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HMS Ark Royal (1587)

HMS Royal Ark (1587) History

In 1586, Sir Walter Raleigh commissioned R. Chapman of Deppford, England, to build an English galleon. As was custom at the time, she was named after her master and named "Ark Raleigh". However, it was bought by Queen Elizabeth I in 1587 for ?5,000. This did not prove to be a real sale, as Sir Walter owed the Queen a large sum of money, and the cost of the ship greatly reduced the balance sheet he owed.

Ark Raleigh was transferred to the Royal Navy and renamed Ark Royal.

The Ark Royal was a galleon battleship of the time, equipped with two gun decks, a double foredeck, quarterdeck and quarterdeck. The two batteries were the upper deck and the main deck, the latter one level below the waterline. She supported a double forecastle, allowing the Royal Marines to use the smaller caliber extension guns as a high ground in case the enemy mounted her. The quarterdeck is primarily for officers and visitors - crew members request access or are called by officers on deck. The aft deck is the stern and rearmost guest cabin above the aft deck.

This is an elevated position and the helmsman steers the boat. The origin of the term "stern" deck is because the crew on the deck were "stern" when the waves swept past the stern and splashed on them. The galleon's keel is constructed of English oak, the mast is constructed of pine, and the deck is constructed of various hardwoods.

The costs associated with construction are substantial and often limit the total number of ships employed by a country. Each construction project requires several months of work by hundreds of skilled craftsmen to complete a ship that meets the requirements.

The only negative on the official record is that the crew did not like the strong rollover of the Ark Royal at sea.

The HMS Ark Royal, built according to the ship's history, has 38 Demi-Culverin guns - a medium-sized gun, usually about 11 feet (3.4 m) long. Various calibers (or "pound" sizes) were assigned to the cannon, usually corresponding to the weight of the iron shells used. The main sizes of the guns initially used were 6 and 9 lbs, with larger calibers later added.

The Demi-Culverin has an effective range of 1,800 feet.

As with the land-based field guns of the day, during the "Battle Station" call, a common gunner was made up of six men per gun. Everyone's task is to increase efficiency "by the numbers". One was the gunmanNumber Onewho lit, aimed and fired. Number two turns the crank to raise the barrel, number three reloads the gun.

The fourth eliminated the spark before reloading, the fifth moved the barrel and passed the ammo. The sixth is the "powder monkey", usually the youngest member of the crew - boys aged 10 to 12 who run to the gunpowder pit and then return to the muzzle with black powder as needed.

The modern Royal Navy makes room and board one of the selling points of recruits. On Ark Royals of yesteryear (and ships of that era), crews reveled in rotting meat, maggot-infested biscuits and cheese, so tough sailors used it to carve buttons for their uniforms.

One trick is to put a large dead fish on top of the cookie jar, and the maggots leave the cookie and run onto the fish. Drinks were also difficult to manage as the fresh water turned green and the beer didn't get any better.

Many ships carry live animals for fresh meat, milk and eggs - although they are primarily intended to provide food for officers. There are 8 to 12 people eating together in the restaurant - basically a table between two cannons with some seating.

The Ark Royal made its debut in 1588 at the Battle of the Spanish Armada. At the time, the Ark Royal was the largest ship in the British fleet and the flagship of British Admiral Charles Howard. The British fleet consisted of 34 galleons and 163 armed merchant ships, facing the Spanish 22 galleons and 108 armed merchant ships.

After the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the Ark Royal led the pursuit of fleeing Spanish ships into the North Sea. The British lost 8 ships, 100 sailors were killed, and as many as 8,000 died of disease and wounds after the battle. The Spaniards killed 600 men, sank 5 ships, and took 397 prisoners.

After the battle, as many as 20,000 Spanish sailors died of injuries.

The Ark Royal was also used as Howard's flagship during the 1596 raid on Cadiz, resulting in the destruction of the Spanish fleet in the port. In 1599, when the Spanish invasion fleet threatened England, the Ark Royal was once again the flagship.

Accession of James VI. The Ark Royal was renamed Anne Royal after his wife, Anne of Denmark. Rebuilt as a 42-gun gunboat in 1608, HMS Anne Royal became the flagship of the British raid on Cadiz in 1625, which ended with the Spanish fleet sinking many British ships due to poor war planning.

When she was transferred to the Medway River in 1636, her anchor hit the ground and split the hull. She drank and sank. An operation to raise her took a huge toll, but was found to be too damaged to be repaired.

The Ark Royal/Anne Royal disintegrated in 1638, and her parts were used to build other ships, extending her more than 50 years of service.