360 : The Atlantic 



naval wars between the Spaniards and the Turks but on this occa- 

 sion most of the European powers felt that they had a stake in the 

 struggle. 



The fleets of the Christian League were placed under the general 

 command of Don Juan of Austria, a natural brother of Phillip II of 

 Spain. Much of the financial responsibility of the naval crusade was 

 assumed by Pope Pius V. He also supplied ships under command of 

 Colonna. Venice's ships were commanded by Barbarigo and Veniero; 

 Genoa's ships were commanded by Andrea Doria; the Spanish fleet 

 was commanded by Santa Cruz. Altogether there were 208 galleys 

 and eight large galleasses in the Christian force. 



The Turkish force, led by Ali Pasha, is supposed to have num- 

 bered 300 vessels of which 250 were galleys and the rest smaller craft. 



The ships crowded together and fought it out for three hours. In 

 this time 80 Turkish galleys were sunk, 130 were captured and 40 

 fled. The battle was over. 



The scope of such a battle is reflected in the losses. The Turks lost 

 25,000 killed and an unknown number of wounded and captives. 

 The Christian fleet lost 8,000 killed and 16,000 wounded. One out- 

 come of the battle was that 15,000 Christian galley slaves were 

 recovered from the captured Turkish ships. This was the peak of 

 galley warfare though it was not its end. Unfortunately the Euro- 

 pean powers failed to agree on a further plan of action and after 

 some years Turkey revived and resumed combat. Galleys indeed, as 

 pirates and raiders, continued to operate in the Mediterranean even 

 till the time of the Barbary pirates in the early part of the nine- 

 teenth century. Also criminals and other unfortunates in European 

 ■states were condemned to "the galleys" and so branded long after the 

 galley had been displaced as a dominant type of warship. 



Even at the time of Lepanto two novelties were present that ren- 

 dered the galley obsolescent: first, the galeasses were long vessels 

 somewhat resembling galleys but having multiple masts and sails so 

 that they could be sailed as well as rowed during an engagement; 

 second, cannon and gunpowder were in use. 



The 15,000 Christian galley slaves who were recovered and released 

 at Lepanto suggest an interesting reflection. Galley warfare was long 

 continued and highly developed in the Mediterranean but never at- 

 tained the same importance on the Atlantic seaboard. Galleys did 

 from time to time travel and fight in the Atlantic, but they were 

 never produced there on a large scale. The first effective war vessel 

 of the Nordi Atlantic was the "long ship" or the "dragon ship" of 



