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• history of the galley
• naval strategy
• Roman navy (linkage, rather)
• Hellenistic-era warships
• maritime history#Ancient times
• naval warfare or naval history (the two should be merged or "pulled apart"
• ancient maritime history
• Ottoman navy
• ship building#history
• naval ram
• ramming
• rowing (move in content from watercraft rowing)

Notes-to-be-prosified

mil.hist.

• Sea Peoples (rovers) survived in part after loss at the Delta as Tjeker and Peleset (Palestinians?)^[1]

The earliest use for galleys in warfare was to ferry fighters from one place to another, and until the middle of the 2nd millenium BC had no real distinction from merchant freighters. Around the 14th century, the first dedicated ships used for belligerent purposes were developed, sleeker and with cleaner lines than the bulkier merchants. They were used for raiding, capturing merchants and for dispatches.^[2]

From this early period, raiding became the most important form of organized violence in the Mediterranean region. Maritime classicist historian Lionel Casson has used the example of Homer's works to show that seaborne raiding was considered a common and legitimate occupation among ancient maritime peoples. The later Athenian historian Thucydides described it as having been "without stigma" before his time.^[3]

The attack on the city of Troy, THE MAIN EVENT of the Iliad was made by what Casson and other authors have described as "sea rovers".^[4]

Sailing in open water with no sight of land was exceptional in antiquity, with ships skirting the coast as much as possible. At night, galleys were pulled up on land and the crew normally ate and slept ashore before setting out again to sea the next day.^[5]

Sailing was largely restricted in the winter season; most maritime activity was conducted in the period between April and October throughout all of antiquity. Rough weather and storms were potent risks in winter, but the biggest obstacle was poor visibility and cloudy skies. Visibility in the Mediterranean was otherwise very good and the open water distances were few and small enough not to be a major limitation. The navigational tools of the ancient mariner was based on following known stars and constellations and following known landmarks. Pilots familiar with their local coastal areas were also used, as were lead lines that could make soundings and pick up bottom samples. It's possible that primitive sea charts existed, though none have survived.^[6]

The open sea was also avoided because it was for the most part a no-man's-land where one risked attack and plunder. The only way to control the ancient sea lanes was to have overwhelming superiority in forces or to control most of the coastal areas, something which required massive resources that only a few large empires were capable of.^[7]

Friezes found on the island of Thera shows early-type galleys in procession that have been described as part of a "navy" of the Minoans, "the first great sea power of the Mediterranean", according to Casson.^[8]

The Greek kingdoms and city-states established colonies over much of the Mediterranean and Black Seas in the period 750-550 BC in fierce competition with the Phoenicians.^[9] The two groups vied over trading rights and power and each managed to carve out areas of control in the Mediterranean basin itself. Phoenicians, however, managed to control the sea-borne trade with continental Europe and the Baltic. Despite loosing three major battles against Greek forces, the Straits of Gibraltar remained closed to Greek trade as a Phoenician monopoly.^[10]

Slave rowers were too expensive as they had to be permanently maintained and trained. They were only used in emergencies occasionally and then were often rewarded with freedom after participating in a battle. Freeing slaves in this manner entailed a considerable economic investment which far outweighed the benefits of forced oarsmen compared with free rowers.^[11]

With the development of triremes, penteconters disappeared altogether. Triaconters were still used, but only for scouting and express dispatches.^[12]

After the brief and dramatic career of Alexander the Great, his massive empire fell apart. Three of its successor-states, Macedonia, Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleucid empire, became the major Mediterranean naval powers in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. The Seleucids and Ptolemies became involved in a particularly intense conflict that according to historian Lionel Casson "touched off the greatest naval arms race in ancient history".^[13] The fierce competition between the two lead to a successive increase in galley size from sixes to sixteens, and all the way up to massive thirties, with all actually seeing use in battle (though the largest ships were quite rare).^[14]

Mecedonia and the Ptolemies fought each other to a standstill during the 3rd century BC in part with these “super galleys”. By the end of the conflict, however, they had become largely outdated and when the Romans conquered Macedonia in 168 BC, they found a huge sixteen that had stood unused for over 70 years. ^[15]

In the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage, the Carthaginian navy was initially the strongest, with better ships and seasoned crews facing a land-based war machine. However, Roman navy that was built up to destroy Carthage developed what has latter be called the corvus (Latin: “raven”), first used at Mylae in 260 BC. It was in essence only a gangplank with a spike at the bottom that could be dropped on an enemy deck to hold it fast. Once the corvus was lowered, ship-borne infantry would rush across to deal with the enemy crews in hand-to-hand combat. This simple device allowed the Romans to take advantage of their superior army in naval combat.^[16]

• Romans gained experience in Punic Wars, stole/copied more fast designs and built a superior fleet: won in 241; forced Carthage to wage a land war against them in the Second Punic War; by 201 BC, Rome was the greatest sea power in the (Western?) Mediterranean^[17]
• Rome turned east and conquered it by 160s BC; avoided the sea to a great extent and let as much as possible of fleets be handled by allies^[18]
• Augustus established Roman navy that dominated Mediterranean (based on Pompey's pirate-hunting operation)^[19]
• Misenum and Ravenna (on either side of Italy) became the bases for the two major core fleets/squadrons; contributed manpower to organize naumachias and to handle awnings at arenas and amphitheatres^[20]

• possible Roman naval patrols in Red Sea^[21]

trade

Around 700 BC, Phoenicians became the first to engage in seaborne trade west of the great islands of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily, particularly silver and tin from Spain, but even good from as far north as England through middlemen. ^[22]

Merchant galleys were used more often on shorter routes and for coastal trade. ^[23]

The “beamier” merchant galleys were likely based on earlier military horse transports. ^[24]

design

• Egyptian river craft built for Nile, simply upsized when they turned ocean-going; had no keels, but centerline hawsers on crutches that could be tightened by twisting (tourniquet), side rudders, early versions with "double-stepped" masts^[25]
• mortise-and-tenon technique "more cabinet work than carpentry" *^[26], dated to 1300 BC at the latest^[27]
• Mycenaean galleys had 20-100 oars (usually 30-50): shallow draft, low railings, boom-less sail (bunched up against yard with brails (like venetian blinds)) ^[28]
• description of Homer's ships (1300-1200 BC): long, low hull; prow that rose straight up ("horns" as decoration in front, often backwards-curved; curved stern; ram entry depicted on pottery^[29]
• ram on an Athenian safety pin from 850 BC???^[30]
• from "open, undecked affairs" to a "half deck" covering bow, stern and with a centerline gangway; rowers sat on the same level as the railing, but could move down on a lower level when fighting commenced, getting increased protection; prow lost "swept back curve" (?); stern got its distinct fan-like decoration (often treated as "scalp" when cut off enemy ships after a victory) -> penteconters became the new "ship of the line"^[31]
• the trireme was made possible by adding an outrigger for the third, top-most, bank; hull shape retained, though; established by late 6th century BC; layout dominated ancient warfare until late 4th century BC^[32]
• extant dock slips show that triremes were 121 ft long, 20 ft wide^[33]
• pointed rams (used early) could make a neat hole that it then stuck in; the later square, 3-fanned rams were designed to punch open seams^[34]
• bireme invented before 700 (to shorten ships with an equal amount of oars), either by Greeks or Phoenicians; two rows were staggered to economize space^[35]
• two square sails standard by 700; masts were lowered before battle, or left ashore; a hemiolia, "one and a half-er?", was invented where some of the rowers could get out of their seats to stow the mast^[36]
• triremes aged quickly; 20 years at most, 25 in exceptional cases; Greeks had 4-grade quality classification of their galleys^[37]
• Syracuse learned to reinforce their bow timbers and cornered the superior Athenian navy bow-to-bow^[38]
• Athlit ram was most likely from a five, possibly a four (76 x 95 x 226 cm; 465 kg); very expensive and complicated to cast even with later standards; the biggest single expense in constructing a galley; a war-trophy memorial shows evidence of a socket of one that was three times as wide (a "gargantuan casting"), likely from a ten captured at Actium; proves that ramming remained important, even if there was a shift towards infantry and other weapons^[39]
• gradual abandonment of mortise and tenon-technique until the first appearance of an "all-skeleton" construction in 1025^[40]
• Augustus' admiral Agrippa invented "grapnel catapult"^[41]
• Romans eliminated the oarbox by broadening the hull; and introduced an "arched doghouse" in the stern as quarters for the commander^[42]

piracy

The ‘’triemiolia’’, a trireme part of the uppermost row of oarsmen could be removed to make room for a mast, was first developed as a pirate-hunter in Rhodes.^[43]

