Galleons
Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships of Spanish origin, that emerged in the early 16th century from earlier vessel types such as the caravel and the carrack. They were developed by Portugal and Spain as armed cargo carriers during the Age of Sail. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, they also served as the principal vessels used as warships until the Anglo-Dutch Wars in the mid-17th century.
Galleons generally carried three or more masts with a lateen fore-and-aft rig on the rear masts, were carvel built with a prominent squared off raised stern, and used square-rigged sail plans on their fore-mast and main-masts. Such ships played a major role in commerce in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and were often drafted into use as auxiliary naval war vessels—indeed, they were the mainstay of contending fleets through most of the 150 years of the Age of Exploration—before the Anglo-Dutch wars made purpose-built warships dominant at sea during the remainder of the Age of Sail.
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