The first roll lists the carracks and one pinnace, beginning with the largest ship Henry Grace à Dieu. The second roll lists galleasses, a hybrid of oar-powered and sailing vessels, and one galley. Finally, the third roll is reserved for pinnaces and "rowbarges", both basically smaller versions of galleasses.
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Converted for military use, galleasses were higher, larger and slower than regular ("light") galleys. They had up to 32 oars, each worked by up to five men. They usually had three masts, a forecastle and an aftcastle. Much effort was made in Venice to make these galleasses as fast as possible to compete with regular galleys.
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Marcello reached the island of Imbros, outside the Dardanelles Strait, on 23 May 1656 with 13 sailing ships, 6 galleasses and 24 galleys as well as some more vessels under Pietro Bembo. On 11 June, 7 Maltese galleys under Gregorio Carafa arrived, making a total of 29 sailing ships, 7 galleasses and 31 galleys.Setton (1991), p. 182Anderson (1956), p.
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The previous Kapudan Pasha (Grand Admiral), Kara Murat, had been promoted to Grand Vizier and his replacement, Kara Mustapha, had 36 sailing ships, 8 galleasses and 60 galleys, as well as perhaps several galleys from outside the Dardanelles. Once again, the Ottomans were arranged in 3 lines abreast: Sailing ships, then galleasses, then galleys. The Venetians had 26 sailing ships, 4 galleasses and 6 galleys. As the Ottomans advanced, one galleass was sunk and one galley burnt and the rowing vessels retreated, after which the Venetians attacked the Ottoman sailing ships, resulting in 9 being burnt and 2 wrecked.
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During the course of the battle, the Venetian Captain General Marcello was killed by a direct cannon hit, but his death kept a secret from all but his second, the provedditore of the fleet Barbaro Badoer. Some small- scale fighting happened the next day, and at the end of it, the Ottoman fleet had lost 4 large sailing ships, 2 pinks, 5 galleasses and 13 galleys captured, and 22 sailing ships, 4 galleasses and 34 galleys sunk or burnt. Only 2 Ottoman sailing ships and 14 galleys escaped. Of the captured ships, Malta received 2 galleasses, 8 galleys and 1 "super galley" (or galleass?).
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His fleet was formed into 3 lines: sailing ships first, then galleasses, then galleys. The next day Delfino attacked. His plan was for his ships to remain at anchor until the Turks passed and then to attack the rear. However most Venetian ships sailed too soon, leaving Delfinos ship, San Giorgio grande, that of his second, Daniele Morosini, Aquila d'Oro, along with Orsola Bonaventura (Sebastiano Molino), Margarita, 2 galleasses and 2 galleys without support.
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The Turks were to the north, steering between Paros and Naxos. On 10 July, two galleasses, under Tomaso and Lazaro Mocenigo, broke formation and attacked some Turkish galleys which were still watering at Paros. They ended up fighting the Kapudan Pasha himself, with six galleasses and some galleys, and Tomaso was killed. Francesco Morosini arrived with the Venetian galleys, and later the Venetian Right and Center joined and the Turkish galleys fled, leaving their sailing ships unsupported.
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The gun deck usually ran over the rowers' heads, but there are also pictures showing the opposite arrangement. Galleasses usually carried more sails than true galleys and were far deadlier; a galley caught broadside lay all but helpless, since coming broadside to a galleass, as with a ship of the line, exposed an attacker to her gunfire. Relatively few galleasses were built--one disadvantage was that, being more reliant on sails, their position at the front of the galley line at the start of a battle could not be guaranteed.
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In the 15th century, a type of light galleass, called the frigate, was built in southern European countries to answer the increasing challenge posed by the North African-based Barbary pirates in their fast galleys. In the Mediterranean, with its less dangerous weather and fickle winds, both galleasses and galleys continued to be in use, particularly in Venice and the Ottoman Empire, long after they became obsolete elsewhere. Later, "round ships" and galleasses were replaced by galleons and ships of the line which originated in Atlantic Europe. The first Venetian ship of the line was built in 1660.
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When the Ottomans saw that the Venetian fleet advancing, ten galleasses were placed in front of the harbour entrance to cover the other ships. The Venetians easily broke through the galleasses, and intense combat began and lasted for four hours, with the Venetian (and hired) warships engaging the Ottoman fleet, easily overwhelming them with superior firepower. The Ottomans put up a spirited defence, but could not stop the Venetians from destroying a significant portion of the fleet. Despite the overwhelming victory, it was not a complete one, and Ottoman naval forces were able to sail to Crete to bring reinforcements, with Crete falling to the Ottomans two decades later.
