Some time ago I wrote a post about building Mediterranean Galleass ship models for wargaming. This is an extension on that post, examining the concepts and existing material evidence for the Neapolitan galleasses that took part in the Armada campaign.
The reason behind this is that right now I'm completing the Zvezda 1/350 San Martín, and I already have a completed Revenge and an assembled Golden Hind from that same line. So it comes naturally that I could fight a sea battle if I had another Spanish ship, why not make something extraordinary?
So, how would a Spanish galleass look like... Nobody makes models of such ships, at least not in the scale that I want. The closest is the Revell 1/450 scale "Spanish Galleon", which, of course, is not a galleon because it has oars. It is clearly a representation of the "Armada Galleass" of the contemporary anonymous painting:
Now what we have to do is determine how accurate the painting is. Many Renaissance and Baroque paintings were rather symbolic, but there are a few things which can point us to the direction of whether the painter knew what he was doing or not.
The perspective on the Armada Galleass is rather flat, while the rest of the galleons drawn in perspective are quite curved at the right places. So it seems that the galleass has a square forecastle, and the Revell model does the same.
From the way other ships are represented, I think we can safely judge that the painter had personally seen galleons and other suchlike ships, but not a galleass.
How would a contemporary sailor describe a galleass to a layman? Imagine something like this, "well, you know galleys? Like that, but bigger and with many more guns."
Hence the image with the square forecastle.
The next thing we know is this: the galleasses with the Armada were Italian made, so it is quite possible there is no difference between the Mediterranean (originally Venetian) made ones and the Spanish/Neapolitan ships. Another point to discredit the square fo'c'sle.
Next up, consider the 1601 Kornelisz Alexander Vroom painting. There is obviously little emphasis on the oared ships and there is only one in the background. But, and that's a big but, the Dutch school put a lot more emphasis on realism (including, for example, painting the crews in realistic proportions on ships and not over-exaggerating them), thus I find it more possible that a Dutch naval painter knew better. And that ship obviously has a rotunda-like forecastle.
Now, of course, it's thirteen years after the fact, but bear in mind that galleasses in many forms were continued to be used by the Spanish Empire for a long while, including their wars waged in the Low Countries.
After jumping forward in time a little bit, let's jump back and consider, again, the Vasari painting of Lepanto. This is the closest in time and relation to that event, and shows the Venetian galleasses in the League's van with great detail. I think this is the most reliable of representations, with the occasional shortcut here and there.
There are other details on the painting which confirm Vasari knew his stuff, for example the reinforced sides of the Christian galleys and the exact number of galleasses in the line.
Based on this, the main features of the galleass are:
- A high stern and round forecastle
- Pierced for guns on the sides and the forecastle
- Rowers sit below the main deck, the main deck is used for artillery and troop movement purposes only.
- Three masts, usually lateen rigged
Let us now consider the function of the galleass, especially based on their deployment at Lepanto. All the while one must remember that there are no extant plans or wrecks intact enough to prove anything!
(1) The galleass was meant to be used as a mobile fortification. It could not match the agility of smaller galleys. However, Christian sailors knew that the Turk had difficulty boarding ships with high sides, so they created a siege-like environment to their advantage.
(2) I am still of the firm belief that, in conjunction with the above, the parallel development of turreted gun emplacements on land fortifications was an inspiration in constructing galleasses (consider for example the great towers of the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, which withstood a bombardment in 1509 IIRC).
(3) However, the round forecastle, again for reasons concerning available space and weight distribution, was not meant for great guns. The rolling back and handling of guns in a circular layout would have impeded such instruments. Instead, it should have been used to a) provide a larger degree of fire relative to the ship's movement, b) provide a tall platform against attackers from where musketeers and swivel guns could sweep the length of open decked enemy galleys.
(4) Galleasses were therefore excellent at fighting enemy galleys from a defensive stance. This is what they were meant for. They could not chase them down or protect merchantmen from them. Thus, they were a temporary measure until shipbuilding, and the ability to sail closer to the wind without the aid of oars, advanced well enough to supplant them.
All things considered, I'm sticking with the Vasari version. Now on to the actual build...
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