San Martin

Type

Galleon

Period

16th Century

Nation

Portugal

Overview: San Martin (Portuguese São Martinho) was a large galleon built for the Portuguese Navy and absorbed into Spain's fleet after Philip II annexed Portugal in 1580. She is best remembered as the flagship of the Duke of Medina Sidonia during the 1588 Spanish Armada campaign against England, and earlier as flagship at the 1582 Battle of Terceiro against a French fleet. Specifications: The ship measured roughly 180 feet (55 m) overall with a beam of about 40 feet (12 m), displacing an estimated 1,000 tons. She carried 48 heavy guns on two enclosed gun decks plus smaller weapons, and could embark several hundred soldiers and sailors. No original construction plans survive, so all modern depictions and scale models are reconstructions drawn from period artwork, particularly the well-known Hendrik Cornelisz Vroom painting, and general knowledge of Iberian galleon design of the 1570s-80s. Service History: As Armada flagship, San Martin played a central role defending the fleet through the English Channel actions of 31 July-2 August 1588, and suffered heavy damage at the Battle of Gravelines when English ships under Sir Francis Drake in Revenge closed on her. She escaped with the help of the galleon São Mateus and led the battered Armada home through a violent storm, ultimately being towed into Santander; her fate afterward is undocumented and she is generally believed to have been broken up due to the damage sustained. Notable Facts: A dramatic National Maritime Museum painting of the Armada's defeat places Medina Sidonia's flagship at the center of the action flying the Papal standard and Spanish ensign. Curiously, another famous period painting of the English-Armada battle appears to depict San Martin as a galleass rather than a galleon, likely artistic license to emphasize her Spanish/exotic character. The ship remains a popular scale-modeling subject, notably as an OcCre plank-on-bulkhead kit at 1:90 scale.