Rowing for War: The Age of the Galley

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In the 14th and 15th centuries, one technical innovation changed European naval warfare drastically: equipping ships with heavy artillery. Contrary to popular belief, at first, not the ships of the line that would later rule the seas with imposing broadsides but rowing ships, especially galleys were the most important element of naval warfare. For almost two centuries, the galley with cannons on the bow gave ships and fortresses the shivers and conquered not only the Mediterranean, but also the North and Baltic Seas and the nearby Atlantic Ocean. In this video we investigate how the galley equipped with artillery dominated naval warfare in Europe.
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Bibliography:
DeVries, Kelly, The Effectiveness of Fifteenth-Century Shipboard Artillery’, Mariner’ Mirror 84 (1998), 389-99
Parker, Geoffrey, Ships of the Line, in: The Cambridge History of Warfare, Cambridge 2005.
Glete, J., Warfare at Sea, 1500-1650: Maritime Conflicts and the Transformation of Europe, London and New York 2000.
Guilmartin, J. F., Gunpowder and Galleys: Changing Technology and Mediterranean Warfare at Sea in the Sixteenth Century, 2nd edn., London 2003.
Guilmartin, J. F. Galleons and Galleys, London 2002.
Rodger, N. A. M., The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain, 660-1649, London 1997.
Sicking, Louis, Naval warfare in Europe, c. 1330-c. 1680, in: Tallet, Frank/Trim, D. J. B. (Ed.), European Warfare 1350-1750, Cambridge 2010, p. 242.
Reading list:
Warfare:
Duffy, C., Siege Warfare: The Fortress in the Early Modern World 1494-1660, Vol. 1, 1979. amzn.to/32dvvwM
Devries, K., Douglas, R., Medieval Military Technology, 1992, amzn.to/3IazYoC.
Rogers, C.J., The military revolution debate. Readings on the military transformation of early modern Europe, 1995. amzn.to/3geVDMM
Rogers, C.J., Soldiers' Lives through History - The Middle Ages, 2006. amzn.to/3j2kQvG
Parker, C., The Cambridge History of Warfare, 2005. amzn.to/32ggn1L
Van Nimwegen, O., The Dutch Army and the Military Revolutions, 1588-1688, 2010. amzn.to/2E3Fc95
Fiction related to the Early modern period:
Alexandre Dumas,The Three Musketeers amzn.to/2CJVAuu
Alexandre Dumas, 20 Years After amzn.to/32g82Lv
Alexandre Dumas, The Vicomte de Bragelonne amzn.to/2EnIOCB
Markus Heitz, The Dark Lands amzn.to/3ntZgEu
Military Si-Fi recommendations:
Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe (Series of 22 books on the Napoleonic Wars), amzn.to/3RZyty0
Dan Abnett, The Founding: A Gaunt's Ghosts Omnibus (Gaunt’s Ghosts) amzn.to/3vdGxkZ
Dan Abnett, The Lost: A Gaunt's Ghosts Omnibus (Gaunt’s Ghosts) amzn.to/3osvFvA
Dan Abnett, The Saint A Gaunt's Ghosts Omnibus (Gaunt’s Ghosts) amzn.to/3orikUk
Glen Cook, Chronicles of the Black Company (Chronicles of the Black Company Series Book 1) amzn.to/3PVgyGV
Historiography:
Neville Morley, Writing Ancient History 1999. amzn.to/3NCyoNl
Albeit focused on ancient history, it's a brilliant book for anybody who is interested in what history actually is. Is it a story? How does it work in practise? Can writing history be objective? Is it "scientific"? What makes it a proper discipline at university?

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Support our two man project and check out NordVPN: nordvpn.com/sandrhoman It's risk free with Nord's 30-day-money-back-guarantee

[@NobleKorhedron]

What's the outro music, please...?

[@shinti9758]

hello 👋 sir your fan from India 🇮🇳 Sir, plz make something about Indian History

[@bobitronix7093]

As a specialised researcher in sixteenth-century Spanish galleys (I study their construction in Barcelona), I can tell this is the best account of Early Modern galleys I have watched on KZbin. Congratulations on your excellent work and your quality content :D

[@Jesse_Dawg]

That's a pretty cool specialization!

