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Why did Galleons "die" ?


nebsif

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galeon.jpg

Any history buffs can enlighten me please why Galleon type ships got replaced with.. "flat deck" vessels?  Except being a huge targets were they also way slower?

Asking coz I'd like to see some 1600's ships ingame but dk how useless would they be?

 

Current ships, for some1 new to age of sail - all look the same, kinda like panzer 3 - panzer 4 - Tiger. imo those could bring some variety and an extra form of progression instead of just unlocking ships with more guns everytime (roughly). Say you could get a 36 gun galleon (if such existed) OR a brig/snow, that way bigger wont always mean better (in terms of current sea trials)..

Just look how monstrous that galleon is, its not pretty like the surprise or consti, but its awesome in its crudeness & lack of decorations.. hope u understand what im trying to say  :)

 

edit: more pic

pic_53.jpg

 

pic_28.jpg

 

pic_29.jpg

 

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Well from a building point i think the Galleon design was more costly in term of wood. And large oak trees starting becoming rarer and rarer in france and britain around the battle of trafalger. so the idea of level decks did allow less wood to be used so smaller trees could be used instead.

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The short answer is that it was more about the evolution of design than anything else. Also there was the evolution of navel tactics. At the height of the galleon the Spanish in particular still looked at navel combat as an extension of land combat, so the emphasis was on boarding not on naval artillery. So you still have high sides for boarding defense. You can see this in the pictures you posted. Starting with the English "Race" built galleons which were smaller and more maneuverable the evolution towards artillery started.  A good period to study is the Anglo-Dutch wars of the 17th century and you can see the difference in design from the period of the Spanish Armada. I have sailed on a replica of an early 17th c. ship (1625) and at that point you still had high quarter decks which results in quite a bit of leeway. The ships of that time did not sail very well to windward.

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Galleons were kinda "Dual Purpose", a warship on one side, but also a transport vessel with considerable amount of cargo hold (transporting the riches from the colonies back to Spain), that's why they're as huge and have those "castles" and quite impressive amount of cannon. Their flaws however became very apparent when the Spanish Armada had their nightmare off the coasts of England. The heavy spanish galleons were slow and not very maneuverable, while the then newly designed, "race built" (razeed, without castles) english ships were faster, more maneuverable and carried longer range cannons. After the defeat of the Armada the Spanish also reiterated their naval doctrins and priorities and started to adapt the new designs.

 

I'm by no means an expert on the matter however, so if anyone here has better knowledge feel free to correct and/or complete what I said, plz. :)

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That high hull constitutes a crazy amount of windage. It might be a nice thing to have in rough weather from a survival point of view, but it won't do your handling characteristics any favors.

 

Above all, having such a huge hull makes it almost impossible to sail upwind with any sort of efficiency. Those fore and after castles are like sails that impede your progress instead of the reverse.

 

Given that, why use all the extra wood in preparation for a boarding combat you'll probably never engage in?

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That high hull constitutes a crazy amount of windage. It might be a nice thing to have in rough weather from a survival point of view, but it won't do your handling characteristics any favors.

 

Above all, having such a huge hull makes it almost impossible to sail upwind with any sort of efficiency. Those fore and after castles are like sails that impede your progress instead of the reverse.

 

Given that, why use all the extra wood in preparation for a boarding combat you'll probably never engage in?

 

This is correct. They just weren't the peak of design for a sailing vessel and evolved over time.

Their 'windage' or leeway as it's referred to in sailing, meant they were inefficient and dangerous in bad weather (as mentioned see the Spanish Armada).

As tactics and use of ships changed so did their design.

Here's a documentary (I won't link directly, just to a google search, as I'm unsure of copyright and policy here etc.) http://tinyurl.com/m22968l about the Mary Rose, Henry VIII's of England's famous battleship and how it's poor design (and handling) seen it to the bottom of the solent. While only a carrack, a precursor to the galleons, it shows how the early ship designs were flawed and with time were improved upon.

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Mary Rose, Henry VIII's of England's famous battleship and how it's poor design (and handling) seen it to the bottom of the solent.

In all fairness, open gunports were probably to blame.

 

One advantage of those high sides is that it gives you enormous amounts of freeboard. A galleon struck by a squall could lay down on its side and float where any more modern ship would likely founder.

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In all fairness, open gunports were probably to blame.

 

One advantage of those high sides is that it gives you enormous amounts of freeboard. A galleon struck by a squall could lay down on its side and float where any more modern ship would likely founder.

Yeh, I agree, though i's a debate that will go on and on I imagine.

As for the high sides... While floating in a squall is all well and good miles out at sea, with the shore under my lee, in the same weather I'd sooner be in row boat than one of those monsters haha

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One of the main uses for this multiple deck ships was to ferry colonists across along with families, their wares, and vital cargo for the new founded settlements.

 

Once the New World becomes stable and autonomous regarding supplies and manpower there is less and less need to transport vital cargo and personnel across the oceans, therefore turning the shipwrights more permissive towards a new age of needs - protect the colonies and the trade lanes.

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