Golden Hind
An English Galleon captained by Sir Francis Drake and between 1577 and 1580 was said to have circumnavigated the globe. The Golden Hind began with the name “Pelican”. Later during the voyage of 1577 entering the Strait of Magellan Sir Francis Drake renamed her Golden Hind as a compliment to his patron Sir Christopher Hatton. The name came from his armorial crest; it was a golden “hind”, the heraldic term for a female deer.
Sir Francis Drakes Golden Hind
Sir Francis Drake was selected by Elizabeth I of England to be the leader of an expedition to pass through the Strait of Magellan around South America then explore the coast beyond.
The Golden Hind Sir Francis Drake’s flagship displaced about 100 tons set sail in December with five small ships and they reached the Brazilian coast in the spring of 1578. Drake had the unofficial support of the Queen Elizabeth to benefit himself and to inflict the maximum damage to the Spaniards.
The Golden Hind captured the Spanish Galleon Nuestra Señora de la Concepción holding one of the largest treasures every recorded to date. She carried a bounty of 360,000 Pesos. It was no surprise that it took 6 days to transfer the six tons of treasure. Sailing back to Plymouth Harbor Queen Elizabeth went aboard and bestowed Knighthood on Drake. Her share of the treasure came to £160,000 more than enough to pay off her foreign debt. This left her £40,000 to invest in a new trading company which produced a return of 4700%.
The Golden Hind after Sir Francis Drake’s circumnavigation was put on public exhibition in Deptford. One of the very first known ships to be placed on public exhibition, she remained on public display for 100 years before she rotted away.
One claim is that a table and a chair located in the Middle Temple Hall in London made from the wood of the Golden Hind. The chair is said to be in the Great Hall, Buckland Abby, Devon.
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 Mamoli wood ship kit Golden Hind Model MV 30  US $214.00
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 1966 Revell SAILING SHIP kit ad Golden Hind more US $7.99
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 AIRFIX GOLDEN HIND SMALL SHIP MODEL KIT BNIB US $5.46
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 SEALED LEVEL 2 GOLDEN HIND SHIP MODEL KIT LINDBERG US $5.00
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 1991 Lindberg Golden Hind 1245 scale sailing ship kit US $1.99
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Supercarrier Class Aircraft Carriers
Aircraft carriers of the largest type are given the unofficial term “Supercarrier” generally referring to Aircraft carriers displacing over 70,000 long tons. Not many countries operate medium aircraft carriers like the Charles de Gaulle, we see more light Aircraft carriers around the 20,000 ton class like the HMS Illustrious. Supercarriers held the title along with some oil tankers as the largest ships in the world until the more recent cruise ships. The newer mammoth ships over 1000’ ft long like the Voyager class cruise ships and even larger Freedom class which are 1,020 ft. long and are more than 137,000 gross tons. MS Voyager of the Seas and the larger Queen Mary 2 are the largest ships in the world today.
The New York Times described the HMS Ark Royal in 1938 as a Supercarrier first. The unofficial classification moved to the Midway class carriers in 1943 double in tonnage 45,000 ton carriers. Then latter on post war Supercarriers migrated to the USS Forrestal proposed as standard for the United States.
The USS Forrestal displaced 60,000 tons dubbed by the American press as the first operational Supercarrier.
Some may argue that the armored Japanese carrier Shinano of World War II might be considered a Supercarrier. Possibly but she lacked some of the defining characteristics like arrestor wires, angled flight decks and most of all catapults. Her job was only an auxiliary support carrier and was never meant to be a multi-purpose fleet strike carrier like the US carriers. Like the USS Kitty Hawk, USS Forrestal class and USS Enterprise class are designated.
The Ulyanovsk of the Soviet Union would have been comparable in size the the American Supercarriers but at 40% complete they canceled her in 1991. She would have been an 85,000 ton nuclear aircraft carrier. This occurred due to post cold-war funding cuts as well as the planned sister ships to the Ulyanovsk.