Cilician (modern day southern Turkey) pirates experienced their heydays during the 1st century BC using liburnians, hemiolias and even the occasional trireme. However, they were eradicated in a massive pirate hunting campaign by the former Roman consul Pompey in 67 BC, an operation that created the squadrons that would later become the core of the new Roman regional fleets.^[44]

tactics

A successful ramming was difficult to achieve; just the right amount of speed was and precise maneuvering was required. Fleets that did not have well-drilled, experienced oarsmen and skilled commanders relied more on boarding with superior infantry (like increasing the compliment to 40). Ramming attempt were countered by keeping the bow towards the enemy until the enemy crew tired, and then attempt to board as quickly as possible.^[45]

A double line formation could be used to achieve a breakthrough by engaging the first line and then rushing the rearguard in to take advantage of weak spots in the enemy's defense. This required superiority in numbers, though, since a shorter front risked being flanked or surrounded.^[46]

• Rhodes invented fire pots that were suspended from two rods projecting over the bows: could be dumped over enemy ships, or frighten them into exposing their sides for ramming^[47]

• Roger of Lauria lured out Angevin fleet at Malta; attacking galleys beached stern-first very dangerous (allowed good cohesion and an opportunity for crews and soldiers to escape)^[48]
• Roger of Lauria had success with skilled crossbowmen and light infantry who had better footing than heavily-armed French infantry/knights^[49]
• Roger of Lauria used cooking pots filled with soap at Naples in 1284 to make enemy decks slippery for heavy infantry^[50]
• medieval naval battles at night were very rare^[51]

prestige/etc

• Ptolemy IV built a floating villa for travel in style along the Nile^[52]

Lead

• amphibious nature; auxiliary of armies
• dominant use by early states until 16th
• shift of power to north, Atlantic and colonies

Definition and terminology

Origins

• look up navigation, beaching by night, etc. in Pryor (?)

Military history

• 1100-700 BC?

As early as 1304 the type of ship required by the Danish defense organization changed from galleys??? to cogs, a flat-bottomed sailing ship.^[53]

The modern "galley"

With the steady decline of the Byzantine Empire in the eastern Mediterranean, the commercially-oriented Italian city-states rose as the new major Christian naval power in the Mediterranean.

• Genoa used a "Commune" early on (1263) to assemble warfleets (of galleys); depended on "private" individuals to take their share^[54]
• permanent Genoese state war fleet was not established until 1559 and then fairly tiny (3-6 from 1559-86),^[55] though a powerful merchant marine it had a "laughably small navy"^[56] TRADE?

• Genoese fleet organization was more flexible and open to change; innovated heavier "trireme" in 1290s; added more marines and guns to become the "most effective warship of its day"^[57]
• sailing season extended to winter as well (by Genoa?)^[58] CROSS REF WITH PRYOR
• War of Chioggia (1380?) saw the first time use of large scale use of gunpowder weapons/guns on ships (presumably galleys? - cross-ref with Guilmartin, Rodger, others)^[59]

• medieval France had "impressive galley dockyards" (unlike England)^[60]
• English and French used galleys manned by Italian (experts?)^[61]

During the 14th century, galleys began to be equipped with cannons of various sizes, mostly smaller ones at first, but also larger bombardas on vessels belonging to Alfonso V of Aragon.^[62] The War of Chioggia (1378-80) between Venice and Genoa was the first conflict with large scale use of gunpowder weapons on ships.^[63]

During the early 15th century, the transition in northern waters to sailing ships in naval warfare began in earnest. A Castilian naval raid on Jersey in 1405 became the first recorded battle battle where even a Mediterranean power employed a force consisting mostly of cogs or nefs, rather than oared-powered galleys. Though the transition was obvious in the north, galleys remained the primary warship in the south. The battle of Gibraltar in 1476 has been identified as another important event in northern naval warfare. The battle was dominated by full-rigged ships armed with wrought-iron guns on the upper decks and in the waists, foretelling of the future dominance of sailing warships in the Atlantic and the North Sea.'^[64]

Early nation-states/Christian-Ottoman clash/Zenith of the galley fleets

Naval warfare in the Mediterranean was in the 16th century still closely tied to land warfare and worked in a symbiosis with seaside fortresses and strategically vital ports.^[65]

• galley campaigning largely limited to summer season; winter campaigns occurred, but were calculated (or desperate) risks; only the Christian corsairs and the North African ghazis were "immune" to these limitations^[66]
• early heavy ship guns were effective against early forts and sailing ships with high profiles; galleys vulnerable to hits, but had small target area; maneuverability regardless of wind direction made them capable of disciplined formations (unlike sailing ships)^[67]
• lack of development of effective tactics for sailing ships before 1650^[68]

• 4 Genoese carracks vs "body" of Ottoman galleys off Constantinople on 20 April 1453: comparable to siege warfare at sea; attempts to board carracks under cover of bow arrows was held off by the Genoese with crossbows, hand cannon pellets and hurling large objects (to stave in galley bottoms; guns did not actually effect on outcome^[69]
• battle of Zonchio 1499: one large "command" carrack (?), galleys; two large Venetian carracks and galleys; all three large ships destroyed by Ottoman incendiaries; Ottoman huge gun on large ship sunk Venetian galley (and small "barge") outright early in battle; huge 200-lbs (ammunition weight) cannons used on both sides; gunpowder weapons employed, but not decisive on final outcome^[70]

• WHAT ABOUT RED SEA (GUILMARTIN)?

Baltic revival

The Swedish navy still retained 27 galleys in 1809, and the last Swedish-built galley remained on the ship rolls until 1835, before it was retired, 86 years after it was built.

Trade

• two types of Roman ships: galleys and merchants (Unger 1980: 34)
• large differences between South and North: differing hull designs, steering systems, propulsion; both had trade dominated by luxuries, but in the North it was mostly manufactured goods while South concentrated on silks and spices from Asia (South had much higher total value per unit of volume) (Unger 1980: 95-96)

• the Western Mediterranean was less organized than the Eastern; more pirate activity, more trade in luxuries and less coastal trade; spices, silks, etc imported, slaves and "sylvan" products (and timber) exported (Unger 1980: 51)
• sailing "round" ships transported bulk goods; galleys carried spices, silks, precious cloths, metals, weapons^[71]

• from the 15th century there were state owned merchant galleys, leased to the highest bidders in charter auctions; standardization of hulls (leased "bare" and empty) from 1420; 150 rowers and 20 officers and "specialists"^[72]
• Venetian state merchant galleys system eventually broke down in the 16th (?) century when faced with more enemies, especially aggressive Muslim expansion in Mediterranean^[73]

They were so safe that merchandise was often not insured (Mallet). These ships increased in size during this period, and were the template from which the galleass developed.

