Spanish Galleon 1530–1690 (New Vanguard, 96)

I am studying sailing ships at the moment. I am familiar with the predecessors of the galleon, the caravel and the carrack and wanted information on the galleon. This book provided that information.

There are people out there who spend a LOT of time researching and writing about things I only want to know about ONCE. The other books on this topic are huge, out of print and if you can find them, EXPENSIVE. When my son chose the transition from oared ships to sailing ships as a history fair project...... only OSPREY helped us with accessible, affordable digestible information. AND DON'T TELL ME YOU CAN GET ALL THIS ON THE INTERNET. The internet is a lovely, wonderful MESS, and Osprey finds people who do real research and combine that with a great format and PICTURES and save you hours of wandering up blind internet alleys. As a cherry on this cake the author of this particular book answered questions my son had via email. (Mr. Konstam will probably hate me for putting that in here. )

In the 150 years between the first quarter of the 15th C. and the last quarter of the 16th, a revolution in shipbuilding and sailing techniques and technology occurred which has dwarfed, certainly in its effects and consequences, all subsequent developments, even that which saw the evolution from wind-powered, wooden ships to steam-powered, metal ones, and yet the number of books and articles covering that development is exasperatingly small (and much of it is old and outdated, despite an ever increasing body of archaeological evidence which would support a massive analysis and reassessment). In detailing the development of the "Galleon" type vessel, this book captures the last part of that revolution. If it is a bit unsatisfying then that is not due to any defect in the book itself, but rather is a reflection of the fact that it lacks the necessary prologue, detailing the progression from cog, to caravel, to carrack, which preceded the development of the galleon. One hopes that Osprey plans on remedying that lack with future releases covering those types and their development into the modern ship. That said, in all other ways, this is a very satisfying, typical Osprey offering. The illustrations are superb. The technical information, so far as the scope of the work allows, is more than adequate. It offers a decent primer on the development of the galleon type and an excellent presentation on its subsequent development. Its chief weakness exists only because the book cannot present the galleon in its historical context, a job which only additional volumes, covering the evolution of sailing technology and ship types, can remedy. If this is an area of interest, then, by all means, buy the book and hope for more, hopefully from this same author and illustrator.

Excellent item arrived right on schedule!

A very valuable resource, beautifully presented, concisely and clearly written.

Very informative and richly illustrated.

Good and informative.

Osprey is great usually, but this book is NOT for a modeler. Pro: Great information, and well-written. Cons: Very few illustrations. The few illustrations in the book are small, hard to see and lack any detail or color. Even with young eyes and a very big magnifying glass, the illustrations would not be helpful as far as detail. The one big illustration is of a cut out of a typical Galleon. The drawing is blurry and dead in the center of the book. To see it completely you have to break the spine of the book. Kind of disappointed.

Ich habe diese 48- seitige Fibel des Osprey- Verlages im Format 25 x 18,5cm aus Neugier gekauft, weil mich die Schiffahrt zur Zeit des späten 16ten bis Mitte des 17ten Jahrhunderts technisch interessiert hat, auch um mit ihrer Hilfe endlich meine spanische Revell- Galeone im Maßstab 1:96 realistisch bauen zu können! Das Büchlein hat trotz seines geringen Umfangs meine Erwartungen mehr als erfüllt! Da über den Schiffsbau des späteren 16ten Jahrhundert, also z.Zt. König Phillips II und Queen Elisabeth I, nur grobe Skizzen und sog. Rolls existieren, wurden halt im Inhalt exemplarische Schiffe, die dieser Zeit als farbige Skizzen nach dem Schema "so hätte es wahrscheinlich ausgesehen" dargestellt. Die späteren Schiffe des 17ten Jahrhunderts wurden dagegen oft von erstklassigen Marinemalern porträtiert. Etliche Zeichnungen oder Gemälde sind in der Publikation abgebildet! Als wissenschaftliche(?) Grundlage dieser Spekulationen dienen die Wrackfunde von versunkenen spanischen Galeonen dieser Epoche. Aber das soll keine Kritik sein, denn wo die Historie nichts hergibt, kann man auch nichts auf Papier abbilden. Deshalb werde ich dankbar die (gelungenen, farbigen!) Skizzen der abgebildeten Galeonen dieser Ära als willkommene fantasievolle Anregungungen zur Bemalung des o.g. Schiffsmodells verwenden! Die kleine Fibel ist nach meiner Meinung jedenfalls ihr Geld wert! Und Achtung: Der Text ist in Englisch verfasst, eine deutschsprachige Version existiert nicht! Ein paar Jahre frischgehaltenes Schul- Englisch sollten reichen, ein Weiterbildungskurs in technischem Englisch schadet nicht.

絵図が豊富な為帆船作り(ガレオン船）に役立った。ただ、もう少し内部構造や索具の説明が欲しかった。

Un buon libro con le solite tavole centrali a colori e una tavola doppia con un galeone in sezione. Consigliato

This booklet is about the Spanish Galleon, from its first development around 1530 to its demise, or rather its mutation into the "ship-of-the-line" of the 18th century sailing fleets. It has qualities that are very similar to those exhibited by "The Spanish Main", another Osprey title, although authors and illustrators are quite different. One of these qualities is clarity. A second is that both clearly show the evolutions over time. In this case, the Spanish Galleon went through a number of changes. Up to the end of the 16th century, larger and larger galleons were built - there were three huge ones among the "Invincible Armada". After that, and largely because of cost considerations, Galleons tended to be smaller and no huge ones were built anymore. Throughout the 16th and 17th century, galleons came in various sizes and were, depending on their sizes and armament, given various and evolving roles. They were the workhorses of the Spanish fleet, initially used as warships, especially in European waters against the fleets of Spain's enemies (English, French and Dutch). Smaller and mid-sized Galleons were also used to escort the Silver Fleets coming from Cartagena and Vera Cruz and crossing the Atlantic from Havana to Spain. They then were also used to transport the precious metals themselves, among other roles. The flotta system, its purpose and functioning, are presented in a fair amount of detail. The booklet also contains a host of information about shipbuilding techniques, with shipbuilding all done by private builders contracting with the Crown. Crews, organization and life on board and armament are also examined in a fair amount of detail. Life on board and at sea, with rather awful sanitation conditions and high mortality rates, are also described as part of the second part focused on operations. The last section (Galleons as warships), examines the fighting performances of these ships, with Spanish initially relying on boarding and their large numbers of first-class infantry on board of each Galleons, rather than artillery duels and naval battles fought at a distance. The reluctance of their enemies to close with them obliged the Spanish to adapt, somewhat slowly and reluctantly, so as to also be able to fight artillery battles. The author's conclusion, perfectly apt, is that Spain, its navy and its Galleons, even in decline as it was during the 17th century, was still largely able to keep up a good fight. It always did so, and even when it lost, the battles were hard fought and the ships and their captains went down fighting, something that the book shows rather well when describing the Battle of the Downs (1639) against the Dutch. One final point: I found the choice of illustrations particularly good, if only because they clearly show both how the Galleon evolved from a medieval ship to a "ship-of-the-line" while also showing Galleons in action and a detailed presentation of a Galleon of the first half of the 17th century. This is a rather superb Osprey title which, even as an overview only, is, I believe, worth five stars.

Das Buch ist ein guter Überblick über die Entwicklung der spanischen Galleone. Der Kürze des Buches ist es geschuldet, dass man an einigen Stellen mit dem Gefühl zurück bleibt, dass Details fehlen. Aber als Überblick über diese Schiffe ist es ein guter Einstieg.