[@sergialtimira8569]

There's no thing called "Spanish galley" in Barcelona, because Spain doesn't exist at that time. There was the Kingodm of Castille and the Crown of Aragon, but no such thing as "Spain". So Galleys are from aragon/catalan navy or castillian navy

[@bobitronix7093]

@@sergialtimira8569, I am afraid that you are giga-turbo mistaken. It has more to do with how you, from your presentism, interact with the past than with history. I can only help a bit from a historical point of view; the rest is on your own ;) Let’s see, the Spain thing. You are correct if you refer to the fact that during the early modern period, from a legal and political point of view, there was nothing like the recent/current state-nation called Spain. That is true for Spain and most of the other nations. But Spain existed very much. It existed from a cultural, historical and geographical point of view. The political organisation of Spain and, more precisely, of the “Composite Monarchy” ruled by the Habsburg dynasty was a conglomerate of multiple and diverse territories and lands acquired by inheritance and conquest. Sometimes the only thing these lands had in common was to possess the same ruler. Still, things like the same religion and geographical and cultural proximity helped strengthen the bond. The king ruled all those places simultaneously but separately since every territory had their very own laws, traditions, rituals, coinage, sizes-measures-weights system, customs and languages (but those same divisions and differences existed even inside every territory). The Habsburgs developed a system of viceroys and governors to rule these lands in the king’s name while the king was absent from the territory. The organisation and structure were complex but highly functional if you consider how extensive their possessions were and how long this political entity latest. Spain or Spanish Empire is a straightforward way to refer to this political amalgamation. However, “correct” is imprecise and, therefore, some historians (myself included) prefer to use terms like Spanish/Hispanic/Habsburg or Catholic Monarchy. People of the time referred to that as “Spain” or “the territories of the Catholic/Spanish King/Monarch”, even though none of the many official titles of the king included “King of Spain” (that would arrive in the nineteenth century). But yeah, Spain existed, and so did the Spanish galleys. Those galleys were built by order of the king (typically located in Madrid/El Escorial), financed mainly by Castilian and Ecclesiastical money, constructed in Barcelona (but in Naples, Genoa and Messina as well), made with Catalan timber and naval supplies from all the surrounding Mediterranean, by the hands of hundreds of international shipbuilders under Genoese foremen, applying to the ancient shipbuilding craftsmanship all the Renaissance innovations, commanded by mostly Castilian and Italian captains, propelled by criminals, slaves and volunteers from all corners and carrying soldiers, weapons, rations and money of a multi-diverse origin. Those are the “Spanish galleys” I study. I hope you find this reply somehow useful :)

[@j.d.5626]

@@bobitronix7093 beautiful (last) reply, thanks

[@lolasdm6959]

The Dutch galleys also were used in the South China sea. The Ming navy mentioned the Dutch using "centipede ships" during engagements, where they had much greater mobility to Chinese sail ships. The Ming navy would replicate similar designes afterwards.

[@lolasdm6959]

@@jakobinobles3263 China had river galleys that aren't exactly battleworthy at sea. Japanese and Korean galleys don't compare in mobility to European counterparts at sea as well. They were gaint boxes that rows. Not sure about SEA galleys.

[@kkupsky6321]

Don’t tell history with hilbert or dammit…. The old dutch anthem is playin…

[@justsomehaatonpassingby4488]

@@lolasdm6959 "That care and attention, which govern their boat-building, cause their ships to sail like birds, while ours are like lead in this regard." - Francisco Combés, Historia de las islas de Mindanao, Iolo y sus adyacentes (1667) Suffice to say, Southeast Asian galleys are still a pain for Europeans or at the very least Spain, especially since Southeast Asia has lots of shallow areas and islands to hide where these types of ship excel... Basically, natives in the region used an outrigger galley as warships and unlike the European Galleys, they have more range and speed but less firepower, for instance a Lanong (a type of warship used by the Iranun tribe in the Philippines) could reportedly sail from Philippines to the Straight of Malacca in order to conduct a slave raid... These pirate raids have only come to end in late 19th century when Spain conducted various naval expeditions to the Moro settlements and the acquisition of steamships by the Spanish Navy that allowed them to overtake and destroy these vessels

[@lolasdm6959]

@@justsomehaatonpassingby4488 Yeah it's not only European galleys

[@justsomehaatonpassingby4488]

@@lolasdm6959 if you think about it, it's quite funny that the Galley is the oldest class of ship to have ever been used and it took us steam engines to really put a nail on it's coffin

[@t.wcharles2171]

Galley warfare has always fascinated me so this is heaven sent

[@ImAMassiveBender]

I studied early modern history at university and this is by far the clearest, best resource on early modern naval warfare I've seen.