Design

• feature of Byzantine warships essentially established by 600: larger than Roman, slower, less cargo space, larger crews, more firepower (Unger 1980: 43) 6:1 ratio, two-banked (2x25 oars per side), 40-50 x 5 m; minimum of one man per oar; 1.5 meter draught; flat bottom amidships; shields on the sides (like Vikings); no stringers, strengthened by strakes and wales; MORE TO BE GOT IF NEEDED AND SOURCE IS RELIABLE (Unger 1980: 43-45)

• hulls need to have high (M)(length at waterline: 1/3 of displaced volume): a trireme has about 9 (and no ballast), medieval and medieval and "later war galleys" 6.5-8 (Coates 1995: 128)
• sharp bottoms without keelsons to support the structure; transverse framing secured with dowels with nails driven through (Coates 1995: 131); hypozomata used since Hatshepsut and in ancient galleys, but of unknown design and method of tightening (Coates 1995: 132); hulls were watertight without any caulking (Coates 1995: 132)
• ram-supporting structures were built on to the hull to take the impact of vertical or lateral motion and thereby protect the hull from penetration, weight of rams only about 0,4-2 t (Coates 1995: 133-4)

• less expensive building technology; more fragile, but faster; after 600 came a "major step" towards skeleton construction, though not completely^[74]
• hull protection (lead sheathing) abandoned, though uses for warships in the 10th century^[75]

Antiquity

Early Greek vessels had few navigational tools. Most ancient and medieval shipping remained in sight of the coast for ease of navigation, safety, trading opportunities, and coastal currents and winds that could be used to work against and around prevailing winds. It was more important for galleys than sailing ships to remain near the coast because they needed more frequent re-supply of fresh water for their large, sweating, crews and were more vulnerable to storms. Unlike ships primarily dependent on sails, they could use small bays and beaches as harbors, travel up rivers, operate in water only a meter or so deep, and be dragged overland to be launched on lakes, or other branches of the sea. This made them suitable for launching attacks on land. In antiquity a famous portage was the diolkos of Corinth. In 429 BC (Thucydides 2.56.2), and probably earlier (Herodotus 6.48.2, 7.21.2, 7.97), galleys were adapted to carry horses to provide cavalry support to troops also landed by galleys.

The compass did not come into use for navigation until the 13th century AD, and sextants, octants, accurate marine chronometers, and the mathematics required to determine longitude and latitude were developed much later. Ancient sailors navigated by the sun and the prevailing wind^{[citation needed]}. By the first millennium BC they had started using the stars to navigate at night. By 500 BC they had the sounding lead (Herodotus 2.5).

Besides Athlit bronze rams, ^[76] the only other parts of ancient galleys to survive are parts of two Punic biremes off western Sicily (see Basch & Frost). These Punic galleys are estimated to have been 35 m long, 4.80 m wide, with a displacement of 120 tonnes. These biremes had evidence of an easily breakable pointed ram, more like the Assyrian image than the Athlit ram. This type of ram may have been designed to break off to prevent that the hull was breached.

Galleys were hauled out of the water whenever possible to keep them dry, light and fast and free from worm, rot and seaweed. Galleys were usually kept in ship sheds during the winter. The archaeological remains of these have left scholars with valuable clues to the dimensions of the ships themselves.^[77]

Building an efficient galley posed technical problems. The faster a ship travels, the more energy it uses. Through a process of trial and error, the unireme or monoreme — a galley with one row of oars on each side — reached the peak of its development in the penteconter, about 38 m long, with 25 oarsmen on each side. It could reach 9 knots (18 km/h), only a knot or so slower than modern rowed racing-boats.

Early galleys usually had between 15 and 30 pairs of oars and were called triaconters or penteconters, literally "thirty-" and "fifty-oared", respectively. By the 8th century BC, the Phoenecians had added a second row of oars to these ships, creating the bireme. Soon after, a third row of oars was added by the addition of an outrigger to the hull of a bireme, a projecting construction that allowed for more room for the projecting oars. These new galleys were called triērēs ("three-fitted") in Greek. The Romans later called this design the triremis, trireme, the name it is today best known under. It has been hypothesized that early types of triremes existed in 701 BC, but the earliest positive literary reference dates to 542 BC.^[78] According to the Greek historian Herodotos, the first ramming action occurred in 535 BC when 60 Phocaean penteconters fought 120 Etruscan and Carthaginian ships. On this occasion it was described as an innovation that allowed Phocaeans to defeat a larger force.^[79]

Roman era

Middle Ages

Medieval galleys like this pioneered the use of naval guns, pointing forward as a supplement to the above-waterline beak designed to break the enemies outrigger. Only in the 16th century were ships called galleys developed with many men to each oar.^[80]

Galley designs were intended solely for close action with hand-held weapons and projectile weapons like bows and crossbows. In the 13th century the Iberian kingdom of Aragon built several fleet of galleys with high castles, manned with Catalan crossbowman, and regularly defeated numerically superior Angevin forces.^[81]

• large northern vessels were sailed, most towed or rowed (Unger 1980: 57); Germanic ships (rowing barges) for moving men 24 meters long, similar in proportion to the dromon, clinker built, 15 pairs of oars (Unger 1980: 58)
• Arab navies were based on Byzantine Greek model, used former Byzantine bases in Egypt and Coptic shipbuilders; qarib was the largest Arab warship, a 2-banked galley; the Arabs had less experienced sailors, likely (Unger) had larger ships to carry more troops since they were a land-focused force; flew quadrilateral lateens "short-luff dipping lug sail" (54) (Unger 1980: 53-54)
• very little is known about Muslim galleys, assumed that they were highly similar to those used by Christians, but in general smaller and faster ^[82]
• galleys of Charles I of Anjou, king of Sicily in 1275 were basically "huge rowing shells" at 10.7:1, 39x3.67m, 80 tons; designed to cut through the water rather than to ride the waves^[83]
• King Alfred in England built large rowing boats with 30 oars a side to counter threats from Vikings, up to 40 m long, reportedly "bigger, faster and higher in the water" compared to Viking vessels (Unger 1980: 80)
• Viking ships similar in many ways to galleys, though distinct; extreme cases of 60 oars, though generally much smaller; sailed before the wind, mostly lacked any superstructures and were not armed with catapults, etc; primarily traders and people movers (Unger 1980: 82-94)

• great galleys: lower breadth:length-ratio than warships, high bow to ride waves, higher freeboard, up to three masts with lateens (sometimes a square sail on the mainmast); rowed primarily in and out of harbors, otherwise a sailing vessel; went to Flanders, Egypt, Black Sea, etc; capable of open sea sailing; more room for provisions (or cargo/passengers);^[84] after 1292 great galleys could make two round trips per year, but stuck mostly to coastal trunk routes to regularly fill up on provisions, water and "refresh" passengers ("recreation")^[85]

• 1:3 of the oars inside of the thole^[86]

• English vessels called "galleys" were "major" part of strike force: clinker-built, double-ended, single square sail, some with fighting castles in bow, stern and at mast; little actually known of design, possibly like old Viking ships, but really no conclusive evidence;^[87] called "barges/balingers/barks" c. 1350-1500^[88]; largely replaced by sailing ships by early 15th century, while remaining important for reconnaissance and patrol^[89]

Early modern

• half-galleys only common among North African corsairs^[90]
• galleasses only used by Venice until 1755^[91]

(One bench on each side was typically removed to make space for platforms carrying the skiff and the stove.)

The regular galleys carried one 50-pound cannon or a 32-pound culverin at the bow as well as four lighter cannon and four swivel guns. The larger lanterns carried one heavy gun plus six 12 and 6 pound culverins and eight swivel guns.

