HMS Sovereign of the Seas

'The true portrait of His Majesty's royal ship the Sovereign of the Seas', a contemporaneous engraving by J. Payne
History
England
Name	Sovereign of the Seas
Builder	Peter Pett, Woolwich Dockyard
Launched	13 October 1637
Renamed	Sovereign, 1651 Royal Sovereign, 1660
Fate	Burnt, 1697
Notes	Participated in: Battle of Kentish Knock Battle of Beachy Head Battle of La Hogue Four Days' Battle St James' Day Battle
General characteristics as built[1]
Class and type	90-gun first-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	1522
Length	127 ft (39 m) (keel)
Beam	46 ft 6 in (14.17 m)
Depth of hold	19 ft 4 in (5.89 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	90 guns (ordered); 102 guns (launched): Lower deck Broadside 20 × cannon drakes (42-pdrs) Stern chasers 4 × demi-cannon drakes (32-pdrs) Bow chasers 2 × demi-cannon drakes (32-pdrs) Luffs 2 × demi-cannon drakes (32-pdrs) Middle deck Broadside 22 × culverin drakes (18-pdrs) 2 × demi-culverin drakes (9-pdrs) Stern chasers 4 × culverins (18-pdrs) Bow chasers 2 × culverins (18-pdrs) Upper deck Broadside 22 × demi-culverin drakes (9-pdrs) Stern chasers 2 × demi-culverins (9-pdrs) Bow chasers 2 × demi-culverins (9-pdrs) Quarter deck 6 × demi-culverin drakes (9-pdrs) Poop deck 2 × demi-culverin drakes (9-pdrs) Forecastle 8 × demi-culverin drakes (9-pdrs) 2 × culverin drakes (18-pdrs); 90 guns (1642); 100 guns (1660).
General characteristics after 1660 rebuild[2]
Class and type	100-gun first-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	1605
Length	127 ft (39 m) (keel)
Beam	47 ft 6 in (14.48 m)
Depth of hold	19 ft 2 in (5.84 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	100 guns of various weights of shot
General characteristics after 1685 rebuild[3]
Class and type	100-gun first-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	1683 tons
Length	167 ft 9 in (51.13 m) (gundeck)
Beam	48 ft 4 in (14.73 m)
Depth of hold	19 ft 4 in (5.89 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	100 guns of various weights of shot

Sovereign of the Seas was a 17th-century warship of the English Navy. She was ordered as a 90-gun first-rate ship of the line,^[1][4] but at launch was armed with 102 bronze guns at the insistence of the king.^[4] She was later renamed Sovereign under the republican Commonwealth, and then HMS Royal Sovereign at the Restoration of Charles II.

The elaborately gilded stern ordered by Charles I of England meant enemy ships knew her as the "Golden Devil".^[5] She was launched on 13 October 1637, and served from 1638 until 1697, when a fire burnt the ship to the waterline at Chatham.