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Leading the action from his flagship, the Rotta Fortuna, da Riva led his into the harbour. The larger and taller Venetian warships easily smashed aside the galleasses, and the minuscule amount of cannon that a single galleass could carry was no match for the dozens of cannons carried by the Venetian warships. Three galleasses were destroyed, with the rest being damaged and scattered, leaving the path into the harbour clear. The warships, one by one, sailed into the harbour and began engaging the Ottoman warships, aiming to use their overwhelming power to capture the warships and sink the galleys, which carried only a few cannons.
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159 On 23 June the Ottomans, under Kenan or Chinam Pasha, a Russian convert, appeared in the Strait with 28 sailing ships, 9 galleasses and 61 galleys. On 24 June Turkish land batteries on either side of the Straits tried to drive the Venetians off but failed.
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Among the Christian allies, animosities became open while the Turks tightened their siege of Famagusta. The Venetians repaired their galley fleet and readied six heavily armed galleasses. The Pope hired twelve galleys from the Grand Duke of Tuscany. The dukes of Savoy and Parma also provided galleys, and Alexander Farnese sailed in one.
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This battle, which took place on 16 May 1654, was the first of a series of tough battles just inside the mouth of the Dardanelles Strait, as Venice and sometimes the other Christian forces attempted to hold the Turks back from their invasion of Crete by attacking them early. Venetian commander Giuseppe Delfino reached the mouth of the Dardanelles on 19 April after a voyage in which he lost 3 ships. His fleet of 16 sailing ships, 2 galleasses and 8 galleys was not large enough or adequately prepared. Murad, the Kapudan Pasha (admiral) left Istanbul with 30 sailing ships, 6 galleasses (known in Turkey as mahons), and 40 galleys on 10 May and reached the Narrows, just above the mouth of the Dardanelles, on 15 May.
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The bireme was twice the triaconter's length and height, and thus employed 120 rowers. Biremes were galleys, galleasses, dromons, and small pleasure crafts pamphyles. The next development, the trireme, keeping the length of the bireme, added a tier to the height, the rowers being thus increased to 180. It also had a large square sail.
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A galleass of the Spanish Armada Engraving of a galleass from Plan de Plusieurs Batiments de Mer avec leurs Proportions (c. 1690) by Henri Sbonski de Passebon. Engraving by Claude Randon. Galleasses were military ships developed from large merchant galleys, and intended to combine galley speed with the sea-worthiness and artillery of a galleon.
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Duke was assigned to operate with Nicholas Haddock's fleet in the Mediterranean. In March 1740 she came under Commander William Russell, serving with Chaloner Ogle's squadron. Her last commander, from 1742, was Commander Smith Callis. Duke was expended at St Tropez on 14 June 1742 in an operation that saw the successful destruction of five Spanish galleasses.
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The full body of the fleet took two days to leave port. It included 28 purpose-built warships, of which 20 were galleons, four were galleys and four were (Neapolitan) galleasses. The remaining heavy vessels were mostly armed carracks and hulks, along with 34 light ships.Garrett Mattingly, The Invincible Armada and Elizabethan England (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1963), pp. 12–13.
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Defeat of the Spanish Armada.Hugo of Montcada i Gralla was the commander of the Galleasses of the Spanish Armada. He was the second son of Francesc I de Montcada, first Marquess of Aitona and Count of Osona, and his wife, Lucrècia Gralla.Fundación medinaceli Belonging to the noble family of Montcada, his brother Gastó of Montcada i Gralla (first-born of 17 children) inherited the immense family fortune.
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In December 1584, he was restored in blood as Lord Thomas Howard. Lord Thomas commanded the Golden Lion in the attack on the Spanish Armada. On 25 July 1588, the Golden Lion was one of the three ships that counter-attacked the Spanish galleasses protecting the Saint Anne. He was knighted the next day aboard Ark Royal by his kinsman, Admiral Lord Howard of Effingham.
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It gave a nearly complete account of the English navy, which contained roughly 50 ships, including carracks, galleys, galleasses and pinnaces. The carracks included famous vessels such as the Mary Rose, the Peter Pomegranate and the Henry Grace à Dieu. In 1544 Boulogne was captured. The French navy raided the Isle of Wight and was then fought off in the Battle of the Solent in 1545, before which Mary Rose sank.
