Ship model  SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS

Scale 1 : 78, length 109 cm, width 41 cm, height 93 cm

Launched in 1637, the SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS was larger and more powerful than any other ship of her time.  She sailed with 800 men, and her 104 guns could fire a broadside of more than a ton of metal.
In 1634, Charles I had asked the great English shipbuilder Phineas Pett to build of a great new ship as part of his overall effort to improve and expand England’s navy. Built at a cost of £65,586 – about ten 40-gun ships could have been built for the same amount – the SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS was intended as an instrument of propaganda as well as war. She was the Royal Navy’s most lavishly ornamented vessel.
In 1660 she was rebuilt and renamed Royal Sovereign. During the three Anglo-Dutch Wars, she saw action at the Battle of Ketish Knock in 1652, Orfordness (1666), Solebay (1672), Schoonveld (1673), and the battle of Texel (1673). Following another rebuild in 1685, in the War of the League of Augsburg, she was at the battle of Beachy Head (1690) and the battles of Barfleur and La Hogue (1692). In 1696 a misplaced candle set the ship on fire and she burned at Chatham.

Please take your time to have a good look at the set of photos. There are several views of the entire ship model and the hull before a blue background and closer views of hull, deck and rigging. If you click on a photo you will get that photo in high resolution. Only these high resolution photographs show how much work and handicraft ability were put in the model.

Viewing the high resolution photos: If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer or Firefox, press F11 to minimize navigation bars and have a larger screen with the photos. The high resolution photos are about 12 megapixel. So they are about 10 - 20 times larger than your 0.5 - 1.3 megapixel computer screen. Most browsers by default downsize the pictures to screen size, so you cannot see all the details of the ship models. To see the original resolution move the mouse over the pictures and click on the magnifying lens.

This model of the SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS was made in 1990. It has been restored with love and care. The ship is a fine and beautiful piece of work. The rigging and hull are impressive, and the many details show the art of shipbuilding at that time. The model's sails are set as running downwind on port tack. 
The model is fixed to the stand board by two screws. It is 1 : 78 scale. Length is 109 cm, width 41 cm, height 93 cm.