The Slender Giants of the Wine-Dark Sea

 

A model of a sixteenth-century Maltese galley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galley 

This is the title of the second chapter of my new manuscript. To put it simply, it is about war galleys in the Mediterranean. I have entered the stage of assessing and developing data. It will take a long time, and I will probably write several blog entries concerning this topic. Why does it take so long?

The chapter will have at least four divisions: light galleys, the monster galley, the intricacies of naval warfare, and the shipborne artillery. For each section, I need to read the collected data, decide on its relevance, and write what I call "scraps," i.e., a memorable phrase, sentence, or a paragraph attached to that piece of info. I also need to check the details. For example, one source says that Ottoman shipwrights produced inferior galleys because they used "green" timber (unseasoned wood). An extraordinary claim that may need an additional quest. What was wrong with the Ottoman shipyards? 

Another issue is about the practice of tying the galleys with cables or iron chains to form a battle line. War galleys were trained to be arrayed in battle formations. Bonding the vessels together would hinder any maneuvers, which spelled disaster during a naval battle. Some of them might run aground or be unable to prevent a boarding attack. I even read a paper saying that it is fake news written by landlubbers, mostly sometime after the events. However, when galleys fought in a static position (in narrow confines), blocking the enemy's advance was more critical than maneuvering. I need to review the cases when these tactics took effect.  

I also reject the claim that medieval and renaissance war fleets could control the sea, neither the entire Mediterranean nor any of its water bodies, i.e., the Adriatic or the Aegean. An observer from the crow's nest elevated at several meters could watch a few miles ahead, and even scout ships could provide reconnaissance within 20 nautical miles. Many water expanses were infested with pirates. On the other hand, they didn't need to control the sea. Narrow straits can be monitored with the navy, and the war fleet provided with good intelligence could predict the enemy's movement along conventional sea lanes. Let's remember that galleys would not sail direct voyages but had to stay close to the shoreline. 

I have collected a mountain of info and sometimes need to navigate between too specific data that might not interest my reader and very superficial, widely known data. 

Meanwhile, I will continue reading books devoted to  Mediterranean shipping and naval warfare to grasp various approaches to the theme.