Approximate strength of galley fleets in number of vessels[1]
"Country" 1500s 1510s 1520s 1530s 1540s 1550s 1560s 1570s 1580s 1590s
Venice 88 77 - - 143 - 127-130 106-108 117-146 118
Ottoman Empire 250 below 100 - 82-140 - 103 85-140 100-250 45-100 45-100
Spain - - 4-10 4-10 40-60 40-60 40-100 55-146 - 63-75
France c. 10 c. 10 - - 40-50 - - 14-20 14-20 0
Papal States 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 6 10 10
Malta
Genoa - - - - - 1-3 3-4 3-8 6-8 6-8
Tuscany
Savoy/Sardinia
Austria


Approximate strength of galley fleets in number of vessels[2]
"Country" 1600 1625 1650 1675 1700 1725 1740 1760 1790 1800
Spain 63-75 40 30 30 30 7 7 0 4 2
Venice 16+ 16+ 70 60 50 40 30 20 20 -
Ottoman Empire 45-100 45-100 60-80 60 30 30 15 15 5 0
France 4-10 36 25 42 15 15 10 0 0
Papal States 5 5 4 6 4 5 5 0
Malta 6 7 8 5 4 4 4 -
Genoa 10 10 6 6 6 6 6 -
Tuscany 5 4 3-4 2-3 2 0 0 0
Savoy/Sardinia 2 2 2 4 4 0 0 0
Austria 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 4


Approximate strength of galley fleets in number of vessels; Atlantic, Baltic[3]
"Country" 1500-50 1550-1600 1600-50 1650-1700 1700-60 1760-1790 1790-1830
England 0 0 0 2
Sweden 0 0 0 2
Dernmark-Norway 0 0 0 2
Russia 0 0 0 2
  • Ottoman Empire[4]
    • 1501: 50 heavy galleys, 200 galleys, 150 galiots and fustas
    • 1517: <100 galleys
    • 1534: 82 galleys
    • 1537: 82 galleys
    • 1538: 90 galleys, 50 galiots at Prevesa
    • 1539: 58 large galleys, 82 galleys at siege of Catelnuovo
    • 1552: 103 galleys in Western Mediterranean
    • 1560: 85 galleys at Djerba
    • 1565: 140 galleys at siege of Malta
    • 1570: 160 galleys at invasion of Cyprus
    • 1571: c. 230 galleys at Lepanto
    • 1572: 140-25 galleys, 5 galleasses despite huge losses at Lepanto (note ease of rebuilding galley hulls)
    • 1573: 250 galleys, 15 galleasses; all-time high
    • 1575-1644: 45-70 galleys normally (100 at most)
    • 1645-69: 60-80 galleys, 5-10 galleasses in the wars against Venice
    • 1676: 60 galleys
    • 1684: 40 galleys
    • 1686: 40 galleys
    • 1690-1710: 30 galleys
    • 1730: 17 galleys, 8 galiots
    • 1736-39: 15-30 galleys (war with Russia)
    • 1734: 25 galleys
    • 1745: 12 galleys
    • 1768-74: 13 galleys lost at battle of Tchesma in 1770; some operating in Black Sea
    • 1788: 4 galleys; 1 flagship galleys (possibly last Ottoman war galleys, nothing heard from them after that)
    • also squadrons of Ottoman galleys in Red Sea at Suez; Persian Gulf
  • Venice[5]
    • permanent standing fleet (rare at the time) of 25-30 galleys during most of the 16th century
    • usually put a minimum of 50 galleys to sea during wars; up to c. 100[6]
    • 17th-18th centuries: peacetime force of 16 galleys (and 2-4 galleasses until c. 1620); reduced to 12 after 1718 and then gradually replaced with galiots, xebecs and light sailing ships for patrols
    • 1783: 9 galleys, 1 brigantine, 4 xebecs
    • 1633: reserve fleet of 50 galleys, 6 galleasses
    • 1644: war fleet of 85 galleys
    • 1651-61: 22-24 galleys during campaigns
    • 1683-99: 28 galleys (1684)
    • 1714-18: 15-18 galleys (through 21 galleys in service, 35 in reserve, 37 under construction in 1711)
    • 1619-1669: 340 galleys, 35 flagships, 30 galleasses built in the Arsenal (peak in 1640s)
    • 1797 (year of Napoleon's conquest): 23 galleys (12 active), 7 galiots, 50 gunboats


  • Habsburg Spain[7]
    • permanent force from 1523: Galleys of Spain, 4-10 galleys
    • Galleys of Spain: 25 (1567-71), 33-46 (1572-78), 20+ (1581-94); 8 (1596-1606); 12-15 (1610s)
    • 1530s-60s: 40 permanent galley, 60 in wartime
    • 1561-71: 55-100 galleys
    • 1574: 146 galleys
    • 1598-1616: 63-75 galleys
    • 1637-41: 40 galleys
    • 1646: 30 galleys
    • 1674-79: 20-30 galleys
    • 1701: 30 galleys
    • 1578-1615: 6 galleys in Caribbean Cartagena, Havana, Santo Domingo
  • France[8]
    • 1500-20: 10 (or fewer) royal galleys
    • 1545: 37 galleys (25 participated in attack on England)
    • 1548(-59?): permanent force of 40 galleys (30 in Mediterranean, 10 in Atlantic)
    • 1550: 50 galleys
    • 1578-80: 14-20 galleys, though few servicable
    • 1590: 0 galleys, all destroyed or disabled in the civil war
    • 1610: one dozen galleys and "entrepreneur" vessels
  • Knights of Saint John[9]
    • 15: galleys
    • 16: galleys
    • 17: galleys
  • Papal State(s)[10]
    • considerable galley forces hired from Venice, Tuscany, Genoa, etc
    • 1500-60: 3 galleys, all lost at Djerba 1560
    • 1560s: 0 galleys
    • 1573: 6 galleys
    • 1587-1605: 10 galleys
    • 1605: 5 galleys
    • 1740s: 4 galleys
    • 1755-97: 5 galleys (2 of which in reserve), ended by Napoleon
  • Genoa[11]
    • no permanent navy, "galley entrepreneurs" hired out vessels to other Christian powers
    • 1559: 1-3 galleys
    • 1559-83: 3-4 galleys
    • 1586-1607: 6-8 galleys
    • 1620s-30s: 6-7 galleys
    • 1642: 6 and 2-9 locally armed galleys (from Ligurian coastal cities)
    • 1650-: 6-7 + some local galleys
    • galley force existed until the end of the Genoese republic in 1797 (Napoleon)
  • Portugal[12]
    • no reliable sources
    • "light galley-type vessels" in Indian Ocean
  • post-Habsburg successor states[13]
    • mostly anti-corsair forces
    • no forces larger than 5-8 galleys (Naples in late 18th century)
    • last Spanish galleys out service in 1808
    • last Habsburg galleys (Austrian) disappeared in 1725
  1. ^ Based on Glete (1992), pp. xx, xx.
  2. ^ Based on Glete (1992), pp. xx, xx.
  3. ^ Based on Glete (2009), pp. xx, xx.
  4. ^ Glete (1993), pp. 508–10
  5. ^ Glete (1993), pp. 504-7/8
  6. ^ Glete (1993), p. 506
  7. ^ Glete (1993), pp. 510–13
  8. ^ Glete (1993), pp. 513–15
  9. ^ Glete (1993), pp. 515–16
  10. ^ Glete (1993), pp. 516
  11. ^ Glete (1993), pp. 516–17
  12. ^ Glete (1993), p. 517
  13. ^ Glete (1993), pp. 517–18