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Warships
Venetian Galleass
The Venetians were among the trendsetters in the field of building and use of rowing vessels. Their fleet included numerous galleys and one of the most powerful and expensive rowing vessels:
the galleass. A galleass was larger than a galley. It was up to 70 metres long, and its crew
numbered up to 1,200 sailors. The baptism of fire for galleasses took
place in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, and brought
about the victory of the Christians over the Ottoman fleet. Galleasses made use of their advantage over other types of vessels under calm, when
their oars allowed them to gain quite a good speed.
However, their navigability left much to be desired, and
they were impossible to control in a storm. Therefore
they did not put to sea in bad weather.
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