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With the growing importance of colonies and exploration and the need to maintain trade routes across stormy oceans, galleys and galleasses (a larger, higher type of galley with side-mounted guns, but lower than a galleon) were used less and less, and only in ever more restricted purposes and areas, so that by about 1750, with a few notable exceptions, they were of little use in naval battles.
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A Maltese galley. Although being gradually replaced by sailing ships, galleys formed still a large part of the Mediterranean navies during the 17th century. Venice could not directly confront the large Ottoman expeditionary force on Crete, but it did possess a fine navy, that could intervene and cut the Ottoman supply routes.Turnbull, p. 85 In 1645, the Venetians and their allies possessed a fleet of 60–70 galleys, 4 galleasses and about 36 galleons.
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Portrait of Don Juan by Jooris van der Straeten John found the Turkish fleet at Lepanto in the Gulf of Corinth. After some debate, the Turks chose to fight, even though they had been at sea all summer and disbanded some of their people. They had the larger fleet, nearly 300 to John's 207 galleys and six galleasses. On 7 October 1571, the Turkish fleet emerged into the Gulf of Patras and took battle formation.
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The cannonade of the galleasses disrupted the Turkish formations as they pressed to the attack, and the bigger and more numerous guns of the Christian allies did devastating damage as the Turkish right and center closed to board. In the seesaw fighting on decks, the allies prevailed. Among their wounded was the 24-year-old Miguel de Cervantes, future writer of Don Quixote. Cervantes later wrote a description of the courage of the Christian combatants.
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It is more consistent in type with Mediterranean-type galleys than the galleasses and small rowbarges, and features a considerable amount of detail not present in the other ships. It is the only ship where any crew is visible, in this case rowers behind pavisades as protection from enemy arrows and an overseer wearing "a bonnet, full skirted armorial doublet and baggy breeches" holding a stick or baton, as if beating the time of the strokes of the rowers.
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Bringing his fleet through islets known as the Curzolaris (now mostly lost to the silting of the shoreline), John deployed his armada into a left wing under Venetian command, a right wing under Doria, a powerful center or main battle under himself, and a strong rear guard under the Marquis of Santa Cruz. In all four formations were galleys from each of the participating states. Two galleasses each were assigned to the wings and center. Around noon the battle commenced.
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The long Cretan War had exhausted Venetian resources, and Venetian power was in decline in Italy as well as the Adriatic Sea. While the Venetian navy was a well-maintained force, comprising ten galleasses, thirty men-of-war, and thirty galleys, as well as auxiliary vessels, the army comprised 8,000 not very disciplined regular troops. They were complemented by a numerous and well-equipped militia, but the latter could not be used outside Italy. Revenue was also scarce, at little more than two million sequins a year.
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Map of the Dardanelles and vicinity For 1654, the Ottomans marshaled their strength: the Arsenal (Tersâne-i Âmire) in the Golden Horn produced new warships, and squadrons from Tripolitania and Tunis arrived to strengthen the Ottoman fleet.Setton (1991), p. 170 The strengthened Ottoman fleet that sailed forth from the Dardanelles in early May numbered 79 ships (40 sailing ships, 33 galleys and 6 galleasses), and further 22 galleys from around the Aegean and 14 ships from Barbary stood by to reinforce it off the Straits.Setton (1991), p.
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In the North Sea and the western Baltic, the term galeas refers to small commercial vessels similar to a flat-sterned herring buss. In Maritime Southeast Asia, local kingdoms also built galleasses, although the tactics used were different from those of European vessels. The galley and galleass of Southeast Asia was usually equipped with bow-mounted cannon and side-mounted swivel guns. The soldiers of the Southeast Asian navy customarily fought with boarding actions, so quick firing side-mounted swivel guns were used to counter this.
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The Mamluk fleet finally left in February 1507 under Amir Husain Al-Kurdi in order to counter the expansion of the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean and arrived in the Indian port of Diu in 1508 after delays subduing the city of Jeddha.Foundations of the Portuguese empire, 1415–1580 Bailey Wallys Diffie p.234ff It consisted of six round ships and six great galleys called galleasses. 1500 combatants were on board, as well as the ambassador of the Zamorin ruler of Calicut, Mayimama Mārakkār.
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In the Venetian-ruled Ionian Islands, similar measures were undertaken; over 2,000 soldiers, apart from sailors and rowers for the fleet, were recruited. On 10 June 1684, Morosini set sail with a fleet of three galleys, two galleasses, and a few auxiliary vessels. On the way to Corfu he was joined by further four Venetian, five Papal, seven Maltese, and four Tuscan galleys. At Corfu they were united with the local naval and military forces, as well as forces raised by noble Greek families of the Ionian Islands.
