Before, spanish ships (or galleons) were built following the constructor's knowledge, and the only royal requirement were guns and tonnage.
Each ship were different from others, unless built as twins by the same constructor (Almiranta & Capitana).
In 1691, Captain D. Francisco Antonio Garrote published "Recopilación para la nueva fábrica de vaxeles españoles".
He divided ships in ordenes (kind of rates).
As a summary, the following table.
Original measures in Codos de Ribera (meters).
| Ordenes | Length | Beam | Depth | Draught | Tonnes | Guns | # | lbs | # | # | lbs | # |
| 1st | 48' (27.59) | 14' (8.05) | 8' (4.60) | 7' (4.02) | 271 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 2nd | 55' (31.61) | 16' (9.20) | 9' (5.17) | 8' (4.60) | 405 | 52 | 22 | 12 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 4 |
| 3rd | 61' (35.06) | 18' (10.34) | 10' (5.75) | 9' (5.17) | 576 | 58 | 24 | 16 | 24 | 10 | 10 | 6 |
| 4th | 68' (39.08) | 20' (11.49) | 10.5' (6.03) | 10' (5.75) | 798 | 70 | 26 | 18 | 28 | 10 | 16 | 8 |
| 5th | 75' (43.10) | 22' (12.64) | 10.75' (6.18) | 11' (6.32) | 1,056 | 80 | 30 | 24 | 30 | 16 | 20 | 10 |
| 6th | 82' (47.13) | 24' (13.78) | 11' (6.32) | 12' (6.90) | 1,371 | 90 | 32 | 36 | 32 | 24 | 26 | 16 |
This system or establishment, lasted from 1691 until 1720 with Antonio Gaztanneta's new Spanish System establishment.
"El Buque en la Armada Española" (b01)