.

In 1625, with renewed hostilities against Spain, Dreadnought took part in yet another expedition to Cadiz

Cádiz Expedition (1625)

The Cádiz Expedition of 1625 was a naval expedition against Spain by English and Dutch forces.The plan was put forward because after the Dissolution of the Parliament of 1625, the Duke of Buckingham, Lord High Admiral wanted to undertake an expedition that would match the exploits of the heroes of...

, this time under a captain named Plumleigh, as part of a fleet commanded by Viscount Wimbledon

Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon

Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon was an English military and naval commander.-Life:The third son of Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter and grandson of Queen Elizabeth's great minister Lord Burghley, Cecil served with the English forces in the Netherlands between 1596 and 1610, becoming a captain...

. In 1628 she took part in the unsuccessful attempt to relieve the Siege of La Rochelle

Siege of La Rochelle

The Siege of La Rochelle was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627-1628...

 by sea.

In 1637, she was part of the Earl of Northumberland's

Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland

Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland, 4th Baron Percy, KG was an English military leader and a prominent supporter of constitutional monarchy.-Family background:...

 fleet in the North Sea, commanded by Captain Henry Stradling and then by Thos. Kirke.
The Dreadnought was broken up in 1648, but there is a non-floating reproduction of the Dreadnought built by Mike Breza at the Bristol Renaissance Faire

Bristol Renaissance Faire

Bristol Renaissance Faire is a Renaissance fair held in the village of Bristol, Wisconsin, near Kenosha, Wisconsin, that recreates the visit of Queen Elizabeth I to the port city of Bristol in the year 1574. The Faire plays in a permanent park with most buildings permanent year-round structures,...

in Kenosha, Wisconsin.