16th Century Naval Warfare

- PowerPoint Presentation: Peter Castoldi- HR: 501, Galante- Red Group

Introduction to 16th Century Naval Warfare

• Naval warfare in the in the 16th Century was more advanced of that of ships before its time, and, these ships of the 16th century are still looked upon today by onlookers and studied by Historians

• Ships called Carracks; Galleons; and Galleys were from this time period

• These ships were valiant and possessed great importance to protecting the waters around the regions that they controlled

15th Century AD: The Spanish Carracks

• Being the largest European sailing ship in the 15th Century AD, the Spanish Carrack was a much better ship than its predecessor, the Caravel which was a lighter, stubbier ship that was mostly used for exploration purposes

• The Carrack became the standard vessel for Atlantic-Trade and adventure in the mid-16th Century

• They were roomy enough to carry provisions for long voyages and were heavy enough to be stable in heavy seas

• These ships, originally, had high castles in the Bow and the Stern of the ship (“castles” were raised edges at the Bow and the Stern of the Ship)

• In the year 1570, a man named John Hawkins; who was an English Slave Trader, deduced that this design really bogged down the sailing of the ship and the design made it very difficult to sail close to the wind

• To remedy this problem, Hawkins re-designed these ships and gave them more maneuverability and made them faster by eliminating the forecastle of the ship (the “forecastle” was the castle at the Bow of the ship)

• This modification was what dramatically improved the quality of the English fleet before the encounter with the Spanish Armada in 1588, when the agility of the English fleet was what led to their victory

16th Century AD – Spanish Galleons • A Galleon was a large multi-

deck sailing ship that was in use by the nations of Europe from the 16th Century to the 18th Century AD

• These ships could be used for a variety of things: Including Warfare and/or Commerce

• Galleons were an evolved form of the Spanish Carrack and had great stability in the water, due to their low forecastle and elongated hull. This also made the Galleons wind-resistant in the front

• Carracks tended to be lightly armed and used for transporting cargo, while galleons were purpose-built warships, and were stronger, more heavily armed, and also cheaper to build (5 galleons could cost around the same as 3 carracks)

• Therefore making them a much better investment for use as warships

16th Century AD – The Galleys • A Galley can be classified as an

“ancient ship” due to its origin and due to when it was used and who it was used by

• Galleys are powered entirely by oarsmen and were used for warfare and trading purposes

• Even though these mainly were powered by oarsmen, they still were equipped with sails for when the winds were favorable enough to sail in

• These ships fought in the wars of ancient Persia; Greece; Carthage; and Rome until the 4th century

• One battle where Galleys were the principle ship was the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, one of the largest naval battles

• They continued to be mainstream until the introduction of Broadside sailing ships in the 17th Century

• They continued to play minor roles until the invention of steam propulsion

Naval Warfare Tactics

Information about Naval Warfare Tactics and how they were used in battles in the 16th Century AD

Weapons in the Age of Galleys

• Throughout the 16th Century, the weapons relied on were:• (1) The ship itself – To be used as a Ram• (2) The swords of the crew• (3) Missile Weapons (such as Crossbows, Bows,

Arrows, Weights, Etc…)

Early Naval Tactics

• All actions were performed at close quarters, for the fact that ramming other ships and boarding them were possible. However, the uses of ramming was only available to the vessels that were driven by oarsmen. A sailing vessel could not ram unless they caught good winds before doing so

• Therefore, while fleets depended on the methods of battle at close quarters, two conditions were imposed (enforced) on the warship:• It must be small and light, so that the crew could row with

effect, and;• It must carry numerous crew members to work the oars

• These conditions applied in many battles, including the Battle of Lepanto AD 1571

Line Abreast Formation

• Seeing, from pervious explanations, that the fighting was at close quarters with ramming, swords, and etc…this formation was inevitably the line abreast

• The ships would go side-by-side and the object was the ships to ram each other

• The oars on the vessels would prevent the ships from directly touching each other

• To the right is an example of the Line Abreast Formation

The Tactic of Ramming

• Ramming or Boarding a ship would extensively depend upon the skills of the rowers

• The (highly-trained) rowing crews of the early Peloponnesian War relied mainly on the ram

• Success in ramming depended heavily upon a combination of both skill and good fortune that it played a subordinate (meaning lesser important) part in most naval battles

The Introduction to Firearms

• After the introduction of artillery in the 14th century, guns were carried in the bows of the galley

• There was always a risk that the guns would be fired to soon

• These guns at the time could not be reloaded quickly

• An Officer-Like course was to keep the fire for the last moment and use it to clear the way for the boarders

Feature Film on the Naval Battle…