Galleon, << GAL ee uhn, >> was at first an Italian armed merchant ship. In 1570, the English sea captain John Hawkins developed the galleon into a fighting ship. It was easily maneuvered and swift, compared with other ships of its day. It was the largest ship in the English navy. The early fighting galleon had a heavy foremast (front mast). The mainmast (mast placed next behind the foremast) was also heavy. Both foremast and mainmast carried deep, square sails. Galleons also had one or two small masts toward the rear of the ship. These masts held three-cornered sails, called lateen sails. The ship’s bulwarks (sides) were usually about 3 to 4 feet (0.9 to 1.2 meters) thick. A long, raised deck, called the quarterdeck, ran from the mainmast toward the ship’s rear, where a higher deck, called the poop, was located. The forecastle (raised deck in front of the foremast) was square and low.
The sides of English galleons from the early 1500’s were usually pierced for a dozen large guns. A few smaller guns were mounted above the main deck. The Spanish galleon, which appeared about 1550, had a higher and longer poop than the English galleon, and was less manageable. The Spaniards tried the ship for carrying treasure from the Americas in the latter 1500’s. But it could not defend itself against pirate ships because it was too hard to maneuver. Nevertheless, by about 1600, the galleon had become the main type of trading vessel in Europe.
