Merchant vessel; Passenger/cargo vessel (circa 1580)

Scale: 1:60. A full hull model of a merchant ship (circa 1580) for transporting cargo. Model is decked, equipped and fully rigged with sails set. It is inscribed with the makers initials and date 'F.C.F.N.F 1949' on keel, and a coat of arms depicted on stern. The hull is based on a contemporary model in the Ashmolean Museum, which may represent the ‘Golden Hind’, whilst the rigging is based on other contemporary sources. At this scale, it represents a vessel measuring 68 feet along the deck by 19 feet in the beam and an approximate tonnage of 100 burden.

The 'Pelican’, renamed 'Golden Hind’, in which Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the world in 1577-81, seem to have been a typical English merchantman of the Elizabethan period. Although accurate information about Drake’s ship no longer exists, it was probably not dissimilar to the vessel illustrated by this model.

Object Details

ID: SLR0326
Collection: Ship models
Type: Full hull model; Block model; Rigged model; Sails set
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Naish, Francis Clement Prideaux
Date made: Circa 1949
People: Naish, Peter G.
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: Overall model: 504 x 596 x 158 mm; Base: 66 x 480 x 137 mm
Parts: Merchant vessel; Passenger/cargo vessel (circa 1580)