The Decisive Battles of World History

x Not only would Lepanto prove to be a turning point in Ottoman

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years of recorded human history: the clash of oared war galleys.

The Ships
x The dominant warship that had been in use was a long, slender
wooden galley propelled by hundreds of oarsmen, and the tactics
still included ramming and boarding enemy vessels. Gunpowder
weapons had begun to make an appearance, and each Renaissance
galley was equipped with a large cannon at the bow and a few
smaller ones to either side. Some of the soldiers manning the deck
of the galley were also equipped with fairly primitive handheld
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x The Turks had been slower to incorporate these new weapons

into their ships; thus, Turkish galleys tended to have somewhat

smaller and fewer cannons. Similarly, their crews made greater

use of the traditional missile weapons rather than the new guns.

Although Turkish ships were typically smaller than their Christian

counterparts, because they lacked the weight of heavy cannons,

they were also faster and more maneuverable.

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broader and heavier than war galleys and had wooden castle-like

structures at their front ends. Up to nine heavy cannons were placed

in these castles, and lighter ones were added along the sides and at

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The Campaign
x Pope Pius V had brought together the Christian coalition that fought
at Lepanto. Realizing that no single Christian power could stand up
to the Turks, Pius made it his personal project to create a Christian
alliance that would be strong enough to do so.