[@Oxtocoatl13]

Galleys actually held out in the Baltic Sea much longer than the Great Northern War: the Swedish Archipelago Fleet, that was only built in the 1750s, consisted mainly of galleys of different kinds. Eventually they incorporated some pretty ingenious ship designs, the so called "archipelago frigates" that allowed them to have the mobility of the rowing ships combined with the broadside of sailing ships. The galleys were able to score an impressive victory over the Russians at Svensksund as late as 1790, and they were used as late as 1814, when Sweden invaded Norway.

[@justsomehaatonpassingby4488]

If we classify the outrigger warships of Southeast Asia as part of the Galley class, then the class held out till almost the end of the 19th century, and funnily enough, the reason why the Southeast Asian vessels fell into irrelevance is because the Steam gunboats can finally overtake and destroy one... It would mean that it took steamships to really end the reign of Galleys lol

[@jothegreek]

Greece 1800s

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

Amazing how galleys were one of the longest lived warships, spanning the ancient times to the early modern period.

[@scelonferdi]

I guess that's down to their advantages under the right condition (read: not ocean) being pretty notable.

The galley fleets were very important during the late fifteenth century and throughout the sixteenth century and were where the first professional marine infantry specialized in amphibious warfare began to be used, an example of which was Spain, which made excellent use of the galleys and their "Tercio de Mar" in the conquests of various fortresses in North Africa and in the coastal patrol against the Ottoman pirates who devastated the Mediterranean coasts (there were regular marine troops stationed in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in Sicily and Naples). Skirmishes of small fleets of galleys in the Mediterranean Sea were also common and an example of Europeans who specialized in this were the Knights of the Order of Malta (a real headache for the Ottomans). This is what seems so great to me about these first modern centuries, because while on land the Macedonian phalanxes revived with the tactics of Pikes and Arquebusiers, at sea the Triremes returned with the use of galleys, something unique in history, the return and modernization of the old.

[@Thraim.]

It makes sense that they didn't just instantly came up with the ship of the line. When new technologies arise, you first fit them on what you already have. It's only later that new tactics are implemented.

[@anneonymous4884]

Most of history is processes, not events.

[@NobleKorhedron]

I think it was more that oars were incompatible with the design of galleons or ships of the line, otherwise they might still have kept the ability to row in an emergency. Actually, ships of the line could be rowed, or at least towed, by the various ship's boats that were kept on board.

[@jacklaurentius6130]

Just like the early medieval western European knight had Roman inspired equipment. The helmet and the sword used are both based on Roman designs.

[@mnk9073]

The Galley is perfect for front mounted guns when you think about it: Low and slender profile, very stable, easy to aim and manouver, fast, cheap and with little draught. The success of the ship of the line stems from it's high sea worthyness, which the Galley lacks.

[@kovi567]

@@jacklaurentius6130 If you mean the late roman ridged galea, then it was mainly worn by germanic states, and later the anglo-saxons, but it was kinda rare there too. What was used by early KNIGHTS such as the paladins of charlemagne, they just used nasal helmets, which in turn then dominated over to said germanic states, replacing said ridged galeas. About the sword: If you mean the spatha, then no, those were just one handed straight swords with a long blade. Those were all over the world, including europe, before the romans, and the roman-esque parts of the construction didn't survive the fall.

[@climax050]

This is fascinating because I’ve never understood why my EU4 galley’s have a buff in inland seas!

[@mariushunger8755]

Astonishing how a concept like the galley prevailed for more than a thousend years

[@ironsoul941]

They go back much further than that. All the way back to the bronze age.

[@oldmandoinghighkicksonlyin1368]

I’m fascinated by this era. I wish there were more movies about the age of sail.

[@alricsmith6115]

And there's also the Karakoa, a raiding war ship from the pre-colonial Philippines. A war galley with a second deck space for more people, and supported by floaters manned by two rows of, well, rowers (hehe) as the main source of the ship's movement on open waters, in addition to a single sail. And on the bow were one or two Lantakas, portable cannons, as forward assault weapons.

