Galley facts for kids

A Maltese galley from the 16th century

A galley is a type of ship. Galleys use rowing to move. The first galleys were using in Ancient Egypt, during the Old Kingdom (c. 2700-2200 BCE).

Images for kids

The English-built Charles Galley, a "galley frigate" built in the 1670s. It was not a "true" galley, but the term still became part of its name due to its oars.
Watercolor of United States ships at the Battle of Valcour Island, depicting several "row galleys"; similar function, but based on very different designs from Mediterranean galleys.
Assyrian warship, a bireme with pointed bow. 700 BC
Dionysus riding on a small galley-like craft in a painting from the Dionysus cup by Exekias, from c. 530 BC
A reconstruction of an ancient Greek galley squadron based on images of modern replica Olympias
A Roman naval bireme in a relief from the Temple of Fortuna Primigenia in Praeneste, (Palastrina) built c. 120 BC, (in the Museo Pio-Clementino).
Two compact liburnians used by the Romans in the campaigns against the Dacians in the early 2nd century AD; relief from Trajan's Column, c. 113 AD.
Venetian great galley with three sails taking pilgrims to Jerusalem (Conrad Grünenberg 1486/7).
A 3D model of the basic hull structure of a Venetian "galley of Flanders", a large trading vessel of the 15th century. The reconstruction by archaeologist Courtney Higgins is based on measurements given in contemporary ship treatises.
Painting of the Battle of Haarlemmermeer of 1573 by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom. Note the use of small sailing vessels and galleys on both sides.
Ottoman galleys in battle with raiding boats in the Black Sea; Sloane 3584 manuscript, c. 1636
The Battle of Lepanto in 1571, naval engagement between allied Christian forces and the Ottoman Turks.
Dutch ships ramming Spanish galleys in the Battle of the Narrow Seas, October 1602.
A painting of the Battle of Grengam in 1720 by Ferdinand Perrot (1808–41) showing a large Russian galley engaging Swedish frigates at close range. Note the crowded fighting platform (rambade) in the bow.
A galley from Banten, 1598. The galley has balai (raised fighting platform) like any other warship of Nusantara archipelago. Four cetbang can be seen.
Illustration of an Egyptian rowed ship of c. 1250 BC. Due to a lack of a proper keel, the vessel has a truss, a thick cable along its length, to prevent it from losing its shape.
The stern of the modern trireme replica Olympias with twin side rudders
The Athlit ram, a preserved original warship ram from around 530–270 BC. It weighs nearly half a tonne and was probably fitted to a "five" or a "four".
14th-century painting of a light galley, from an icon now at the Byzantine and Christian Museum at Athens
A Venetian galea sottila from the late 15th century from Vittore Carpaccio's Return of the Ambassadors in the series Legend of Saint Ursula (1497–1498). Note the oars arranged in groups of three according to the alla sensile rowing method.
The ubiquitous bow fighting platform (rambade) of early modern galleys. This model is of a 1715 Swedish galley, somewhat smaller than the standard Mediterranean war galley, but still based on the same design.
Model of a Venetian three-banked galley rowed alla sensile, with three rowers sharing a bench but handling one oar each
The ram bow of the trireme Olympias, a modern full-scale reconstruction of a classical Greek trireme.
Battle between Venetian and Holy Roman fleets; detail of fresco by Spinello Aretino 1407–1408.
Contemporary depiction of the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 that shows the strict formations of the opposing fleets. Fresco in the Gallery of Maps in Vatican Museum.
The Galley Subtle, one of the very few Mediterranean-style galleys employed by the English. This illustration is from the Anthony Roll (c. 1546) and was intended as its centerpiece.
Gouache of a late 17th-century French royal galley. The vessel is richly decorated with red and blue damask, brocade, and velvet for the stern canopy and flags, and carved gilded ornaments on railings, outrigger, and hull.
La Liberté, a full-scale replica of a 17th-century galley in Switzerland, though without any rowing benches
Side view. Dauphine was built in 1736 and survived until the French Revolution.
Front view. Contemporary model on display at Toulon naval museum.