English ship Revenge ( 1577 ) Revenge was an English race - built galleon of 46 guns , built in 1577 and captured by the Spanish in 1591 , sinking soon afterwards . She was the first of 13 English and Royal Navy ships to bear the name . Construction . " Revenge " was built at a cost of £4 , 000 at the Royal Dockyard , Deptford in 1577 by Master Shipwright Mathew Baker . Her race - built design was to usher in a new style of ship building that would revolutionise naval warfare for the next three hundred years . A comparatively small vessel , weighing about 400 tons , being about half the size of the " Henri Grâce à Dieu " , " Revenge " was rated as a galleon . Armament . The armament of ships of this period was fluid ; guns might be added , removed or changed for different types for dozens of reasons . " Revenge " was particularly heavily armed during her last cruise : she carried 20 heavy demi - cannon , culverin s and demi - culverins on her gun deck , where the sailors slept . On her upper decks were more demi - culverin s , sakers , and a variety of light weapons , including swivel - mounted breech - loaders , called " fowlers " or " falcons " . Career . Raid on Cadiz ( 1587 ) . In 1587 , Sir Francis Drake sailed to the Spanish coast and destroyed much " materiel " that Philip II had accumulated in preparation for the Armada . In consequence , Spanish plans for the invasion of England were put off until the following year . Battle of Gravelines ( 1588 ) . In early 1588 , Drake moved his flag from " Elizabeth Bonaventure " to the " Revenge " , which was considered to be the best by far of the new ships . On July 29 , 1588 the Battle of Gravelines ( named after a Flemish town near Calais ) , was concluded as one of the fiercest and most decisive battles engaged in during these years . At the outset of the conflict , " Revenge " proved worthy of her reputation . Following " Revenge " at the head of the line , the English fleet engaged their broadsides into the Spanish Armada . Many Spanish vessels were severely damaged , although only a few sank or ran aground . However , it was only when fireships were sent in that the Spanish broke their formation and sailed into the North Sea . The English fleet monitored them until they drew level with Edinburgh , and then returned to port . Drake - Norris Expedition ( 1589 ) . In 1589 " Revenge " again put to sea as Drake ' s flagship , in what was to be a failed attempt to invade Spanish - controlled Portugal . With the ship in an unseaworthy condition , and without any prizes to his credit Drake fell out of favour with Queen Elizabeth and was kept ashore until 1594 . Frobisher Expedition ( 1590 ) . In 1590 " Revenge " was commanded by Sir Martin Frobisher in an unsuccessful expedition along the coast of Spain to intercept the Spanish treasure fleet . Capture by the Spanish and sinking ( 1591 ) . " Revenge " came to her end in a glorious but bizarre episode that has become a legend . In order to impede a Spanish naval recovery after the Armada , Sir John Hawkins proposed a blockade of the supply of treasure being acquired from the Spanish Empire in America by a constant naval patrol designed to intercept Spanish ships . " Revenge " , was on such a patrol in the summer of 1591 under the command of Sir Richard Grenville . The Spanish had dispatched a fleet of some 53 ships under Alfonso de Bazán , having under his orders Generals Martín de Bertendona and Marcos de Aramburu . Intent upon the capture of the English at Flores in the northern Azores . In late August 1591 the Spanish fleet came upon the English while repairs to the ships caused the crews , many of whom were suffering an epidemic of fever , to be ashore . Most of the ships managed to slip away to sea . Grenville who had many sick men ashore decided to wait for them . When putting to sea he might have gone round the west of Corvo island , but he decided to go straight through the Spaniards , who were approaching from the eastward . The battle began late on 31 August , when overwhelming force was immediately brought to bear upon the ship , which put up a gallant resistance . For some time he succeeded by skillful tactics in avoiding much of the enemy ' s fire , but they were all round him and gradually numbers began to tell . As one Spanish ship retired beaten , another took her place , and for fifteen hours the unequal contest continued . Attempts by the Spaniards to board were driven off . " San Felipe " , a vessel three times her size , tried to come alongside for the Spaniards to board her , along with Aramburu ' s " San Cristóbal " . After boarding " Revenge " , " San Felipe " was forced to break off . Seven men of the boarding party died , and other three where rescued by " San Bernabé " , which grappled her shortly after . The Spanish also lost the galleon " Ascensión " and a smaller vessel by accident that night , after they collided each other . Meanwhile , " San Cristóbal " , which had come to help " San Felipe " , rammed " Revenge " underneath her aftcastle , and some time later , Bertendona ' s " San Bernabé " battered the English warship with heavy fire , inflicting many casualties and severe damage . The English crew returned fire from the embrasure s below deck . When morning broke on 1 September , " Revenge " lay with her masts shot away , six feet of water on the hold and only sixteen men left uninjured out of a crew of two hundred and fifty . She remained grappled by the galleons " San Bernabé " and " San Cristóbal " , the latter with her bow shattered by the ramming . The grappling manoeuvre of " San Bernabé " , which compelled the English gun crews to abandon their posts in order to fight off boarding parties , was decisive in securing the fate of the " Revenge " . " " Out - gunned , out - fought , and out - numbered fifty - three to one " " , when the end looked certain Grenville ordered " Revenge " to be sunk : " " Sink me the ship , Master Gunner — sink her , split her in twain ! . . . Fall into the hands of God , not into the hands of Spain ! " " . His officers could not agree with this order and a surrender was agreed by which the lives of the officers and crew would be spared . After an assurance of proper conduct , and having held off dozens of Spanish ships , " Revenge " at last surrendered . The injured Grenville died of wounds two days later aboard the Spanish flagship . The captured but heavily damaged " Revenge " never reached Spain , but was lost with her mixed prize - crew of 70 Spaniards and English captives , along with a large number of the Spanish ships in a dreadful storm off the Azores . The battle damaged " Revenge " was cast upon a cliff next to the island off Terceira , where she broke up completely . Between 1592 and 1593 , 14 guns of the " Revenge " were recovered by the Spanish from the site of the wreck . Other cannons were driven ashore years later by the tide , and the last weapons raised were salvaged as late as 1625 . " Revenge " in literature . Her final action inspired a popular poem entitled " " by Lord Tennyson , which dramatically narrates the course of the engagement .