Predecessors Ship of the line

the carrack henri grace à dieu, anthony roll



sovereign of seas, contemporaneous engraving j. payne

the heavily armed carrack, first developed in portugal either trade or war in atlantic ocean, precursor of ship of line. other maritime european states adopted in late 15th , 16th centuries. these vessels developed fusing aspects of cog of north sea , galley of mediterranean sea. cogs, traded in north sea, in baltic sea , along atlantic coasts, had advantage on galleys in battle because had raised platforms called castles @ bow , stern archers occupy fire down on enemy ships or drop heavy weights from. on time these castles became higher , larger, , built structure of ship, increasing overall strength. aspect of cog remained in newer-style carrack designs , proved worth in battles @ diu in 1509.

the mary rose 16th-century english carrack or great ship . heavily armed 78 guns , 91 after upgrade in 1530s. built in portsmouth in 1510–1512, 1 of earliest purpose-built men-of-war in english navy. on 500 tons burthen, had keel of on 32 m (106 ft) , crew of on 200 sailors, 185 soldiers , 30 gunners. although pride of english fleet, accidentally sank during battle of solent, 19 july 1545.

henri grâce à dieu (english: henry grace of god ), nicknamed great harry , english carrack. contemporary mary rose, henri grâce à dieu 165 feet (50 m) long, weighing 1,000–1,500 tons , having complement of 700–1,000. said ordered henry viii in response scottish ship michael, launched in 1511. built @ woolwich dockyard 1512 1514 , 1 of first vessels feature gunports , had twenty of new heavy bronze cannon, allowing broadside. in all, mounted 43 heavy guns , 141 light guns. first english two-decker, , when launched largest , powerful warship in europe, saw little action. present @ battle of solent against francis of france in 1545 (in mary rose sank) appears have been more of diplomatic vessel, sailing on occasion sails of gold cloth. indeed, great ships known ornamental design (some ships, vasa, gilded on stern scrollwork) power possessed.

carracks fitted war carried large-calibre guns aboard. because of higher freeboard , greater load-bearing ability, type of vessel better suited galley gunpowder weapons. because of development conditions in atlantic, these ships more weatherly galleys , better suited open waters. lack of oars meant large crews unnecessary, making long journeys more feasible. disadvantage entirely reliant on wind mobility. galleys still overwhelm great ships, when there little wind , had numerical advantage, great ships increased in size, galleys became less , less useful.

another detriment high forecastle, interfered sailing qualities of ship; bow forced low water while sailing before wind. guns introduced , gunfire replaced boarding primary means of naval combat during 16th century, medieval forecastle no longer needed, , later ships such galleon had low, one-deck-high forecastle. time of 1637 launching of england s sovereign of seas, forecastle had disappeared altogether.

during 16th century galleon evolved carrack. longer , more manoeuvrable type of ship advantages of carrack. main ships of english , spanish fleets in battle of gravelines of 1588 galleons; of english , of spanish galleons survived battle , following storm though spanish galleons suffered heaviest attacks english while regrouping scattered fleet. 17th century every major european naval power building ships these.

with growing importance of colonies , exploration , need maintain trade routes across stormy oceans, galleys , galleasses (a larger, higher type of galley side-mounted guns, lower galleon) used less , less, , in ever more restricted purposes , areas, 1750, few notable exceptions, of little use in naval battles.