Revell 05429 English Man O'War

Man-of-war (or Man-o'-war) is a collective term used in the English and later British Royal Navy from the 16th to the end of the 18th century as the name of a warship armed with deck artillery and powered only by sails. It is most often assumed, though perhaps erroneously, that the term appeared in the 16th century to distinguish sailing warships from galleys and galleas, used at that time by the English Navy. It can also be assumed that in the 16th century the English Men-of-War resembled to some extent Spanish and Portuguese galleons, because they had similarly strong artillery weapons and quite extensive aft "superstructures". However, they had a smaller fork, much stronger artillery and - most often - they were faster and more maneuverable than their Iberian counterparts. In the 16th century, units of this type could have up to 3-4 masts, and their length was often clearly more than 40 meters. Their speed reached 8-9 knots. Of course, the men-of-war ships were used in the battles against the Spanish Invincible Armada in 1588.