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'San Felipe' Spanish 1st rate, 1690 (With Plans)


Ned Loe

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San Felipe 1690


 


The San Felipe, launched in 1690, was one of the most beautiful Spanish galleons of the XVII century. She was the lead ship of the famous Spanish Armada. The San Felipe displaced more than 1000 tons and was armed with 96 cannons, enabling her to take on the most formidable ships in the French and British navies. In 1705, she participated in a furious and heroic battle between 12 Spanish ships and 35 British ships but ended up at the bottom of the ocean with several tons of gold.


 


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Ship Plans:


 


http://www.modelships.de/San_Felipe_1690_authenticity/San_Felipe_1690_authenticity.htm


 


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Building a ship:


 


http://sanfelipe1690.blogspot.com/


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Some interesting reading on the subject:

http://www.modelships.de/San_Felipe_1690_authenticity/San_Felipe_1690_authenticity.htm

 

Apparently there is great doubt as to wether the "San Felipe" ever existed, however a ship named "Real Felipe" looking almost identical to the model often refered to as "San Felipe" did exist, and apparently was a great ship:

 

The „Real Felipe“ (1732)

The ship was named after Philipp V of Spain, the first Bourbon ruler of Spain, who in the War of the Spanish Succession managed to defend his throne against the claims of the Austrian Habsburgs. 
The ship was built by Ciprián Autrán and Pedro Boyer using the system and the new design specifications of Antonio de Gaztañeta. The work on the shipyard of Guarnizo in Santander was finished in 1732. This three-decker was a giant of 1965 tons that could take up to 114 cannon. At that time only the French Foudroyant was larger.

In a register of 1740 the crew was stated to be 1152 men. The “Real Felipe” proved to be a firm vessel of great firepower. In the battle of Toulon on 22 February 1744 she was repeatedly attacked by British ships [4]. She could repulse all attacks and fought “like hell”, according to English sources. However, the ship was damaged so badly that she was never completely repaired, due to high cost. In 1750 she was finally broken up.

The „Real Felipe“ is supposed to be the largest and most beautiful ship of the Spanish fleet at that time. Strangely, despite of that there is no proven contemporary illustration of her. In books, articles or Internet one can find many depictions, but they are all different and none of them is contemporary. Jose Ignacio Gonzales-Aller Hierro, the former curator of the Museo Naval in Madrid, provided some information. He has published several books about the Spanish fleet, and about the inventory of the Museo Naval. In his publications „Navío Real Felipe“ [5] and „El navíos de tres puentes en la Armada española“ [6] he in detail outlined the history of the ship. So he should know about contemporary sources. He told me that there are indeed no proven contemporary drawings or paintings of the ship. Even with the most prominent drawing of the ship (see Fig. 4) one does not know when the drawing was made and by whom.

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Uh, dude, this ship would've been about 100 years too late to partake in the Armada. :P

 

(Unless I'm missing/forgetting something obvious here.)

 

Armada is just Spanish for 'fleet' I think. There were many Armadas in the historical sense and I wouldn't be surprised if 'lead ship of the Armada' just meant she was the flagship of any fleet she found herself in. 

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San Felipe

 

The first proven three-decker of the Spanish navy was the „Nuestra Señora de la Concepción y de las Ánimas“. Construction of that ship began in 1682 by the shipbuilder D. Antonio De Amas at the Colindres (Cantabria) shipyard. The displacement of the ship might have been about 1500 tons.

In 1687 José Antonio de Gaztañeta (1656 – 1728) visited the shipyard to catch up on the work at the new flagship. As admiral of the Spanish Armada Gaztañeta did influence the Spanish ship building markedly, till the 18th century. His book „Arte de Fabrica Reales” of 1691 [1] contains detailed drawings of the „Nuestra Señora de la Concepción y de las Ánimas“. There is a view of the stern, a side view and a detail drawing of the stern gallery (see Fig. 1 and 2). The ship is shown as small three-decker without elevated forecastle, carrying 90 to 94 guns.
After launching in 1688 the ship was transferred to Santoña and completed. In May 1690 the masts were set in place. The ship’s painting by Martin Amigo is from that year (see Fig. 3). It is an oil painting on canvas 210 * 135 cm. Today that painting is in the parish church „Iglesia de la Asunción“ in Arcenillas, Zamora.

 

 

 

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This is a mistake.

 

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Two cannons that I marked by figure 2 are the same two cannons that I marked by figure 1.

These two aft side cannons on the lower gun deck can't stand at their own ports and at stern chase ports at the same time. They can be either there or there.

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HI all:

Yes, ARMADA has two meanings, WARSHIPS FLEET or NAVY, and nothing else. And yes the literal translation is Armed, but this meaning is not used in Castillian when related to ships. Armada, taken as armed, would have to be translated as a qualifying adjective, related to a female that carries a gun.

This is just another case when literal translations make no sence.

 

The San Felipe presented in this post, is not a galleon, but a XVIII ship. I dont know if there existed a galleon with that name, but, this one isn´t.

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And yes the literal translation is Armed, but this meaning is not used in Castillian when related to ships. Armada, taken as armed, would have to be translated as a qualifying adjective, related to a female that carries a gun.

This is just another case when literal translations make no sence.

Of course the literal translation is not used when talking about ships, yet the ethimology of the word -both as a sustantive as a participle/adjective- is absolutely correct. It comes from the latin armāta, which is the feminine form of armātus, which, you guessed it, means armed. Yes, the same participle/adjective word.

No one was making a literal translation but pointing out the origin of the word, and thus, no amends were needed.

 

Un desperdicio de cuarto mensaje, pero gracias por participar, y un saludo afectuoso.

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