[@genghiskhan6809]

Basically a swole modern Filipino outrigger canoe with a sail and canons.

[@joeerickson516]

"Like a catamaran boat?" 🛥

[@alricsmith6115]

@@joeerickson516 you can search online, there's one recreated for tv series

[@5thMilitia]

4:08 is one of my favourite battle paintings. Vroom was such a great artist

[@ernstschmidt4725]

imagine unironically being named Cornelisz Vroom today . . . . . . . . but yeah, he was a great artist

[@felixtheswiss]

Unexpected places for Galleys. On Lake Geneva a fleet was operating for Berne. They brought a Genoese Shipwright to build them.

[@Skanderbeg911]

Please a video of the battle of Lepanto and the siege of castelnouvo and oran

[@GallowglassAxe]

Thank you so much for making this video! I've been looking for a long time on information on galley naval warfare. Most I find is bits and pieces or side notes from naval battle. Like I know the Irish pirate queen Grace O'Malley used galleys in the late 16th century but there was virtually nothing on how the galleys were used. So thank you again for this video!

[@NobleKorhedron]

Speaking as an Irishman, yes, she did; partially because we didn't have the same access to cannons the English did. However, there are theories that her ships were specially designed to cope with the harsh environment of the north Atlantic; perhaps their lower freeboard also allowed them to ride under the minimum elevation of English cannon if they got in close...?

[@GallowglassAxe]

@@NobleKorhedron I've heard those theories too but nothing concrete. Which is weird because the English recorded a lot of Irish battlefield tactics and armaments around this time on land. It seems they didn't do the same for their naval warfare. And of course much of the Irish records were destroyed.

[@NobleKorhedron]

Yeah, they were @@GallowglassAxe; whether deliberately by the English, through sieges, etc., very few Irish records of the period 1167 - 1922 have survived. Even much of the records from the period 1900 - 1922 are gone, mainly due to being destroyed in the period 1916 - 1923. Aside from any copies that might be preserved at the UK National Archives in Kew, much of the actual records of life during our independence period are now lost...

[@boris978]

10:18 Just wanted to note that it was King Charles I of Spain, Emperor Charles V of Holy Roman Empire.

[@kma3647]

I've got to appreciate the subtle but recognizable sea shanties and "pirate music" in the background! Fine work as always!

[@joeerickson516]

"Arrgh!" 🏴‍☠️ ☠️ 🦜

[@hatuletoh]

It's hard for modern people to wrap their heads around just how world-changing the adevnt of reliable sailing ships was to the European world. For thousands of years, humans on the seas were forced to hug the coast in rowed ships that had to make stops every few days for food and water, because most of the space on the ship was taken up by men and oars. One of the things that made the Vikings of the early medieval period so astonishing and terrifying was that they could cross opens stretches of the sea in a manner no one else (from Europe, anyway) had ever been able to reliably do, and to the people of the time, seemed to materialize where no ships ought to have been. But even they used, and were limited by, the same basic sea-going technology that Europeans had used for millennia. However, at the end of the 16th/beginning of the 17th century, in a relatively short amount of time, technological advancements allowed for ships to be built that had plenty of space for supplies for their smaller crews, were stable and reliable enough to leave the coast and cross open ocean, and could be pretty effectively operated and defended by a handful of well-trained men. The change in perspective--and ambition--that this allowed Europeans is hard to imagine today. There might be analogs in the invention of aircraft or spacecraft, but I don't think those comparisons really capture the enormity of the revolution that was the Age of Sail. After all, commercial flight just made it quicker and easier to get to places people had previously sailed to, and even today, very few people will ever travel into space. The only modern technological development I can think of that has affected such a fundamental societal change as sailing ships did is cell phone technology. It has completely changed the way we view and interact with the world, and in some ways, it has altered our very perception of time and space. I would image that having a way to get around the world and back in just a few years, with a reasonable chance of surviving the journey, must have also fundamentally changed Europeans' conceptualizations of space and time, and their relationship to the world.

[@superlegomaster55]

Thank you, this is what I needed for my worldbuilding.

[@mariushunger8755]

What world?

[@superlegomaster55]

@@mariushunger8755 don't have a name yet. Late 15th-century setting.

[@mariushunger8755]

@@superlegomaster55 sounds interesting! What will it be for?