The following is based on Glete (1993), p. 81:

• so-called lantern galleys, usually used as command ships in action: 30 or more benches
• galleys, the standard war vessels: 20-30 benches
• galiots, used as cruisers or support vessels behind the lines in battles: 15-20 benches, usually with two rowers per oar)
• fustas, similar to galiots in function, but generally smaller than galiots
• brigantines, the smallest type of independently operating cruisers
• fregatas, a support vessel and originally the "ship boat" of galleys

• galleys reached their "final form" in mid-17th century^[92]
  • 25-26 pairs of oars with 5 men per oar (c. 250), 50-100 sailors, 50-100 soldiers: total of 400-450
  • one 24-36 pounder gun, 2-4 4-12 pounders, swivels along railings
  • 8:1 length-to-beam ratio; 2 main lateen masts with an extra ("mizzen"?) that could be raised in need
• Swedish galleys shorter in early 18th (5:1), later around 6.5-7:1^[93]

• few instances of flagship galleys with up to 30 pairs of oars with 5-7 rowers per oar;^[94] dimensions of Swedish and French "super galleys"^[95]

• centerline guns recoiled down the corsia; basically the same design for all Mediterranean galleys^[96]

• fairly small, but important differences in regional galley design^[97]
  • Spain: "tactical infantry assault craft"; slower under oars, heavily manned; designed for amphibious raiding and large fleet actions
  • North Africans: galleys and galiots; "strategic raiding craft"; faster under oars to allow them to escape pirate patrols; guerilla galleys; ability to outflank fleet battle galleys
  • Venice: "heavily armed tactical attack transport": artillery platform designed for standoff actions; faster under oars, slower under sail; good for relieving besieged fortresses
  • Ottoman Turks: offensive strategic siege transport/defensive tactical craft; intended to hold off attacking relief fleets while land forces defeated the strongholds on land; fast under oars, decent sailer

• galley "ratings" evolved in the more advanced Mediterranean bureaucracies, mainly based on the number of benches:^[98]
  • galleass/great galley
  • lantern galleys - flagships (30+)
  • galleys - standard battle vessels (20+)
  • galiots - cruisers (15-20, 2 rowers per oar)
  • fustas - cruisers (smaller than galiots?)
  • brigantine - small cruisers ()
  • fregata - very small cruiser; originally a galley tender/"ship boat"

• galleys required less timber to build and were cheaper (simpler design, fewer guns), especially for small states; flexible for ambushes and amphibious operations; needed few skilled seamen; difficult for sailing ships to catch and important for catching other galleys^[99]

• galley (kitchen), where it was actually present, consisted of a clay-lined box that was positioned on one of the benches, usually on the port side^[100]
• rambade in French used for bow fighting platform from 16th century until end of galley era^[101]

• galeasses developed from the great galleys (but with more guns); used in England to a minor extent but the term was used for much smaller four-masted, broadside ships in Henry VIII's navy with unknown number of oars (oarports below guns); English also used smaller pinnaces, rowbarges^[102]

• remo di scaloccio, from scala, "ladder; staircase"^[103]
• one (main)mast regular rigging on (war) galleys until c. 1600; a temporary foremast became permanent, stepped to the side of gun recoil; a mizzen mast added in 18th, possibly already in the early 17th century^[104]

• Colbert imposed regulations on galley dimensions around 1678-79: about 185 ft long, 22 feet wide at the waterline; with 26 oars per side with 5 men per oar(69); oars for ordinary galleys were 38 ft, larger galleys had 45 ft long oars (70); one heavy 24- or 36-pounder coursier, chaser, gun with another 2-4 in smaller guns, all in the bow; swivel guns were used before but eliminated during Louis XIV since they had little use^[105]

• galleys were made more expensive the higher they were ranked (71-72); Patronne middle-large ranked ship; up to 50% more rowers in a réale, r painted white while (with three lanterns) normal French galleys were red (and had only two lanterns) (71) Pierre Puget was the most famous of galley ornamentors and it was was decorated with 109,000 livres for just cloth while a normal galley cost altogether 28,000^[106]

• for prestige purposes a galley was according to a report once built, with pre-cut timbers and 500 carpenters working in teams on one side each, caulked, tested and floated in 24 hours to impress the King^[107]

• Swedish (somewhat unsuccessful) "super-galleys" (or galleasses) used on the west coast: 48 m long, 30 pairs of oars, 500 men, 3x36-pounders^[108]
• half-galleys: 22 m, with 16-18 pairs of oars, armed with 6-pounders used, but only for reconnaissance^[109]
• 29 galärer i svenska flottan 1788; 20-22 årpar, 5 man per åra, 1x24p + 2x6p kanoner i fören, ca 250 mans besättning; främst som trupptransporter i skärgården^[110]

Construction

Building an efficient galley posed technical problems. The faster a ship travels, the more energy it uses. Through a process of trial and error, the unireme or monoreme — a galley with one row of oars on each side — reached the peak of its development in the penteconter, about 38 m long, with 25 oarsmen on each side. It could reach 9 knots (18 km/h), only a knot or so slower than modern rowed racing-boats. To maintain the strength of such a long craft tensioned cables were fitted from the bow to the stern; this provided rigidity without adding weight. This technique kept the joints of the hull under compression - tighter, and more waterproof. The tension in the modern trireme replica anti-hogging cables was 300 kN (Morrison p198).

Propulsion

The ruler Dionysius I of Syracuse (ca. 432–367 BC) is credited with pioneering the "five" and "six", meaning five or six rows of rowers plying two or three rows of oars. Ptolemy II (283-46 BC) is known to have built a large fleet of very large fleets with several experimental designs rowed by everything from 12 up to 40 rows of rowers, though most of these are considered to have been quite impractical.^[111]

In the latter half of the Middle Ages, large war galleys had three rows of oars, but with all oars on the same level in sets of three to a bench. This layout of oars is best known under the medieval Italian term alla sensile, "in the simple fashion", and relied on skilled oarsmen.

• change recorded around 1300 (same source as Pryor) from two rowers per bench to three^[113]

• alla sensile means "in the simple fashion"^[114]

• change from alla sensile to a scaloccio around 1550, allowing larger galleys; lantern galleys with 36 pairs of oars with up to 420 rowers appeared^[115]

• small boats tack easily with a lateen rigs (and carracks in general), but with large galleys (esp. great galleys) with yards up to 45 m, 7 t more complicated business^[116]

• 10 knots is the upper limit for fixed seat rowing (Coates 1995: 127); "oar systems have very low [energy] densities", 70 W per man and therefore little room for superfluous weight (Coates 1995: 128)
• theoretical speeds: sprinting for 5 minutes, 10 knots; cruising speed, 7,5-8 knots (for a whole day); (Shaw 1995: 169)
• ancient triremes were (likely) never surpassed in speed (Shaw, "Oar Mechanics and Oar Power in Ancient Galleys" in Gardiner 1995: 163)
• sitting down is the most effective rowing position (Shaw 1995: 168)

• with a SIX 3x2; with a FIVE 2x2 + 1x1; no ship had more than three levels because it was physically impracticable; no proof of moving (rolling) seats; (Shaw 1995: 168-169)

• few rowers in ancient trireme could see much and orders by a supervisor was essential, done with chants ryppapai/o opop and pipes; trials proved that certain rythmic melodies conveyed by loudspeakers or collective humming worked^[117]

• sliding stroke is possible, but impractical; inconclusive evidence that ancient rowers were advised to use their legs, but it could just be used for a fixed rowing technique; trials with Olympias were not able to produce a practical use of sliding^[118]

• rowing backwards could be done in trials by rowing backwards with some skill required (max 3 knots) or simply turning around (5 knots)^[119]

• with three men per oar, all might have sat, but the 1 (furthest out) would have done a stand- and-sit stroke; with more than three all would have done a sit-and-stand stroke v

• rowing in rough seas or a headwind is exhausting^[120]

• difficult to row even in moderate seas (Shaw 1995: 166-7)

