- Notes
- References
{{other ships|HMS Rainbow}}{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}{{Use British English|date=July 2017}}{{Infobox ship image| Ship image= | Ship caption=
}}{{Infobox ship career | Hide header= | Ship country=England | Ship flag= | Ship name=Rainbow | Ship ordered= | Ship builder= | Ship laid down= | Ship launched=1586 | Ship acquired= | Ship commissioned= | Ship decommissioned= | Ship in service= | Ship out of service= | Ship renamed= | Ship struck= | Ship reinstated= | Ship notes=*Participated in:- Singeing the King of Spain's Beard
- Spanish Armada
| Ship captured= | Ship fate=Sunk as a breakwater, 1680 | Ship status=
}}{{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header= | Header caption=as built | Ship class=Galleon | Ship tons burthen=480 | 100|ft|m|abbr=on}} (keel) | 32|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship draught= | 12|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship sail plan= | Ship complement=250 | Ship armament=*26 guns, comprising (1603)- 6 demi-cannon, 12 culverins,
- 7 demi-culverins and 1 saker.
| Ship notes=
}}{{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header= | Header caption=after 1617 rebuild[1] | Ship class=40-gun great ship | Ship tons burthen=731 | 112|ft|m|abbr=on}} (keel) | 36|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}} | Ship draught= | 13|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} | Ship sail plan=Full-rigged ship | Ship complement= | Ship armament=40 guns of various weights of shot | Ship notes=
}} | Rainbow[2] was a galleon of the English Tudor navy, built at Deptford Dockyard by Peter Pett (the first of that name in this extensive family), and launched in 1586. Commanded by Lord Henry Seymour, a younger son of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset by his second wife Anne Stanhope, she fought against the Spanish during the Singeing the King of Spain's Beard and the Spanish Armada, including the Battle of Gravelines in 1588. In 1617 Rainbow was rebuilt at Deptford as a great ship (now described as a "second rate"), mounting 34 major and 6 smaller guns.[1] She was again reconstructed in 1628-29 at Chatham, although the work was classed as a "repair" rather than as an official rebuilding. By 1660 her armament had increased to 56 guns.[1] She took an active role in all three Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century, participating in most of the battles of those wars, and was sunk as a breakwater at Sheerness in 1680.[1] Notes1. ^1 2 3 Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p158.
2. ^The 'HMS' prefix was not used until the middle of the 18th century, but is sometimes applied retrospectively
ReferencesCitations{{reflist}}Bibliography{{refbegin}}- Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. {{ISBN|0-85177-252-8}}.
- Winfield, Rif (2009) British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1603-1714: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1-84832-040-6}}.
{{refend}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Rainbow (1586)}}{{UK-line-ship-stub}} 4 : Galleons of the Royal Navy|Ships of the English navy|16th-century ships|Ships built in Deptford |