[@superlegomaster55]

@@mariushunger8755 thank you. For a novel or maybe an animated tv show.

[@mariushunger8755]

@@superlegomaster55 nice! Have you already published sth?

[@RexAndAllen]

The epitome of development of the galley was the laterna which had heavier oars which required fewer freemen and more slave rowers given the wages of rowers dramatically increased in the 16th century. The Turks however had few laternas and more galliots often rowed by Coptic and Orthodox rowers which was a disadvantage by Lepanto. The Spanish also had the galleass which was towed often by galleys to prevent the flotilla or fleet from separating. Their foc'sle and aftcastle defenses protected the fleet from boarding actions. Despite the classic shooting by fore cannons then ramming then boarding, the Ottomans did develop a tactic against sailing ships such as galleons to fire with fore cannons at weak parts such as aft while the winds died down.

[@Scarlioni]

Not one mention of shipworm and it's affects on naval operations in the med. The reason galleys lasted so long in the med is they are flat bottomed and be hauled ashore to dry out every twelve hours. This makes galleys much cheaper to operate as your not replacing the hull every two years.

[@sarahsidney1988]

Its the highlight of my week whenever you upload

[@salvadordominguez5090]

At 11:42… Philip V was the first Borbon king of Spain… not Habsburg anymore

[@niccolocaramori7288]

If I’m not mistaken Venice already had some kind of proto line ship, which was just a galea but much bigger and taller, called galeazza and they were used in the battle of Lepanto as well

[@Punaeased]

This channel is legendary!!

[@user-cd4bx6uq1y]

Something everybody heard about but not really much. Perfect topic

[@davec.8406]

Another fascinating video on the evolution of Naval power and warfare. Thank you

[@skagenrora1236]

Look up the battle of svensksund 1789 which was one of the battles in Gustav IIIs russian war. The intresseting part with this war was the number of canon slopes and galleys on each side which made up the bulk of the fleet on both the swedish and russian side.

[@Oxtocoatl13]

There's too battles there, actually. The first one was in 1789, the famous in 1790.

[@dragaoastro69]

During the xvi century, galleys were essentialy used in the mediterranean and were already being surpassed by sailing ships. Portugal for instance, used galleys on the indian ocean, called fustas, but the heart of the fleats were the big naus or the galleons.

[@SomeOne-ti2cz]

SandRhoman the best

[@Mark_Jonas]

Thank you so much, I’ve been needing this.

[@ExperiencePlayers]

Your videos are always so well made, fascinating!

[@gabrielvanhauten4169]

appreciate the depth of the videos! keep on doing what you re doing!

[@otavio8566]

The maritime museums of Barcelona and Genova have real sized replicas of galleys, they are amazing to look at

[@mariushunger8755]

There's actually a functional galley on lake geneva which can be rented for events and so on

[@VCC1316]

Great one SandRhoman! This is a really under-discussed topic in warfare!!!

[@oriffel]

awesome stuff. I love the eras and transitional technology you focus on. Always something new to learn when coming here.

[@alessandromazzini7026]

God i loved this! I became so involved in ancient naval warfare and now my favourite history Channel did a video about it

[@mariushunger8755]

It's actually not about ancient naval warfare...

[@sebastienhardinger4149]

A lesser known battle in North America is the siege of Fort Mifflin, outside of Philadelphia. Pennsylvania equipped its own navy consisting of galleys with a heavy cannon at the bow and combined with forts and obstacles placed in the Delaware river, denied the river to the British for weeks, nearly dooming the British campaign to capture Philadelphia and costing the British several major ships

[@odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347]

Whey hey and up ye rises! SandRhoman’s video’s comin’! Whey hey and we rises early in the mornin’!

[@The_dude_channel]

this is the best channel on youtube at the moment

[@bigsarge2085]

Always informative AND entertaining!

[@clintmoor422]

this is the channel that i expected to do such a video at some point! great video! thanks so much. i didn't know the details of all of that!