• alla sensile means "in the simple fashion"^[121]
• change recorded around 1300 (same source as Pryor) from two rowers per bench to three^[122]

• change from alla sensile to a scaloccio around 1550, allowing larger galleys; lantern galleys with 36 pairs of oars with up to 420 rowers appeared^[123]

Performance

• galleys highly susceptible to swamping in open seas, in combination with small stores made for limited range^[124]
• water among the biggest problems for galley range; at 0.5 gallon per man (a low estimate by Guilmartin (p. 63), agreed by Pryor) stores would not last long; medieval galleys carried 3000-5700 liters (800-1600 gallons);^[125] normal water supply of maximum 2-3 weeks, less on merchant galleys which could prioritize cargo or passengers^[126]
• Dotson considers the need to be 4 liters per man, reducing the cruising range by half^[127]

• sailing season highly limited in Mediterranean: late Spring to early Autumn from antiquity to 15th century; possible, but still largely restricted winter travel rest of year after 15th; coastal trunk routes important to keep close to familiar shores, islands (Balearics, Crete, Corsica/Sardinia) and harbors; all battles clustered around these coasts and strategic bases; wind favored travel from west to east and north to south, opposite direction always slower^[128]

• Northern Europe has much more unfriendly waters (and to galleys): dangerous, rocky, gradually shallow shores (unlike sharply deep Mediterranean); difficult tides; violent Atlantic storms; plenty of easy Mediterranean sandy beaches for beaching ships; not until invention of advanced rigging did the North get “fighting chance” to overcome difficulties with sailing ships for both war and trade^[129]

• 17th century galleys could carry two months of (bread) rations (50 tons) at the most, but no wine, and that was considered unpractical due to hampered performance; required support fleets to rendezvous with^[130]

Crew

• galleys very filthy due to heavy over-crowding; so much that it was believed that it sped up decay by rotting the timbers^[131]
• great stench of galleys reputed to be origin for use of perfume by upper-class officers ^[132]

• 3000 oarsmen required just for the Squadron of Spain under Philip IV; despised as convicts and forzados or Muslim galley slaves (their percentage increased until the 1610s) were driven hard, but were still considered valuable and measures were taken to not allow them to die; lesser crimes were penalized with galley duty to fill gaps; gypsies condemned to row; French POWs employed; sentences prolonged (illegally) to avoid loss of manpower; gypsies also used in French galley force^[133]

Rowers

• ventilation essential (as proven by the Olympias experiment) and lack of it is likely to lead to decline in performance; requires louvres on the sides and on top (at least until just before battle)^[134]

• water requirements at 2.8 t for 400 men (7 l/man + 2 l for other needs)^[135]

Galleys slaves

Prisoners of war were often used as galley slaves. Several well-known historical figures served time as galley slaves after being captured by the enemy, the Ottoman corsair and admiral Turgut Reis, the Maltese Grand Master Jean Parisot de la Valette, and the author of Don Quijote, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, among them.

Galley slaves lived in very unhealthy conditions, and many died even if sentenced only for a few years provided they escaped shipwreck and death in battle in the first place.

• Spain was forced to use mostly servile rowers; Ottomans had the organization/structure in place to mix slaves with volunteers;^[136] Venice had mostly free rowers (medieval tradition, alla sensile); Knights of Saint John used slaves extensively, as did Spanish (Habsburg) Italy, Papal State, Florence and Genoa; ghazis relied almost entirely on (Christian) slaves^[137]

• "After the Bastille, the galleys were the greatest horror of the old regime." Albert Savine (1909)^[138]; the worst conditions were for condemned Protestants, a small minority^[139]

• relatively lenient sentence compared to contemporary harsh bodily punishment and prisons that forced captors to pay for everything (while galley oarsmen were fed and under strict, but reasonable regulations)^[140]

• semi-"forced" wine-selling on French 17th century galleys with taverns on board run by comites (NCOs resonsible for rowers), a tradition going back to the Middle Ages^[141]
• 350-500 men in 170x40-45 feet^[142]
• rations of 2 lbs of bread or biscuit, bean soup, oil or lard, some wine^[143]
• rowing was difficult, requiring strength, rhythm, cooperation; coordinated with oral commands, drums and physical abuse by supervisors; accidents could lead to severe injuries or even death; frequent exercising was done, even in winter^[144]; high mortality, few survived more than a few years; some 20-30 years "or more"^[145]
• the term galérien was used as a general term for convicts long after they were forced to serve in galleys, even after 1815^[146]
• two galley-convicted Protestants were released in 1775 after serving for 30 years each, at the ages of 58 and 72^[147]

Piracy

• an English purpose-built galley with fifty oars [small galley or galley-frigate?] for pirate hunting stationed at Jamaica from 1683^[148]
• Caribbean pirate vessels with oars regularly outran English pirate hunters; lack of sufficient numbers of oar-equipped sloops to run down pirates effectively up to at least the 1720s^[149]
• galleys built in Caribbean by Spanish to replace auxiliary galleon (with oars) force to protect against pirates/privateers; for a short time resulted in a system very like the Mediterranean; replaced by larger galleons 1583/84^[150]

• Barbary corsairs out of Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, Morocco (and Morea); fought as holy warriors nominally under Ottoman "suzerainty", Christian galley slaves acquired through slave raids; assisted by Western renegades who served as experts, crewmen, gunners, etc. (some even converted); Knights of Saint Stephen operated out of Leghorn (Legorno?), Knights of Saint John out of Malta, both almost exact opposites of Muslim corsairs; Christian corsairs were manned by 30 or so knights, "paid soldiers" (mercenaries?; p. 47), crew and rowing crew of Muslim slaves, Christian convicts and buonavoglie, "free but normally desperate men who rowed unchained and were regarded as some protection against mutiny by the slaves" (p. 47)^[151]
• "mirror image of maritime predation, two businesslike fleets of plunderers set against each other and against the enemies of their faith[s]";^[152] both requires/resulted in a complex and vast economic system sustained by piracy and slave raiding;^[153] a "massive, multinational protection racket" (recent description in the The Times)^[154]
• typical Sallee sailing vessels were almost always equipped with oars and were lightly armed, heavily manned and very fast (fast enough for French admiral Tourville to believe that it took a Sallee prize sold into naval service to catch another Sallee ship)^[155]

• Barbary piracy was upheld despite lack [or shrinking] profits^[156]
• Christian corsairs finally disbanded by Napoleon in 1798 (after seven centuries of crusading)^[157]

• though less romanticized and less famous, Mediterranean corsairs equaled or outnumbered Atlantic and Caribbean (European) pirates^[158]

• an English purpose-built galley with fifty oars [small galley or galley-frigate?] for pirate hunting stationed at Jamaica from 1683^[159]
• Caribbean pirate vessels with oars regularly outran English pirate hunters; lack of sufficient numbers of oar-equipped sloops to run down pirates effectively up to at least the 1720s^[160]
• galleys built in Caribbean by Spanish to replace auxiliary galleon (with oars) force to protect against pirates/privateers; for a short time resulted in a system very like the Mediterranean; replaced by larger galleons 1583/84^[161]

• ghazis "resembled" Knights of Saint John^[162]

Galleys had likely been employed for piracy in the Mediterranean since early Antiquity, and the predatory activities intensified after the collapse of the Roman Empire. The eastern Mediterranean became a kind of no man's land in the 9th century, located in the middle of the rivalry between the Byzantines and Muslim states. The island of Crete, as a Muslim emirate served as a major base for medieval pirates until it was re-captured by the Byzantines in 960.^[163] The Western Mediterranean in the early Middle Ages lacked influence from any major powers, making it even less regulate and prone to piracy, with most of the trade being in more expensive goods (spices, silks, slaves, etc.) in well-defended merchant galleys.^[164]

