HMS Sovereign of the Seas

Sovereign of the Seas was built in 1635 and launched on 13 October 1637. She was requested  by Charles I of England, who desired a huge Great Ship and She was decorated from stern to bow with gilded carvings and armed with 102 bronze cannon.  She was thereby at the time the most powerfully armed ship in the world, however, the main aim was to boost the reputation of the English crown and to be recognised as the ‘lords of the seas.’

HMS Royal Sovereign was a 100-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy which served as the flagship of Admiral Collingwood (pictured) at the Battle of Trafalgar).  She has served during the wars of the Commonwealth and has participated in all of  the great English naval battles against the United Provinces and France and was also described as ‘The Golden Devil’ by the Dutch.

Sovereign of the Seas encountered some leaking and malfunctioning problems with time and was accidently burnt on 27 January 1697. Some part of the popular folklore attributes the fire to an overturned candle.

In her honour, naval tradition has kept the name of this ship afloat, and several subsequent ships have been named HMS Royal Sovereign.