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View of Corfu and its fortifications, with the Venetian fleet, The Venetians were well aware of Ottoman ambitions to capture the Ionian Islands, which dated to the before the Great Turkish War. By 1716, it was clear that Corfu would be the next target. Preparing for the inevitable confrontation, the Venetian Senate replaced Dolfin, seen as too timid and ineffective, with Andrea Pisani, already in Corfu as Provveditore Generale da Mar. In early 1716, Pisani disposed of 18 galleys, two galleasses and 12 galleots, 26 ships of the line, and two fireships.
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The first two ships of the first roll, the Henry Grace à Dieu and the Mary Rose, have traces of a grid pattern, indicating that they were transferred from a different drawing while the rest are done in freehand. Overall, the ships follow a formula depending on the type of ship. The exceptions are stern galleries of some of the galleasses and the figureheads of the Mary Rose, Salamander and the Unicorn, the latter both captured from the Scots in 1544. The prominent exception is the Galley Subtle placed in the middle of the second roll.
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85 On 18 April the English naval force was defeated and dispersed by Zubiaur's fleet, and the Spanish troops disembarked at Blaye, relieving the Catholic forces. In the naval engagement, the English warships of admiral Wilkenson and Vice-Admiral were boarded by the Spaniards, burnt and destroyed, whilst two Spanish flyboats named Fortuna and Grifo were also sunk.Richards, p. 279 Soon after, another Anglo-French fleet of 11 to 19 warships from Bordeaux, supported by about 40 small vessels (including six galleasses from the port of La Rochelle), arrived at Blaye, trying to block the Spanish fleet.
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Glete (2000), pp. 154, 163 Galleasses and galleys were part of an invasion force of over 16,000 men that conquered the Azores in 1583. Around 2,000 galley rowers were on board ships of the famous 1588 Spanish Armada, though few of these actually made it to the battle itself.Glete (2000), pp., 156, 158–59 Outside European and Middle Eastern waters, Spain built galleys to deal with pirates and privateers in both the Caribbean and the Philippines.Bamford (1973), p. 12; Mott, 113-14 Ottoman galleys contested the Portuguese intrusion in the Indian Ocean in the 16th century, but failed against the high-sided, massive Portuguese carracks in open waters.
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The Venetian fleet, under Alvise Mocenigo, sailed from Cerigo to Euboea at the end of June 1651. It consisted of twenty eight sailing ships (under Luca Francesco Barbarigo, with Dolfin and Girolamo Battaglia), six galleasses (Francesco Morosini) and twenty four galleys (Mocenigo, with Molin). There on 2 July he learned that the Turkish fleet under kapudan pasha Hosambegzade ALi Pasha had left Chios for Patmos on 29 June, and sailed south to Santorin, hoping to intercept it before it reached Crete. He arrived on 5 July, and on 7 July the Turkish fleet appeared from the east, sailing to the south of Santorini, but it turned north when it spotted some Venetian stragglers, and Mocenigo tried to support them.
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Piyale Pasha and Kılıç Ali Pasha immediately began to rebuild the Ottoman fleet. Kılıç Ali Pasha placed special emphasis on the construction of a number of heavier ships modeled upon the Venetian galleasses, heavier artillery for the galleys, and firearms for the soldiers on board. In June 1572, now Kapudan Pasha, he set out with 250 galleys and a large number of smaller ships to seek revenge for Lepanto. He found the Christian fleet anchored in an inlet of Morea, but his strategy of trying to lure the enemy out and inflicting damage through repeated quick thrusts meant that a full-fledged battle never materialized, because the Christian fleet was too cautious to be trapped and encircled.
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Méduse, as seen from the deck Galleon showing both a forecastle (left) and aftercastle (right) Stern of a replica 17th-century galleon An aftercastle (or sometimes aftcastle) is the stern structure behind the mizzenmast and above the transom on large sailing ships, such as carracks, caravels, galleons and galleasses. It usually houses the captain's cabin and perhaps additional cabins and is crowned by the poop deck, which on men-of-war provided a heightened platform from which to fire upon other ships; it was also a place of defence in the event of boarding. More common, but much smaller, is the forecastle. As sailing ships evolved, the aftercastle gave way to the quarterdeck, whose span ran all the way to the main mast.