Though less romanticized and less famous than Atlantic and Caribbean pirates, the corsairs Mediterranean equaled or outnumbered them at any given point in history.^[165] Mediterranean piracy was conducted almost entirely with galleys until the mid-17th century, when they were gradually replaced with highly maneuverable sailing vessels such as xebecs and brigantines. They were, however, of a smaller type than battle galleys, often referred to as galiots or fustas.^[166] Pirate galleys were small, nimble, lightly armed, but often heavily manned in order to overwhelm the often minimal crews of merchant ships. In general, pirate craft were extremely difficult for patrolling craft to actually hunt down and capture. Anne Hilarion de Tourville, a French admiral of the 17th century, believed that the only way to run down raiders from the infamous corsair Moroccan port of Salé was by using a captured pirate vessel of the same type.^[167] Using oared vessels to combat pirates was common, and was even practiced by the major powers in the Caribbean. Purpose-built galleys (or hybrid sailing vessels) were built by the English in Jamaica in 1683^[168] and by the Spanish in the late 16th century.^[169] Specially-built sailing frigates with oar-ports on the lower decks, like the James Galley and Charles Galley, and oar-equipped sloops proved highly useful for pirate hunting, though they were not built in sufficient numbers to check piracy until the 1720s.^[170]

The expansion of Muslim power through the Ottoman conquest of large parts of the eastern Mediterraneanin the 15th and 16th century resulted in extensive piracy on sea trading. The so-called Barbary corsairs began to operate out of Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, Morocco and Morea (modern-day Greece) around 1500, preying primarily on the shipping of Christian powers, including massive slave raids on land as well as at sea. They were nominally under Ottoman suzerainty, but had considerable independence to prey on the enemies of Islam. The Muslim corsairs were technically often privateers with support from legitimate, though highly belligerent, states. But they also considered themselves as holy Muslim warriors, or ghazis,^[171] carrying on the tradition of fighting the incursion of Western Christians that had begun with the First Crusade late in the 11th century.^[172] The Barbary corsairs had a direct Christian counterpart in the military order of the Knights of Saint John that operated out of Rhodes (Malta after 15??), though they were less numerous and took fewer slaves. Both sides waged war against the respective enemies of their faith, and both used galleys as their primary weapons. Both sides also used captured or bought galley slaves to man the oars of their ships; the Muslims relying mostly on captured Christians, the Christians using a mix of Muslim slaves, Christian convicts and a small contingency of buonavoglie, free men who out of desperation or poverty had taken to rowing.^[173] Historian Peter Earle has described the two sides of the conflict as "mirror image[s] of maritime predation, two businesslike fleets of plunderers set against each other"^[174]. This conflict of faith in the form of privateering, piracy and slave raiding generated a complex system that was upheld/financed/operated on the trade in plunder and slaves that was generated from a low-intensive conflict, as well as the need for protection from violence. The system has been described as a "massive, multinational protection racket".^[175], the Christian side of which was not ended until 1798 in the Napoleonic Wars. The Barbary corsairs were finally quelled as late as the 1830s, effectively ending the last vestiges of counter-crusading.^[176]

Strategy

• "inverse relationship between a galley fleet's size and its radius of action"^[177]
• Viking tactics were hand-to-hand fighting; common to form defensive formations by lashing ships together side by side; attacks would be at the flanks with both sides feeding in fresh troops from other ships, including smaller craft; leader ships would often have their (larger) bows in front of others to be the first to engage in battle^[178]

Artillery was still quite expensive [IN 1500s], scarce and not very effective. The galley therefore remained the most effective warship in the Mediterranean since it was the type of vessel that could be most effective in boarding actions and in pulling off amphibious operations, particularly against seaside forts that had still not been adapted to heavy artillery.^[179]

As floating siege batteries, galleys battered down fort and castle walls quickly at the same time as they could land troop to defeat their garrisons. With an appropriate base and a supporting supply train, they could conduct raids and invasions in a strategic radius of some 3,200 km (2,000 mi).^[180] Unlike sailing vessels, the galley themselves were comparatively cheap and therefore expendable. The administrative and financial problem was not in producing enough hulls, but to supply the manpower to row and fight them, both in terms of quantity and quality, and to acquire the extremely expensive artillery to arm them. Before the 1580s, before a sizable arsenal had begun to accumulate, and before the invention of cheaper cast-iron guns, cannons were made from bronze and were quite rare. It was the personnel organizations and administrative structures, as well as the gun arsenals, that were the primary strategic resources during this time, not the galley fleet themselves. In contrast, sailing ship fleets consisted from quite early on of highly complex and expensive vessels with large amounts of artillery with temporary, and relatively more expendable crews.^[181]

Other uses?

• French galleys defended by conservative "friends" despite being criticized as expensive, inefficient and burdened by the reputation as being a tool of the authority to force religious obedience as well as an excuse for keeping slaves^[182]
• Louis XIV took charge of the galley fleet and made it a state enterprise, rather than a private or mercenary business^[183]
• the French navy was the biggest consumer of construction material in late 17th century^[184]

• "embarrassing failure" of reconstruction of a Roman trireme for Napoleon III in 1860-61; too heavily built, oars too long and of different lengths; target practice and sunk by a torpedo^[185]

• writers in 5th to 16th centuries attempted to explain triremes in their own terms, failing in the process and producing images of impossible constructions due to a lack of understanding of the oar system^[186]

• galleys could "pay" for themselves by hiring out (forced) rowers as laborers out of the patrolling season; very timber efficient in a Mediterranean context of scarcity; required little (very expensive) ordnance in comparison with sailing ships^[187]
• sailing warships "almost never" caught galleys in 16th and 17th centuries that had opportunity to escape^[188]
• galleys associated with slavery, cruelty, "arbitrary authority", though the most cruelly treated Protestants were only a "notorious minority"^[189]

Religious/ceremonial, prestige

• early modern states used grand galleys as symbols of power, prestige and symbols of state power: bucentoro, La Réale and Kadirga (see below)

• galleys were more closely associated with land warfare and land tactics; prestige of land warfare was transferred to galleys, which were seen as "the supreme symbol of royal power [...] derived from its intimate association with armies, and consequently with princes" ^[190]

• the French Galley Corps was a "tool of royal authority" used to position Louis XIV against the Pope as a crusading force officered by the Knights of Saint John (with double allegiance to the Vatican); fighting "infidels" and punishing Protestant heretics^[191]

Research

Archaeology

Surviving vessels

The naval museum in Istanbul contains the galley Kadırga (Turkish for "galley"), dating from the reign of Mehmed IV (1648–1687). It was the personal galley of the sultan, and remained in service until 1839. Kadırga is presumably the only surviving galley in the world, albeit without its masts. It is 37 m long, 5.7 m wide, has a draught of about 2 m, weighs about 140 tons, and has 48 oars that were powered by 144 oarsmen.

A 1971 reconstruction of the Real, the flagship of Don Juan de Austria in the Battle of Lepanto 1571, is in the Museu Marítim in Barcelona. The ship was 60 m long and 6.2 m wide, had a draught of 2.1 m, weighing 239 tons empty, was propelled by 290 rowers, and carried about 400 crew and fighting soldiers at Lepanto. She was substantially larger than the typical galleys of her time.

