Galleass

A galleass is a large hybrid warship combining oars with a full ship rig and a broadside gun battery, developed by Venice in the sixteenth century from the merchant great galley. Six Venetian galleasses fought at Lepanto on 7 October 1571, positioned ahead of the Holy League line, where their heavy bow and broadside guns disrupted the Ottoman advance. Higher-sided and slower than a war galley but far more heavily armed, the galleass bridged the oared galley and the pure sailing warship; Spain deployed four with the 1588 Armada.