We have located some of the top listing for these Supercarriers you may want to add to your collection.
You can find most all of the the Supercarriers are available in the:
Model Ship Store.
As more become available they will be added so check back often.
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 Radio Control Challenger Navy Aircraft Carrier Model US $700.00
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 HASEGAWA 1 350 IJN AIRCRAFT CARRIER AKAGI 1941 MODEL US $399.97
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 FUJIMI 1 350 IJN AIRCRAFT CARRIER SHOKAKU MODEL KIT US $329.97
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 TAMIYA 1 350 US AIRCRAFT CARRIER ENTERPRISE MODEL KIT US $224.97
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 Fujimi 1 350 IJN Zuikaku Aircraft Carrier Model Canada US $217.64
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 TAMIYA 1 350 JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER MOGAMI MODEL KIT US $199.97
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 USS Constellation CV 64 Aircraft Carrier Plastic Model US $145.00
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 USS Forrestal CVA 59 Aircraft Carrier Plastic Model US $145.00
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 USS Saratoga CV 60 Aircraft Carrier Plastic Model CV60 US $145.00
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Santa Maria
The largest of the three ships The Santa Maria de la Inmaculada Concepción, The Immaculate Conception of Mary, was used by Christopher Columbus in his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492. The Santa Maria’s master and owner was Juan de la Cosa.
Known as a carrack or “nao” The Santa Maria was about 70 feet long Columbus used her as his flagship for the expedition. There were about 40 men that manned her crew. She was constructed of wood from the Bialowieza forest from pine and oak.
Columbus’ expedition included 2 other ships of the caravel-type. The Santa Clara was the name of one of the other 2, which everyone would remember as The Nina. This means “The Girl” a joke on the name of her owner Juan Nino. Then there was the Pinta which means “The Painted” thought to refer to her excessive makeup. The three ships were second hand and never meant to be used for exploration.
La Gallega which means “The Galician” was The Santa Maria’s original name. She was constructed in Pontevedra, Galicia and her sailors knew her as Marigalante, which is Spanish for “Gallant Mary”.
The Santa Maria was the slowest of the three ships had a single deck and three masts. She performed very well in the Atlantic crossing. The old girl ran aground off what is known today as Mole Saint-Nicolas, Haiti in December of 1492 on Christmas day and was lost. Her timbers were salvaged and used to build Mole Saint-Nicolas. Originally they called it La Navidad meaning Christmas because the grounding occurred on Christmas Day.
Many believed that this historic voyage was composed of criminals but this is untrue. It is known that the Spanish Sovereigns offered amnesty to convicts who would sign up for the voyage, but only four men took up the offer: one who had killed a man in a fight, and three of his friends who then helped him escape from jail. Columbus’ crew consisted of many experienced seamen from the town of Palos and the coastal area of Galici.
Some of the crew members were also from Andalusia. The voyage money came from the syndicate of seven Genovese bankers in Seville.
There are no known reproductions of the Santa Maria but we have located some of the top models of what she is believed to have looked like. She would make a fine addition to anyone’s collection or displayed in a Hotel lobby or fine Restaurant.
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 Fully Assembled Wooden Ship Model Santa Maria 1492 US $710.45
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 Mamoli wood ship kit Santa Maria US $339.00
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 SANTA MARIA SHIP WOODEN MODEL BOAT HANDCAFT FINISHED US $232.00
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 Mantua Santa Maria wood ship kit Model 775 US $219.00
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 MANTUA SANTA MARIA nave boat ship Sergal Panart US $183.19
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 Artesania Latina Santa Maria wood ship kitATL 22411 US $179.00
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 Wooden Ship Model kit Santa Maria 1492 US $177.67
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 THE SANTA MARIA SHIP WOOD MODEL KIT 1 64 SCALE 22411 US $129.99
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 VINTAGE SANTA MARIA WOODEN SHIP KIT US $120.00
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