A group called "The Trireme Trust" operates, in conjunction with the Greek Navy, a reconstruction of an ancient Greek Trireme, the Olympias.^[192]

Notes

References

• Anderson, Roger Charles, Oared fighting ships: From classical times to the coming of steam. London. 1962.
• Bamford, Paul W., Fighting ships and prisons : the Mediterranean Galleys of France in the Age of Louis XIV. Cambridge University Press, London. 1974. ISBN 0-8166-0655-2
• Basch, L. & Frost, H. "Another Punic wreck off Sicily: its ram" in International journal of Nautical Archaeology vol 4.2, 1975. pp. 201-228
• Bass, George F. (editor), A History of Seafaring, Thames & Hudson, 1972
• Capulli, Massimo: Le Navi della Serenissima - La Galea Veneziana di Lazise. Marsilio Editore, Venezia, 2003.
• Gardiner, Robert & Lavery, Brian (editors), The Line of Battle: Sailing Warships 1650-1840. Conway Maritime Press, London. 1992. ISBN 0-85177-561-6
• Casson, Lionel, "Galley Slaves" in Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 97 (1966), pp. 35–44
• Casson, Lionel, Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World, Princeton University Press, 1971
• Casson, Lionel, "The Age of the Supergalleys" in Ships and Seafaring in Ancient Times, University of Texas Press, 1994. ISBN 029271162X [3], pp. 78–95
• Earle, Peter (2003) The Pirate WarsMethuen, London. ISBN 0-413-75880-X
• Glete, Jan, Navies and nations: Warships, navies and state building in Europe and America, 1500-1860. Almqvist & Wiksell International, Stockholm. 1993. ISBN 91-22-01565-5
• Glete, Jan, Warfare at Sea, 1500-1650: Maritime Conflicts and the Transformation of Europe. Routledge, London. 2000. ISBN 0-415-21455-6
• Guilmartin, John Francis, Gunpowder and Galleys: Changing Technology and Mediterranean Warfare at Sea in the Sixteenth Century. Cambridge University Press, London. 1974. ISBN 0-521-20272-8
• Hattendorf, John B. & Unger, Richard W. (editors), War at Sea in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Woodbridge, Suffolk. 2003. ISBN 0-85115-903-6 [4]
  • Balard, Michel, "Genoese Naval Forces in the Mediterranean During the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries", pp. 137–49
  • Bill, Jan, "Scandinavian Warships and Naval Power in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries", pp. 35–51
  • Doumerc, Bernard, "An Exemplary Maritime Republic: Venice at the End of the Middle Ages", pp. 151–65
  • Friel, Ian, "Oars, Sails and Guns: the English and War at Sea c. 1200-c. 1500", pp. 69–79
  • Glete, Jan, "Naval Power and Control of the Sea in the Baltic in the Sixteenth Century", pp. 215–32
  • Hattendorf, John B., "Theories of Naval Power: A. T. Mahan and the Naval History of Medieval and Renaissance Europe", pp. 1–22
  • Mott, Lawrence V., "Iberian Naval Power, 1000-1650", pp. 103–118
  • Pryor, John H., "Byzantium and the Sea: Byzantine Fleets and the History of the Empire in the Age of the Macedonian Emperors, c. 900-1025 CE", pp. 83–104
  • Rodger, Nicholas A. M., "The New Atlantic: Naval Warfare in the Sixteenth Century", pp. 231–47
  • Runyan, Timothy J., "Naval Power and Maritime Technology During the Hundred Years War", pp. 53–67
• Hutchinson, Gillian, Medieval Ships and Shipping. Leicester University Press, London. 1997. ISBN 0-7185-0117-9
• Knighton, C. S. and Loades, David M., The Anthony Roll of Henry VIII's Navy: Pepys Library 2991 and British Library Additional MS 22047 with related documents. Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot. 2000. ISBN 0-7546-0094-7
• Lehmann, L. Th., Galleys in the Netherlands. Meulenhoff, Amsterdam. 1984. ISBN 90-290-1854-2
• Morrison, John S. & Gardiner, Robert (editors), The Age of the Galley: Mediterranean Oared Vessels Since Pre-Classical Times. Conway Maritime, London, 1995. ISBN 0-85177-554-3
  • Alertz, Ulrich, "The Naval Architecture and Oar Systems of Medieval and Later Galleys", pp. 142–62
  • Bondioli, Mauro, Burlet, René & Zysberg, André, "Oar Mechanics and Oar Power in Medieval and Later Galleys", pp. 142–63
  • Casson, Lionel, "Merchant Galleys", pp. 117–26
  • Coates, John, "The Naval Architecture and Oar Systems of Ancient Galleys", pp. 127–41
  • Dotson, John E, "Economics and Logistics of Galley Warfare", pp. 217–23
  • Hocker, Frederick M., "Late Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic Galleys and Fleets", pp. 86–100
  • Morrison, John, "Hellenistic Oared Warships 399-31 BC", pp. 66–77
  • Pryor, John H."From dromon to galea: Mediterranean bireme galleys AD 500-1300", pp. 101–116.
  • Rankov, Boris, "Fleets of the Early Roman Empire, 31 BC-AD 324", pp. 78–85
  • Shaw, J. T., "Oar Mechanics and Oar Power in Ancient Galleys", pp. 163–71
  • Wachsmann, Shelley, "Paddled and Oared Ships Before the Iron Age", pp. 10–25
• Mooney, James L. (editor), Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Volume 4. Naval Historical Center, Washington. 1969.
• Mallett, Michael E., The Florentine Galleys in the Fifteenth Century, Oxford, 1967
• Morrison, John S. & Coates, John F., The Athenian Trireme: the History and Reconstruction of An Ancient Greek Warship. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 2000. ISBN
• Template:Sv Norman, Hans (editor), Skärgårdsflottan: uppbyggnad, militär användning och förankring i det svenska samhället 1700-1824. Historiska media, Lund. 2000. ISBN 91-88930-50-5
• Pryor, John H., "The naval battles of Roger of Lauria" in Journal of Medieval History 9. Amsterdam. 1983; pp. 179-216
• Pryor, John H., Geography, technology and war: Studies in the maritime history of the Mediterranean 649-1571. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1992. 0-521-42892-0 [5]
• Rodger, Nicholas A. M., "The Development of Broadside Gunnery 1450-1650" in The Mariner's Mirror, Vol. 82, No. 3. 1996; pp. 301-324
• Rodger, Nicholas A. M., The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain 660–1649. W.W. Norton & Company, New York. 1997. ISBN 0-393-04579-X
• Rodgers, William Ledyard, Naval Warfare Under Oars: 4th to 16th Centuries, Naval Institute Press, 1940.
• Tenenti, Alberto Piracy and the Decline of Venice 1580-1615 (English translation). 1967
• Unger, Richard W. The Ship in Medieval Economy 600-1600 Croom Helm, London. 1980. ISBN 0-85664-949-X

External links

• John F. Guilmartin, "The Tactics of the Battle of Lepanto Clarified: The Impact of Social, Economic, and Political Factors on Sixteenth Century Galley Warfare". A very detailed discussion of galley warfare at the Battle of Lepanto
• Template:Es Rafael Rebolo Gómez - "The Carthaginian navy"., 2005, Treballs del Museu Arqueologic d'Eivissa e Formentera.
• "Some Engineering Concepts applied to Ancient Greek Trireme Warships", John Coates, University of Oxford, The 18th Jenkin Lecture, 1 October 2005.

