[citation needed] Friar Manuel Homem says that this galleon mounted 366 bronze pieces of artillery, including the ones that garrisoned the high castles of stern and bow.

The entire fleet carried 598 guns in total, most of them small caliber (1 basilisco, 2 leões, 3 águias, 19 camelos, 21 esperas, 52 pedreiros, 150 falcões, 350 berços).

[8] Its captain was António de Saldanha, with Infante Luís, Duke of Beja, brother of John III, and brother-in-law of Charles V being in overall command of the expeditionary corps, the galleon being his flagship.

Emperor Charles V visited the galleon personally, and marveled at its construction quality and armaments, while Andrea Doria also inspected the vessel on the occasion and regarded it favorably for its strength and orderliness.

[9] In 1550, the by then "old and very famous galleon São João was dispatched to Brazil", along with a convoy of several merchant ships with supplies, in the aid of the nascent colony and city of Salvador, and the following year, it was dismantled in Pernambuco, its iron parts and ammunition salvaged by the colonists, according to a report by governor Tomé de Sousa to King John III of Portugal.