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Warmatrix

War Matrix - Galleon

Age of Discovery 1480 CE - 1620 CE, Weapons and technology

Spanish replica galleon Andalucia
Spanish replica galleon Andalucia
The galleon was developed out of the carrack. It was an all-purpose ship, gradually reducing the carrack to the role of cargo ship.
Galleons were longer, narrower and lower at the front than carracks, making them faster, more maneuverable and more seaworthy. Like their predecessors, they usually had three to four masts, square-rigged except for the mizzen mast, which was lateen-rigged. Most historical galleons were about 500 tons, but some grew as large as 1,200 and "Manila" galleons 2,000.
The first galleons were built in the early 16th century CE. Like with the carrack, Italian, Portugese and Spanish engineers were the pioneers. The basic design was finalized by the Spanish around the middle of that century and quickly spread over western Europe and beyond.
There were variations from the standard design. The English for example built smaller, 'race' galleons that had less firepower than the Spanish ships but were faster and more maneuverable. They were successful in the fight against the Spanish Armada in 1588 CE. The Dutch used flat-bottomed galleons that could cope with the shallow waters of the Netherlands and introduced a topmast that could be lowered.
The sides of a galleon were rather high and tapered inward. This protected well against boarding, though it tended to make the ship roll a lot. The height of the ship also allowed for two gun decks. Galleons were armed with bronze cannons. Typical firepower for a solid war galleon was 36 guns: 16 culverins on the lower deck; 12 demi-culverins and 8 sakers on the upper deck.
Galleons were used into the 18th century CE. By that time they they had been superseded by lighter ship types like the brig, the frigate and larger ones like the ship-of-the-line.