"Dreadnought" took part in many of the naval engagements between Britain and Spain in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Under Captain Thomas Fenner, she was part of Drake's fleet which "singed the King of Spain's Beard" with the raid on Cadiz in Spring 1587. Under George Beeston she was part of the English fleet which harassed most of the Spanish Armada in 1588. She was rebuilt for the first time in 1592. In 1596, with Sir Alexander Clifford as her captain, she was part of the Anglo-Dutch fleet which captured Cadiz. In 1599 she was in the Western Channel under George Fenner, while in 1601 under Sir Henry Palmer she was on the Thames.