Matt Johnson, age 9, of Visalia, Calif., for his question:
WHAT IS A GALLEON?
In 1588 a fleet of Spanish warships, many of them called galleons, tried unsuccessfully to invade England. Many of the 130 ships were extremely slow and difficult to maneuver. The English were ready in smaller and faster galleons and also had a large number of skilled seamen. The famous battle was a disaster for the Spanish. Only 67 ships made it back to Spain.
A galleon is the name of a popular merchant ship that was used on the high seas during the 1500s. The first ones were Italian and were propelled by oars. But later types depended on extensive use of sails.
King Henry VIII of England developed the galleon into a fighting ship. It was easily maneuvered and swift compared to other ships of the day.
The early English galleon had a heavy front mast, called the foremast. The mainmast, which was placed behind the foremast, was also deep and heavy. Both these masts carried square sails. The galleon then had one or two small masts toward the rear of the ship which held three cornered lateen sails.
On the galleon was a long, raised deck, called the quarter deck, which ran from the mainmast toward the rear of the ship where a still higher deck, called the poop deck, was located. A raised deck in front of the foremast, called the forecastle, was square and rather low.
Galleons were used both as warships and cargo vessels. Spain and Portugal, as well as other countries, used them to bring silver and gold back from their New World colonies. The treasure ships quickly became favorite targets of pirates who operated out of the West Indies. The bulky Spanish galleon could not properly defend itself nor could it easily maneuver an escape.
The side of Henry VIII's galleons were set with heavy guns. A number of smaller guns were then mounted above the main deck.
Since ships served as both warships and cargo vessels, they became extremely heavy with the weight of cannons and other guns. As time passed, it became necessary to build special ships to do certain jobs.
Just before the galleon became popular, the seas saw a type of craft called the full rigged ship. These three masted ships were smaller than the galleons, and they had few comforts. Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan used this type of ship.
The full rigged ships became more comfortable after Columbus' first voyage, by the way. Columbus found the hammock, which was an invention of the American Indians. On later voyages, the sailors slept in hammocks below deck rather than on the hard decks.