[@ab299019]

Great video, and probably the best and most nuanced introduction possible to the advent of gunnery. For the sailing ship part which might follow, some sources might include : 1) gunnery on sailing ships : Rodger_The-development-of-broadside-gunnery-1450-1650_1996 ; Lopez Martin_El_artillado_de_las_naves_el diseño de las piezas, su ubicación en los barcos y los centros de produccion_2015 ; Cossart_Les_artilleurs_et_la_Monarchie_hispanique-1560-1610-Guerre, savoirs techniques, État_2021_p88 ss ; 2) Ship Design/ "Galleons" - esp. Spanish : several books and articles by Casado Soto ; Hormaechea, Rivera, Derqui-Los_barcos_oceanicos_del_Atlantico_ibérico en los siglos XVI y XVII ; Casaban_The Twelve Apostles_Design, Construction and Function of late 16th century galleons_2017 ;Gómez Beltrán, La Invencible y su leyenda negra : del fracaso inglés en la derrota de la armada española, 2013, Fonseca, Santos ,Castro_Reconstrucao_e_Analise_das_Caracteristicas Nau Nossa Senhora dos Mártires_2008 (Portuguese Nao)

[@dogwithnobones906]

It was just last video I saw some people suggest this as a topic. Thank you for delivering! I can't wait to absorb this knowledge.

[@unclejimmy5778]

Always excited to see another of your videos!

[@Fowly-Fr]

Fascinating subject, can't wait for the next part!

[@thcdreams654]

Awesome content as usual. Thanks for the entertainment and information. Certainly a subject that isn't covered as a much.

[@YoreHistory]

REALLY well done. Fantastic video!

[@MaHuD_]

Cheers for the video! I didn't yet know about the cannon galleys and their evolution

[@kamikazetsunami9137]

Yes! Tgis is perfect for my ongoing naval binge

[@user-vs7un7uu2w]

Good topic. Very important for history

[@CoHigh]

I love history!!! You are a legend .

[@samuele7098]

Very interesting! Thanks for the amazing content

[@OhioDan]

Excellent video.

[@marccan3267]

Ship mounted ballista and stone throwers were also used in the battle of Zadar on July 01 1346. Venetians under Pietro Canale used 30 galleys with throwing devices to bomb the Hungarian and Croatian troops from behind, inflicting heavy casualties, and then landed marines for counterattack.

[@penguasakucing8136]

I understand that suitable illustrations are one of the things that are rather difficult to get, but several things need to be clarified. 1. 4:33 It shows the Rower configuration of the Ancient Triremes. The Galleys of the Late Medieval and Early Modern eras were no longer configured like Classical Antiquities' Triremes. Both may have three rowers per row of the bench; but in Ancient ones, the three oarsmen are positioned vertically in a staggered three-level configuration (the Thranitai, Zygitai, and Thalamitai), whereas in Medieval galleys all three oarsmen of a row sit on one deck level, on a diagonally positioned bench. This kind of arrangement is called "Alla Sensile", enabling all of the oarsmen to row in the main deck, unlike the Thalamitai of old which needed to row in the stuffy, wet, and dark lower decks. See 3:41 2. Related to the previous point: The top view of the galleys in this video suggests that all of the rowing benches are straight perpendicular to the central gangway when those should be diagonal. 3. Again, the top view of the galleys in this video suggests that the hulls are as broad as the rowing decks, whereas galley hulls are supposed to be narrow. Late Medieval Galleys, at least from the end of the 13th century, had "posticci" outriggers where the tholes of the oars are mounted. Even Galleys of the Antiquity had the "parexeiresia" for the oars of the Thranitai to be placed. The posticci made the galleys if looked from up top look as if they have a box mounted on the midship, somewhat like this:

[@stevenlowe3026]

I agree with all these points you've made. This video is far from perfect.

[@Ghastly_Grinner]

I really liked this! I hope you can expand on Galley combat en the age of gunpowder in future videos

[@sirbig8292]

Thile I really enjoy this video, I can't wait for you to get to the later part of this era, to complement Gold & Gunpowder's videos.

[@joeshmoe8345]

Real cool thanks G

[@oldpopcorn12162]

awesome video, love videos about boats!

[@marniusvanderlubbe]

I love this channel

[@lerneanlion]

I always though that using galleys in the 16th century makes no sense. But after watching this video, I changed my mind.

Nice Video

[@ropeburnsrussell]

This channel is making me smarter.

[@craigkdillon]

I did not realize that galleys were used so late into the age of sail.

[@joeshmoe8345]

Awesome thanks

[@michaelprobert4014]

Great !! ( as always ) ..did the galley change to the xebec in later years and of course there was the galleass which I saw in a painting claiming to be from 1700

[@SilverSquirrel]

Waterskiing speed!