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Turgut Reis landing on Malta by Eugenio Caxes. After arriving in Constantinople, Turgut Reis, under mandate by Sultan Suleiman, mobilized a fleet of 112 galleys and two galleasses with 12,000 Janissaries, and in 1551 set sail with the Ottoman admiral Sinan Pasha towards the Adriatic Sea and bombarded the Venetian ports, inflicting serious damage on Venetian shipping. In May 1551 they landed on Sicily and bombarded the eastern shores of the island, most notably the city of Augusta, as revenge for the Viceroy of Sicily's role in the invasion and destruction of Mahdia, where most inhabitants had been massacred by the joint Spanish-Sicilian-Maltese force. They then attempted to capture Malta, landing with about 10,000 men at the southern port of Marsa Muscietto.
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Acehnese large galleys (galleasses) reached 100 m in length and 17 m in breadth, having 3 masts with square sails and topsails; they were propelled by 35 oars on each side and able to carry 700 men. The galleass was armed with 98 guns: 18 large cannon (five 55-pounders at the bow, one 25-pounder at the stern, the rest were 17 and 18-pounders), 80 falcons and many swivel guns. The ship was called the "Espanto do Mundo" (terror of the universe), which was probably a free translation of "Cakradonya" (Cakra Dunia). The Portuguese reported that it was bigger than anything ever built in the Christian world, and that the gunnery on its forecastle could compete with the firepower of galleons.
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In an unusual occurrence during a naval engagement, the galley slaves of one of the Ottoman galleys managed to overwhelm her crew and row towards a Venetian warship, whereupon the liberated slaves promptly surrendered the galley. Two of the smaller warships, the San Bartolamio, and the Francese, were abandoned by their crew due to damage incurred by Ottoman cannonade. The San Bartolamio was able to be successfully regained by the crew of the Tre Re, whereas the Francese drifted onto the shore and was burnt and destroyed by Ottoman soldiers while beached. When the action was concluding, da Riva surveyed the scene to see a spectacular success- nine warships burnt, three galleasses burnt, two galleys burnt, and one of each type captured.
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After the victory at the Battle of Ponta Delgada, the Marquis of Santa Cruz, secure within his Lisbon base, prepared an amphibious invasion of overwhelming force: 15,372 men and 98 ships, including 31 big merchantmen converted as troop transports, small vessels and landing craft, fighting galleons, 12 galleys, and 2 galleasses. This time his aim was not to fight a fleet but to land an army: the task force could certainly defend itself if necessary, but its primary role was to put troops, together with their supporting equipment and supplies, on a selected beach-head and then to back them up until the military objectives had been gained.Parker p.73 Philip II ordered Bazán by letter to hang those French and English subjects on the island caught in arms against his forces.
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He thus took over command of 28 ships of the line in three divisions (Red, Yellow, and Blue), 18 galleys, 2 galleasses, 10 galliots, 4 fireships, and 2 corvettes. In addition, Venice's allies in the Holy League provided 7 Portuguese, 5 Papal, and 4 Maltese ships of the line, as well as 5 Spanish, 4 Papal, 3 Maltese, 2 Tuscan, and 2 Genoese galleys. Flangini hoiste dhis ensign on the newly built 70-cannon battleship Leon Trionfante, and on 12 May scored a partial victory at the Battle of Imbros, in which he forced the Ottoman fleet of 42 ships to retreat. Four days later, the two fleets met again in the sea between Mount Athos and the island of Agios Efstratios, and in the ensuing battle, the Venetians defeated the Ottomans.
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In the days following the action, da Riva made no attempt to follow up on his victory, but after waiting near Focchies ordered his fleet to weigh anchor and sail towards the Gulf of Smyrna, where he hoped to prevent Christian ships from entering in the service of the Ottoman Navy. Failing to sight any ships, da Riva instead ordered his fleet to sail towards Crete, to link up with Captain General Alvise Mocenigo, who da Riva had written a letter to when he saw the Ottoman fleet leaving the Dardanelles Strait.Anderson, (1952) On May 23rd, da Riva, along with his fleet reached Nixa, waiting there for six days until Mocenigo joined forces with him. Mocenigo brought with him four warships, six galleasses and twenty-one galleys from Crete.
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A Dutch engraving of the Siege of Candia, by Nicolaes Visscher II In total, the Venetian fleet suffered 105 men killed or wounded, alongside one warship destroyed, burnt by the Ottomans after it drifted onto the shore after being abandoned. The Venetian fleet suffered another loss just ten days later- the James, which had captured the galleass during the battle and was dismasted during the fighting- sunk in heavy weather due to damage sustained during the battle. The casualties for the Ottoman fleet was devastating, although not absolute- they still had one warship, seven galleasses, and sixty-nine galleys still intact alongside their crews. The reason for so many ships surviving was due to the wind moving the direction of the flames away from the rest of the Ottoman fleet, and causing the Venetian fleet to withdraw.
