The vessel was four-masted, with two round tops on each mast, except the shortest mizen.

She had a high forecastle and poop, from which the crew could shoot down upon the deck or waist of another vessel.

The object was to have a sort of castle at each end of the ship.

This style of shipbuilding was doubtless borrowed from the Venetians, then the greatest naval power in Europe.
The length of the masts, the height of the ship above the water's edge, and the ornaments and decorations, were better adapted for the stillness of the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas, than for the boisterous ocean of the northern parts of Europe.[7] The story long prevailed that "the Great Harry swept a dozen flocks of sheep off the Isle of Man with her bob-stay." An American gentleman (N.B.

Anderson, LL.D., Boston) informed the present author that this saying is still proverbial amongst the United States sailors.
The same features were reproduced in merchant ships.