HMS Sovereign of the Seas
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, but at launch was armed with 102 bronze guns at the insistence of the king. She was later renamed Sovereign under the republican Commonwealth, and then HMS Royal Sovereign at the Restoration of Charles II.
'The true portrait of His Majesty's royal ship the Sovereign of the Seas', a contemporaneous engraving by J. Payne
The Morgan-Drawing by Willem van de Velde the Younger
Pett and Sovereign of the Seas showing her gilded stern carvings depicting King Edgar as the perceived founder of English naval strength and dominion
Medal on Sovereign of the Seas
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which involved the two columns of opposing warships maneuvering to volley fire with the cannons along their broadsides. In conflicts where opposing ships were both able to fire from their broadsides, the opponent with more cannons firing – and therefore more firepower – typically had an advantage.
A 1784 painting of French ship of the line Saint-Esprit by Nicholas Pocock
Two fleets in their line of battle during the Battle of Cuddalore
HMS Hercule as depicted in her fight against the frigate Poursuivante
The carrack Henri Grace à Dieu, from the Anthony Roll