[@Jomsviking1245]

Nice video

[@knutzzl]

Note, rowers sit the other way around. Facing the aft

[@rutufn0596]

Also galleys looses a lot of efficiency and accuracy when the sea turn from calm to storm. The battles of galleys in the paintings seems to occur mostly under good weather (just an hypothesis).

[@oldmandoinghighkicksonlyin1368]

I wonder how they used to predict weather aboard ships back then. Or if the carried a shaman on board to do wind dances.

[@stevenlowe3026]

Very true. Galleys were horribly unstable and subject to the weather. There are any number of accounts of entire fleets of galleys sunk in sudden Mediterranean storms. And galleys were very unsuitable for the open (Atlantic) ocean. One of the problems was freeboard - the distance above the water - oars work most efficiently when they are as close to horizontal as possible, so the pivot at the gunwale had to be as low as possible. So if a galley tipped too much (apparently more than about 10 degrees) it was in grave danger of being swamped or even capsizing.

[@mariushunger8755]

That's also true for sailing ships.

[@stevenlowe3026]

@@mariushunger8755 Galleys were far more unstable and fragile than "round" (sailing) ships, which could heel over with the wind a long way, and were much more strongly built.

[@stylesrj]

Most of my knowledge of naval progression comes from Civilization. The Trireme upgraded to the Caravel, then the Frigate then the Destroyer... :D And Age Of Empires 2 seems to just ignore rowing ships entirely so I always thought they were phased out quickly in favour of sails since even in the Feudal Age, none of the Galleys had oars throughout the whole line. Only the Turtle Ship had oars... Didn't know they were actually pretty significant for centuries. Then it makes sense that if who you're conquering is not too far away, why not have short-range rowing ships...

[@X.Y.Z.07]

How about Joseon era Panoekson. It uses oars and sails. And its combat strategy mainly revolves around its broad side cannons, supported by archers on the deck...

[@philjohnson1744]

Great vid. Still the best art in the biz

[@michimatsch5862]

I understand that Galleys made up the bulk of the fleets, but what about Galleons? Surely, they also saw enough action to justify talking about what armament they used and how many of them were present in battles? I don't know anything about this field but that they are just briefly mentioned surprised me.

[@Kaiyanwang82]

It always blows your mind that most naval battles in history have been fought with galleys and that the longest serving heavy knight is not the one everybody thinks about but the cataphract.

[@Genexperiment100]

Great Video as always. But I have one question: In the video you show the rowers always on the rear of the oar, meaning to go forward they are pushing not pulling the oar. Is this a mistake in your (otherwise great) animation or was this common practice?

[@andreascovano7742]

The Galeass by Venice I think was the last great innovation of the Galey. A literal Floating fortress, it was crucial in the victory against the turks at Lepanto

[@stevenlowe3026]

Actually, the galleasses had very little effect at Lepanto after the initial salvo, as they were unable to keep up with the galleys. And even then, most of the action involved boarding and slaughtering the opposing crew rather than sinking the opponent with gunfire. Hugh Bicheno's book "Crescent and Cross" has an extremely good analysis of the battle and its consequences.

[@andreascovano7742]

@@stevenlowe3026 Perhaps effect wise sure, but morale wise it was crucial. Both for the Christians and the Turks, the galeass was larger than life

[@qinjian206]

During the Pre-colonial era and the spanish colonizations of the philippines from 16th-19th centuries galley like ships were being used by the warriors of Luzon,Visayas like the Karakoas the Balangays and Joanggas in Mindanao especially the sultanates of Sulu and Maguindanao because we have a sea faring cultures like going to war with one another and the Europeans and American sources mistook it as a form of piracy when in fact it is part of our traditions in the Past.Really it gives difficulties among Portuguese,Spanish,British and Dutch sail ships early on it was too fast for them to give chase and can easily go to shallow waters without problem not to mention its maneuverability in combat even through the advent of steam age in the 1830s and in 1860s it was the last time we used rowing ships particularly the garay warship of the Sama Balanguingui tribe in Sulu it was the last and the fastest among Moro warships led by our Panglima taupan againsts European steamers till his surrender.

