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São Martinho (1580 galleon)
Decommissioned/fate unknown after 1588
São Martinho was a Portuguese Navy galleon completed around 1580, just as Portugal came under the rule of Spain's Philip II in the Iberian Union. She is best known under her Castilian name San Martín as the flagship of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, commander-in-chief of the 1588 Spanish Armada.
Kits of this ship
+ Add a kit| San Martín | OcCre | 1:90 | Plank-on-Frame | Available | |
| San Martin | Dusek Ship Kits | 1:72 | Plank-on-Bulkhead | Available |
Plans
No plan sets listed for this ship yet. Know of museum, archive or publisher drawings? Add them so the next builder can find them.
Links go to the publisher's or museum's own page. Ship Modelers Database lists plan sets; it doesn't host or display the drawings.
Build logs
+ Link a build logNo build logs linked yet.
Resources
+ Submit a resourceHistory & specifications
- threedecks.org: Spanish First Rate galleon 'San Martin' (1588)Website
Detailed service history timeline with crew complement and battle dates, drawn from Navy Records Society sources.
- Wikipedia: Galleon (ship type)Article
General article on galleon design and construction, lists São Martinho among notable galleons and provides type context.
- Wikipedia: Portuguese galleon São MartinhoWebsite
Main overview article covering the ship's build, dimensions, armament, and Armada service, useful baseline reference for modelers.
Museums & archives
- National Maritime Museum Greenwich: English Ships and the Spanish Armada, August 1588 (painting)Museum
Museum catalog entry discussing a period painting depicting the Armada action and identifying the San Martin as the Spanish flagship, useful for visual reference and context.
History
Specifications
She had an overall length of roughly 180 feet (55 m) and a beam of about 40 feet (12 m), with a displacement estimated around 1,000 tons. She carried 48 heavy guns across two enclosed gun decks plus numerous smaller weapons, and reportedly had a crew of several hundred men (soldiers and mariners combined). A contemporary painting by Hendrik Cornelisz Vroom shows her with three masts (two square-rigged plus a lateen mizzen), a stern gallery, and the long beakhead typical of the galleon type, with the foremast set forward of the forecastle.
Service history
Before the Armada, she served as flagship under Álvaro de Bazán at the 1582 Battle of Ponta Delgada/Terceira against a French fleet, a victory that established her reputation as the best ship available. Chosen in 1588 as the Armada's flagship, she played a central role defending the fleet through the English Channel, including an action off Calais where she fought virtually alone against a large English squadron. She suffered heavy damage at the Battle of Gravelines when ships under Francis Drake closed on her, but with the help of the galleon São Mateus escaped and led the shattered Armada home through a severe storm, having to be towed into Santander.
Notable facts
Despite being built by Portugal, she is most widely remembered under her Spanish Armada identity as "San Martín," reflecting the 1580 union of the Iberian crowns. No original builder's plans are known to survive, so modern reconstructions and model kits rely on period paintings (notably Vroom's) and documentary descriptions rather than original draughts. Several wooden model kit manufacturers (e.g., Occre, Dusek) produce scale kits of this ship under the name San Martín.