Sovereign of the Seas was a 17th-century warship of the English Navy. She was ordered as a 90-gun first-rate ship of the line, but at launch was armed with 102 bronze guns at the insistence of the king. She was later renamed Sovereign under the republican Commonwealth, and then HMS Royal Sovereign at the Restoration of Charles II.

The elaborately gilded stern ordered by Charles I of England meant enemy ships knew her as the "Golden Devil". She was launched on 13 October 1637, and served from 1638 until 1697, when a fire burnt the ship to the waterline at Chatham.

The planning of a new First Rate was asked for in June 1634 on the personal initiative of Charles I of England, as a prestige project. The decision provoked much opposition from the Brethren of Trinity House, who pointed out that "There is no port in the Kingdome that can harbour this shipp. The wild sea must bee her port, her anchors and cables her safety; if either fayle, the shipp must perish, the King lose his jewel, four or five hundred man must die, and perhaps some great and noble peer".

These objections were overcome with the help of Admiral Sir John Pennington, and the ship was ordered in May 1635, with the keel being laid down on 21 December. Construction was supervised by Peter Pett, later a Commissioner of the Navy, guided by his father Phineas, the royal shipwright, and the ship was launched at Woolwich Dockyard on 13 October 1637. As the second three-decked first-rate (the first three-decker being the Prince Royal of 1610), she was the predecessor of Nelson's Victory, although the Revenge, built in 1577 by Mathew Baker, was the inspiration for her, providing the innovation of a single deck devoted entirely to broadside guns.^{[citation needed]}

The most extravagantly decorated warship in the Royal Navy, she was adorned from stern to bow with gilded carvings against a black background, designed by Anthony van Dyck, and made by John Christmas and Mathias Christmas. Construction costs of £65,586 was funded by ship money, the gilding alone being £6,691, the price of an average warship. For comparison, the total tax generated in 1637 was £208,000.

Charles ordered 102 bronze cannon, to ensure it was the most powerfully armed ship in the world; these were made by John Browne. Sovereign of the Seas had 118 gun ports and only 102 guns. The shape of the bow meant that the foremost gun ports on the lower gun deck were blocked by the anchor cable. Consequently, the fore chase – the guns facing forward – occupied the next ports. There were two demi-cannon drakes – one port, one starboard – some 11.5 feet (3.5 m) long, weighing together five tons (5000 kg). They had a bore of 6.4 to 6.75 inches (16.3 to 17.1 centimetres) and fired a shot weighing 32 to 36 pounds (15 to 16 kilograms), using around ten pounds of gunpowder.

In the third ports from the bow, there were two 11-foot (3.4 m) demi-cannon drakes weighing, together, 4.3 tons (4300 kg). Behind them were twenty cannon drakes, nine feet long, and weighing in all 45.7 tons (45700 kg). In the third port from the stern were two more 11-foot (3.4 m) demi-cannon drakes weighing, together, 4.3 tons (4300 kg). The last two ports on either side were occupied by the stern chase – four 10.5-foot (3.2 m) demi-cannon drakes weighing a total of 11.4 tons (11400 kg).

The middle gun deck had heavy fortified culverins – that is, guns short for their bore – fore and aft. There were two 11.5-foot (3.5 m) pieces, weighing 4.8 tons (4800 kg), in the fore chase; four 11.5-foot (3.5 m) pieces, weighing 10.2 tons (10200 kg), in the stern chase. Immediately behind the fore chase were two demi-culverin drakes, eight to nine feet (2.4 to 2.7 m) long, weighing some 1.9 tons (1900 kg). Then came twenty-two 9.5-foot (2.9 m) culverin drakes weighing a total of 30.4 tons (30400 kg).