12 NAVAL SCIENCES. 



broad blades. The rowers sat on cross-pieces, looking to the outside, 



sometimes with a row of twelve men on each side. The great Spanish 



Armada, which sailed to England under the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 



1588, consisted principally of ships of war, as represented in pi. S, Jig. 3, 



few of which carried over 30 guns, and which were for the most part 



moved both by sails and oars. The number of regular ships of war was 



24 ; there was one large galley from Naples, and four Portuguese galleys, 



which were manned with 2088 galley slaves for the oars and 900 marines. 



In addition to these two fleets, the Armada had eight separate squadrons, 



amounting in the whole to 59,120 tons burden, and carrying 2765 guns. 



They were manned with 7865 sailors and 20,671 marines, while the English 



fleet was composed of only 181 vessels, of which only 34 could be regarded 



as ships of war, the remainder having no vessel over 200 tons. The 



whole fleet amounted to 31,985 tons, with 17,472 men. The Spanish fleet, 



in which with the rest of the company were 669 monks and a number of 



women, set sail May 29, 1588. The admiral's ship had a castle with 



towers ; all the masts were wound with thick ropes, to break the force of a 



cannon ball ; and the sides of the ship were so solid that no ball could 



pierce through them. Of this powerful fleet, not a ship reached England. 



During a calm night, the English commander sent eight fire-ships into the 



midst of the fleet, joined battle in the morning, and in a few hours gained a 



decided victory. The retreating Spanish fleet became a prey to the winds 



and waves, so that only 53 ships succeeded in reaching Spain in a most 



distressed condition. The Spanish navy has never since attained so high 



a point. The Portuguese marine, which in the 16th and 17th centuries 



formed an important mercantile fleet, is now insignificant. 



3. Genoese and Venetians. The naval power of the Genoese and 

 Venetians was of great importance in the middle ages. In the year 1100 

 the Genoese placed ships of war at the service of King Baldwin of 

 Jerusalem ; but in the succeeding centuries the marine gradually declined, 

 until it became wholly insignificant, when Genoa Vv^as reduced to the 

 dominion of France and afterwards of Milan. In the ninth century Venice 

 was in possession of the whole coasting trade of the Adriatic Sea, which it 

 secured by a navy of considerable magnitude. In the struggle for Pope 

 Alexander III., 30 Venetian galleys fought against 75 galleys of the Emperor 

 Frederick, and gained the victory under the Doge Sebastiano Ziani, in 1177. 

 From that time date the so called supremacy and marriage of the Doge 

 with the Adriatic Sea and the famous voyage in the Bucentaur. At the end 

 of the fourteenth century, Venice possessed a fleet of 3000 merchantmen, 

 of which 300 were of 700 tons burden. The fleet was manned with about 

 25,000 sailors, protected by 45 galleys with 11,000 marines. In the fifteenth 

 century, the naval arsenal at Venice employed 16,000 laborers, and had 

 36,000 sean:ftn. A kind of vessel which came into general use at that time, 

 and which properly forms the transition from the triremes of antiquity to the 

 ships of modern times, was the galley. This was usually from 130 to 140 feet 

 long, and from 16 to 20 broad. PI. 3, fig. 6, gives a front view of this 

 vessel. They were somewhat smaller than the galleys constructed byBadoaro 

 664 



