From the historical point of view, the Spanish galleon was one of the most famous ships of its type during the golden age of the sailing ship. The first galleons appeared in the middle of the sixteenth century and these popular sailing ships served as men-o'-war and merchantmen for almost a hundred years. The galleon is a direct descendant of the galley with oars. The hulls were narrower than those of the massive and cumbersome naos, but their holds still carried huge quantities of goods. Spanish galleons travelled the high seas transporting jewels, gold, fine materials and other valuable goods. To protect themselves against attacks by pirates, the Spanish galleons defended themselves with heavy brass cannon. The famous Spanish Armada of 1588 comprised over 70 armed galleons. In one of the greatest naval battles of all time the mighty Spanish fleet challenged the small sea power of the English Queen Elizabeth I. King Philip II of Spanish planned to use his mighty Armada to transport his army up the Channel and conquer the British Isles. In the meantime the English, who had a smaller fleet, had been organising their defences. The English fleet pursued the Armada for over a month. On 28th July 1588, the Spanish anchored at Gravelines. Eight burning English ships sailed with the tide and the night wind right into the Spanish fleet. In their haste to escape the fire ships the Spanish cut loose their anchors and some of them were driven onto the rocks off the coast.