Images

other

ancient

medieval

early modern

Commons:Category:Bucentaur

References

• Template:Sv icon Artéus, Gunnar, Gustav III:s ryska krig. Probus, Stockholm. 1992. ISBN 91-87184-09-5
• Bamford, Paul W., Fighting ships and prisons : the Mediterranean Galleys of France in the Age of Louis XIV. Cambridge University Press, London. 1974. ISBN 0-8166-0655-2
• Template:Fr icon Basch, Lucien, "La voile latine, son origine, son évolution et ses parentés arabes", in H. Tzalas, Tropis VI, 6th International Symposium on Ship Construction in Antiquity, Lamia 1996 proceedings, Athens: Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition, pp. 55–85
• Casson, Lionel, "Galley Slaves" in Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 97 (1966), pp. 35-44
• Casson, Lionel, "The Age of the Supergalleys" in Ships and Seafaring in Ancient Times, University of Texas Press, 1994. ISBN 029271162X[6], pp. 78-95
• Goodman, David, Spanish naval power 1589-1665: reconstruction and defeat. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1997. ISBN 0-521-58063-3
• Guilmartin, John Francis, Gunpowder and Galleys: Changing Technology and Mediterranean Warfare at Sea in the Sixteenth Century. Cambridge University Press, London. 1974. ISBN 0-521-20272-8
• Hattendorf, John B. & Unger, Richard W. (editors), War at Sea in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Woodbridge, Suffolk. 2002. ISBN 0-85115-903-6[7]
  • Balard, Michel, "Genoese Naval Forces in the Mediterranean During the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries", pp. 137-49
  • Bill, Jan, "Scandinavian Warships and Naval Power in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries", pp. 35-51
  • Doumerc, Bernard, "An Exemplary Maritime Republic: Venice at the End of the Middle Ages", pp. 151-65
  • Friel, Ian, "Oars, Sails and Guns: the English and War at Sea c. 1200-c. 1500", pp. 69-79
  • Glete, Jan, "Naval Power and Control of the Sea in the Baltic in the Sixteenth Century", pp. 215-32
  • Hattendorf, John B., "Theories of Naval Power: A. T. Mahan and the Naval History of Medieval and Renaissance Europe", pp. 1-22
  • Mott, Lawrence V., "Iberian Naval Power, 1000-1650", pp. 103-118
  • Pryor, John H., "Byzantium and the Sea: Byzantine Fleets and the History of the Empire in the Age of the Macedonian Emperors, c. 900-1025 CE", pp. 83-104
  • Rodger, Nicholas A. M., "The New Atlantic: Naval Warfare in the Sixteenth Century", pp. 231-47
  • Runyan, Timothy J., "Naval Power and Maritime Technology During the Hundred Years War", pp. 53-67
• Hutchinson, Gillian, Medieval Ships and Shipping. Leicester University Press, London. 1997. ISBN 0-7185-0117-9
• Lehmann, L. Th., Galleys in the Netherlands. Meulenhoff, Amsterdam. 1984. ISBN 90-290-1854-2
• Morrison, John S. & Gardiner, Robert (editors), The Age of the Galley: Mediterranean Oared Vessels Since Pre-Classical Times. Conway Maritime, London, 1995. ISBN 0-85177-554-3
  • Alertz, Ulrich, "The Naval Architecture and Oar Systems of Medieval and Later Galleys", pp. 142-62
  • Bondioli, Mauro, Burlet, René & Zysberg, André, "Oar Mechanics and Oar Power in Medieval and Later Galleys", pp. 142-63
  • Casson, Lionel, "Merchant Galleys", pp. 117-26
  • Coates, John, "The Naval Architecture and Oar Systems of Ancient Galleys", pp. 127-41
  • Dotson, John E, "Economics and Logistics of Galley Warfare", pp. 217-23
  • Hocker, Frederick M., "Late Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic Galleys and Fleets", pp. 86-100
  • Morrison, John, "Hellenistic Oared Warships 399-31 BC", pp. 66-77
  • Rankov, Boris, "Fleets of the Early Roman Empire, 31 BC-AD 324", pp. 78-85
  • Shaw, J. T., "Oar Mechanics and Oar Power in Ancient Galleys", pp. 163-71
  • Wachsmann, Shelley, "Paddled and Oared Ships Before the Iron Age", pp. 10-25
• Morrison, John S. & Coates, John F., The Athenian Trireme: the History and Reconstruction of An Ancient Greek Warship. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 2000. ISBN
• Template:Sv Norman, Hans (editor), Skärgårdsflottan: uppbyggnad, militär användning och förankring i det svenska samhället 1700-1824. Historiska media, Lund. 2000. ISBN 91-88930-50-5
• Pryor, John H., Geography, technology and war: Studies in the maritime history of the Mediterranean 649-1571. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1992. 0-521-42892-0[8]
• Pryor, John H. & Jeffreys, Elizabeth M., The Age of the ΔΡΟΜΩΝ: The Byzantine Navy ca. 500–1204. Brill Academic Publishers, Leiden. 2006. ISBN 978-9004151970
• Rodgers, William Ledyard, Naval Warfare Under Oars, 4th to 16th Centuries: A Study of Strategy, Tactics and Ship Design. United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland. 1939.
• Unger, Richard W. The Ship in Medieval Economy 600-1600 Croom Helm, London. 1980. ISBN 0-85664-949-X (SU, VA)

KB

• Pryor, John H. & Jeffreys, Elizabeth, The Age of the Dromon: The Byzantine Navy ca. 500-1204. Brill, Leiden. 2006. 90-04-15197-4
• Casson, Lionel, The Ancient Mariners: Seafarers and Sea Fighters of the Mediterranean in Ancient Times. Princeton University Press, Princeton. 1991. ISBN 978-0691014777 (SUB)
• Casson, Lionel, Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World Johns Hopkins University Press, . 1995.. ISBN 978-0801851308
• Friel, Ian, The Good Ship: ships, shipbuilding and technology in England, 1200-1520. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 1995. ISBN 0-7141-0574-0
• Lane, Frederic Chapin, Venetian ships and shipbuilders of the Renaissance, (New edition), Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 1992 [1934]. ISBN 0-8018-4514-9[9]
• Mallett, Michael E., The Florentine Galleys in the Fifteenth Century: With the Diary of Luca di Maso degli Albizzi, Captain of the galleys 1429-1430. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1967.

SU

• Westerdahl, Christer, Crossroads in ancient shipbuilding: proceedings of the sixth International symposium on boat and ship archaeology, Roskilde 1991. Oxbow, Oxford. 1994. ISBN 0-946897-70-0

SH

VA

• Michael Wedde, "On the alleged connection between the early Greek galley and the watercraft of the Nordic rock art" (pp. 57-71) in European Association of Archaeologists. Meeting, The Aegean Bronze Age in relation to the wider European context: papers from a session at the eleventh annual meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists, Cork, 5-11 September 2005. Archaeopress, Oxford. 2008. ISBN 978-1-4073-0187-7
• Casson, Lionel, Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, Baltimore, Md, 1995[1971] ISBN 0-8018-5130-0
• Gardiner, Robert, The archaeology of medieval ships and harbours in northern Europe: papers based on those presented to an International symposium on boat and ship archaeology at Bremerhaven in 1979. Oxford, 1979. ISBN: 0-86054-068-5

SSM

• Gardiner, Robert & Unger, Richard W. (editors), Cogs, Caravels and Galleons: The Sailing Ship 1000-1650. Conway Maritime Press, London. 1994. ISBN 0-85177-560-8
• Symonds, Craig L., New aspects of naval history: selected papers presented at the fourth Naval history symposium, United States Naval academy, 25-26 October 1979 Naval Inst. P., Annapolis. 1981. ISBN 0-87021-495-0 (ALB)

GU

UU

• Anderson, Roger Charles, Oared Fighting Ships: From classical times to the coming of steam. London. 1962.

previous

• George F. Bass, ed., A History of Seafaring, Thames & Hudson, 1972
• L.Basch & H. Frost Another Punic wreck off Sicily: its ram International journal of Nautical Archaeology vol 4.2, 201-228, 1975
• Lionel Casson, Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World, Princeton University Press, 1971
• H.Frost et al. Lilybaeum supplement to Notizae Scavi d'Anichita 8th ser vol 30 1981 (1971)
• Brian Lavery, Maritime Scotland, B T Batsford Ltd., 2001, ISBN 0-7134-8520-5
• Michael E. Mallett, The Florentine Galleys in the Fifteenth Century, Oxford, 1967