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These early successes were important for the Venetians because they secured their communications with Venice, denied to the Ottomans the possibility of moving troops through the area, and provided a springboard for possible future conquests on the Greek mainland. At the same time, Venice set about providing Morosini with more troops, and concluded treaties with the rulers of Saxony and Hannover, who were to provide contingents of 2,400 men each as mercenaries. After the treaty was signed in December 1684, 2,500 Hannoverians joined Morosini in June 1685, while 3,300 Saxons arrived a few months later. In spring and early June 1685, the Venetian forces gathered at Corfu, Preveza, and Dragamesto: 37 galleys (17 of which Tuscan, Papal, or Maltese), 5 galleasses, 19 sailing ships, and 12 galleots, 6,400 Venetian troops (2,400 Hannoverians and 1,000 Dalmatians), 1,000 Maltese troops, 300 Florentines, and 400 Papal soldiers.
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Following a council of war, Lord Howard, the Lord High Admiral of the Fleet, reorganised the English fleet into four squadrons. Frobisher was made commander of one of these and assigned Triumph, as well as Lord Sheffield's White Bear, Lord Thomas Howard's Golden Lion, and Sir Robert Southwell's Elizabeth Jonas, all heavily armed vessels. On the morning of 21 July 1588, Frobisher in Triumph, Drake in Revenge, and Hawkins in Victory attacked the seaward wing of the Spanish defensive formation, damaging San Juan de Portugal, the ship of the Armada's vice-admiral, Juan Martínez de Recalde, and forcing his rescue by galleasses from the Bizcayan squadron. Later that day Frobisher and Hawkins engaged Pedro de Valdez, commander of the Andalusian squadron, who did not yield his ship, Nuestra Señora del Rosario (Our Lady of the Rosary), until Drake came to their assistance the next morning, much to his rival Frobisher's consternation.
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The design of the ships in these paintings, especially that of the Brighton raid, closely match those in the rolls. It is not known exactly when work on the rolls began nor when it was finished. It is only certain that it was presented to the king the year it was dated, 1546. The inclusion of the Mary Rose that sank at the Battle of the Solent 19 July 1545 does not mean it was necessarily started before this date, since it was still considered possible that she could be raised even as late as 1549. The galleasses, the Antelope, Hart, Bull and Tiger, all present in the second roll, were still being built around March 1546, and the Hart was not at sea until October that year. At the same time the Galley Blanchard, captured from the French 18 May 1546 is not included.
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The Battle of Focchies was a significant naval engagement that took place on 12 May 1649, in the harbour of Focchies, Smyrna between a Venetian force of nineteen warships under the command of Giacomo da Riva, and an Ottoman force of eleven warships, ten galleasses, and seventy-two galleys, with the battle resulting in a crushing victory for the Venetian fleet. The battle was an episode in the Cretan War from 1645 to 1669 between the Venetian Republic (along with its allies, the Knights of Malta, the Kingdom of France and the Papal States) and the Ottoman Empire over dominance of various territories in the Mediterranean Sea. The war was one in a series of wars between the two warring powers, which contested for control of the Adriatic and Mediterranean trade routes. The primary territory that was contested during the war was Crete, the largest and most profitable of the overseas holdings of the Venetian Republic.
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The Spanish Armada that attempted to escort an army from Flanders and integrate the Habsburg Spanish invasion of England in 1588, was divided into ten "squadrons" (escuadras)Journal of Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society. No 23 (1990) "The Surrender of an Armada Vessel near Tralee" by Brendan G. McCarthy The twenty galleons in the Squadrons of Portugal and of Castile, together with one more galleon in the Squadron of Andalucia and the four galleasses from Naples, constituted the only purpose-built warships (apart from the four galleys, which proved ineffective in the Atlantic waters and soon departed for safety in French ports); the rest of the Armada comprised armed merchantmen (mostly naos/carracks) and various ancillary vessels including urcas (storeships, termed "hulks"), zabras and pataches, pinnaces, and (not included in the formal count) caravels. The division into squadrons was for administrative purposes only; upon sailing, the Armada could not keep to a formal order, and most ships sailed independently from the rest of their squadron. Each squadron was led by a flagship (capitana) and a "vice- flagship" (almiranta).
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