Warspite was a great ship (later classed as a second rate) of the English Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard by the master shipwright Edward Stevens, and launched about 1 March 1596. She carried a crew of 300 when at sea, of whom 190 where classed as 'mariners', manning the guns and fighting the ship; 80 as 'sailors', working the sails and ancestors of present-day seamen, and 30 'gunners', the armament specialists. Warspite was relegated to harbour service in 1635, and was cut down to serve as a lighter. She was sold out of the navy in 1649.