[@mistersir3020]

Well-researched, interstin gfacts

[@RexAndAllen]

I want to bring up the transition from the ram to spur came with the dromon biremis. I suspect heavier woods were used because the Greeks used fir which could not sink unless waterlogged (which required beaching every day or couple of days) whereas it's probable that the Persians and Tyrians used cedar which is rot resistant but heavier.

[@SevenStarsandSevenStones]

True that it seems like the transition from ram to spur comes from the Byzantine period! However, I'm curious about your reasoning as to why. It is more likely that the change came from the new styles of construction, and the transition away from shell-first mortise and tenon construction to a frame- first construction. The frame- first design wasn't as vulnerable to ramming, so the use of the ram wasn't as effective a design for ships. Also, do you have evidence for the pulling out every few days to dry the ship's timbers? I'm not familiar with that being necessary for the Olympias, the replica reconstruction. In fact, one of my professors said that the ship wasn't actually watertight until the softwood hull pieces expanded from being in the water for a day or so.

[@RexAndAllen]

@alexmack1106 it was noted for the Peloponnesian Wars. But I'm not sure Thucydites or Aristophanes in his comedies. This came from an episode Mark from Ancient Warfare Podcast.

[@RexAndAllen]

@alexmack1106 I'm wondering why is it the Gallic Veneti warship unable to be rammed? Is it clinker built?

[@SevenStarsandSevenStones]

Aha! Primary sources strike again. Thanks for letting me know! It probably would be the case for the Gallic Veneti ship. Shipwrights in the North Sea tended to use clinker construction, which was much more flexible than the thick mortise and tenon. Rams would likely bounce off the hull, and they may have also had a shallow enough draft for the ram to skim along the bottom instead of making a solid connection.

[@RexAndAllen]

@alexmack1106 I built a horribly clinker barge which later had to be scrapped with overlapping cedar planks. It was surprisingly durable

[@Marinealver]

Put these in Man O War. That game needs to come back for Warhammer.

[@brokenbridge6316]

Great video. One would think that galleys went out of favor after ancient times ended. But no it didn't.

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

A wonderful introducing 😍 👍🏻👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻 it seems to me Guns ( Artillery) designed designed for Gally ships 🚢 considerably higher upgrades in naval forces firepower while designing of Sailor's ships encourages empires to concord more colonials in 3rd world territories

[@fanyechao2761]

Hi, may you tell me what music you used in the end of the video?

[@bskorupk]

Similar to the Galleys, rowed warships played a big part in The Gunboat War (part of the Napoleonic Wars) p.s. what was the outro accordion song? :)

[@genghiskhan6809]

If the galley hadn’t been broke for millennia, makes perfect sense for them to have been the first ships someone thought to attach canons to.

[@pedluc2010]

hey, when you show the iberian union (like 11:55) you could add the portuguese colonies too, especially brazil. It adds up to show the huge (claimed) territory the (combined of two) empire(s) had

[@megalonoobiacinc4863]

and thus began the age of shanties!

[@joeerickson516]

"Arrgh!" 🏴‍☠️ ☠️ 🦜

[@Emdiggydog]

Why did the Galley persist as a prolific naval weapon in Baltic for so much longer?

[@SonsOfLorgar]

Because the sea is calmer with very few large currents and has vast archipelagos with thousands of small islands along with sand banks, under water rocks and reefs, the underwater obstacles restricting the strategic and tactical manouverability of large deep going ships of the line and the often forested island breaks up and redirects the wind in a way that reduces the efficiency of large sails.

[@joeerickson516]

"Arrgh!" 🏴‍☠️ ☠️ 🦜

[@Tricko1899]

What's the name of the music at the ending?

[@scelonferdi]

I think one important distinction between medieval/early modern galley vs ancient polyremes is the type of ram. Yes war galleys had rams, but they where fundamentally diffferent. Afaik those were situated at deck height and served as boarding ramps as well as damaging the opponents ship.

[@amtmannb.4627]

We really much like your content. Will this series about the ships on German too? I ask because my son (tomorrow 8 years old) is very much interested in the topic but don't speak English. Thank you!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

probably in about a year we will publish it on the German channel!

[@IloveTallShips]

Do you know anything about the Xebec ship

[@Frunze91]

Why do you have "russian tsardom" on 11:38? It was called Muscovy back then.

[@papazataklaattiranimam]

Make video about Battle of Preveza pls🌝

[@bulbakip6380]

Yessssss. Everything Age of Sail!