Galleass
A galleass was a warship that combined the sails and armament of a galleon or carrack with the maneuverability of the oared galley.[1][2] While never quite matching up to the full expectations for its design, the galleass nevertheless remained in use during the 16th and 17th centuries.[3]
Development
[edit]Galleasses were higher, larger and slower than regular galleys. They had up to 32 oars, each worked by up to five men. They usually had three masts, and unlike galleys, proper forecastles and an aftcastles. Much effort was made in Venice to make galleasses as fast as possible to compete with regular galleys. The gun deck usually ran over the rowers' heads, but there are also pictures showing the opposite arrangement. Galleasses usually carried more sails than galleys and had far more firepower;[4] a galley caught in a galleass's broadside was in great danger, since it exposed to a large amount of gunfire. Relatively few galleasses were built—one disadvantage was that, being more reliant on sails, their position at the front of the galley line at the start of a battle could not be guaranteed.
Galleasses were further developed by Spanish shipbuilder Álvaro de Bazán the Elder, who adapted them for their usage in the Atlantic, finding in them much potential to hunt down sailing ships in absence of wind.[5] His son Alonso de Bazán experimented with a similar model named galizabra, which combined traits of both a galley and a zabra.[6]
Naval actions
[edit]
In the 1540s, Bazán the Elder proposed plans to replace the sailing ships Spanish treasure fleets with his Atlantic galleasses, which would employ sails and switch to rows when neccesary. The project was rejected by a mix of political and logistic problems, so he repurposed the ships to escort the existent fleets, gaining renown for their performance and reliability.[7]
Spanish galleasses were also used in conjunction with carracks by Bazán the Younger to fight off pirates and privateers in the Atlantic, since these usually employed carracks and other sailing ships, which could be rendered easy prey to galleasses in conditions of little to no wind.[2] However, with the end of the Italian Wars, Spain eventually redirected their resources to the Mediterranean, where Ottomans and Barbary corsairs mainly used galleys, leading them to be replaced by a similar squad of galleys due to galleasses' comparatively lesser speed.[2]
Six Venetian galleasses fought at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, their firepower helping to break the force of the first Ottoman attack.[8] The Ottomans under Ali Pasha were forced to divide their line and bypass the galleasses in order to continue their advance and clash with the Christian line.[9] The galleasses were left out of the battle, as unfavorable wind worsened their unmaneuverability and the chaos of the battle prevented them to fire from afar without hitting their own ships,[9] but their contribution had helped to win victory for the Holy League fleet.[10]
Four great Naples galleasses were deemed sufficiently seaworthy to accompany the Spanish Armada in 1588 (e.g. La Girona, eventually wrecked off Ireland), where they formed part of the front-line of fighting ships.[11] During the Channel actions, they were repeatedly called on as a squad in any calm, to rescue Spanish stragglers or cut-off a stray English ship.[12] With 50 guns apiece, 300 soldiers and sailors, and 300 rowers, they were formidable ships; but their leader was wrecked after the Calais fire ship attack, (the Battle of Gravelines), and only two of the four made it back safely to Spain.[13]
Later history and parallels
[edit]In the Mediterranean, with its less dangerous weather and fickle winds, both galleasses and galleys continued to be in use, particularly in Venice and the Ottoman Empire, long after they became obsolete elsewhere. Later, "round ships" and galleasses were replaced by galleons and ships of the line which originated in Atlantic Europe. The first Venetian ship of the line was built in 1660.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Kemp, Peter Kemp (July 1980). Encyclopedia of ships and seafaring. Crown Publishers. p. 211. ISBN 9780517537381.
- ^ a b c Rodríguez González (2017), p. 41.
- ^ Mattingly, Garrett, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada. (Penguin nd) p. 420
- ^ Kraska, James (2011). Maritime Power and the Law of the Sea: Expeditionary Operations in World Politics. Oxford University Press. p. 39. ISBN 9780199773381.
- ^ Cordero & Hernández (2011), p. 166.
- ^ E. G. Torralba Pérez, Las fragatas de vela de la armada espanola 1600-1850 (su evolucion técnica).
- ^ Valdez-Bubnov (2012), p. 50.
- ^ J H Elliott, Europe Divided (London 1968) p. 193
- ^ a b Rodríguez González (2017), p. 164.
- ^ Hanson, Victor Davis (2007-12-18). Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-307-42518-8.
- ^ G Mattingley, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada (Penguin nd) pp. 265, 385
- ^ G Mattingley, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada (Penguin nd) pp. 320-3
- ^ G Mattingley, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada (Penguin nd) p. 420 and p. 443
- Cordero, Javier; Hernández, Ricardo (2011). Operación Gran Armada. Díaz de Santos. ISBN 9788499699653.
- Rodríguez González, Agustín (2017). Álvaro de Bazán: Capitán general del Mar Océano. EDAF. ISBN 9788441438033.
- Valdez-Bubnov, Iván (2012). Poder naval y modernización del Estado: política de construcción naval española (siglos XVI-XVIII). Bonilla Artigas. ISBN 9786077588696.
External links
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Media related to Galleasses at Wikimedia Commons
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