San Francisco is a Spanish Galleon of the 16th Century. It was one of Spain's finest warships at that time. The strength of the Spanish Armada was due to its galleons. San Francisco strengthened the Armada and Spain’s naval superiority for over one hundred and fifty years. It is armed with 32 cannons and with a very nice maneuverability. She posed a serious threat to any foe.

Galleons were first built in the 15th and 16th centuries. Their main use was as warships, and many countries, like Spain, also used them on New World explorations to defend the treasure they had captured and on trading voyages.

These large ships had at least three masts with multiple sails and were much faster than earlier warships that had been rowed. Galleons were made from oak, a strong, hard wood that lasted a long time. It took more than 2,000 trees to make some of the larger galleons. The average weight of a galleon was 400 tons, the weight of two jumbo jets. Being so heavy, the galleon traveled at around 4 to 8 knots, or 41/2 to 9 miles per hour. Most people walk about this fast!
The galleons were this big in order to move large amounts of supplies and goods, as well as a large number of people. A galleon could carry 100 sailors and passengers. The galleons were well protected, usually carrying between 20 and 40 cannons and guns.
Life was hard and dangerous on these ships, space was cramped, the food bad, everything smelled, and the work was never done.
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 traveled 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 cannons. 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 defenses. 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.