Boris Gudenuf
Deity
If I may, I've posted on this subject before, ad I might be able to clarify a few things.
First, recognize that the Renaissance Era saw a lot of development and experimentation in ship design. Specifically, in the Caravel, Carrack, and Galleon there are three types that come from completely different starting points and, since they werre essentially all aiming for the same multi-purpose capability, became more and more alike as they developed.
Second, realize that the nomenclature was not hard and fast, and the term that refered to one thing nautical might refer to something entirely different a century later.
So, to start with, the Caravel.
This is first mentioned about 1451 CE, a Portuguese development from small lateen-rigged coastal trading and fishing boats. The earliest illustration of a Caravel shows a two-masted ship, lateen sails on both masts, total capacity about 50 tons. It was considered very fast and maneuverable but the small size meant that it couldn't carry enough food and water to spend many days without making port: the earliest Caravels could scout down the African coast, but attempting to cross the Atlantic or Indian Oceans was liable to result in making port, if at all, with half the crew dead of starvation or dehydration.
Consequently, they started getting bigger, and by the end of the 15th century were up to 160 - 200 tons, with 3 - 4 masts, and the largest of them started adding low stern and forecastles and square rigging the foremast - becoming the Nao or Nau and not coincidentally, becoming big enough both to carry small cannon and cross oceans without decimating their own crew.
Now, the Carrack has a longer and more varied development. First, because it started earlier than the Caravel: the first Carracks were developed from the Cog (which is obviously needed as a Civ Medieval ship type given its importance as an ancestor to later types) between 1304 and 1380 CE in Genoa. The earliest Carracks shown late in the 14th century have 2 masts, the mizzen mast lateen rigged and the foremast square rigged. The ships had no stern or forecastles, so early Carracks looked very similar to small Naos or late-model Hulks. By 1410 CE Genoan Carracks appear in northern Europe, by about 1468 CE are shown with 3 masts, and large stern and forecastles as part of the hull. The square sails on the forward masts also added topsails and by about the end of the 15th century only the mizzen mast was lateen rigged.
In northern Europe Carracks were 'clinker built' - the technique used since at least 700 CE by the Scandinavians, in which the hull planks were overlapped like shingles and nailed together, so that a lot of the strength of the hull was from the planking rather than the frame. This became so common that 'Carrack-built' or 'Carrack Hull' referred to this clinker construction, not the ship-type. This type of construction had one fatal flaw, however: cut a hole in the hull - like say, for a gun port - and you weakened the entire hull. Since after 1500 CE not only gunports for big guns but also sealable covers for the gunports had been invented, the Carracks after that date are increasingly 'caravel built' with smooth-sided planking nailed to a sturdy frame of keel and ribs.
By the end of the 15th century Carracks with their towering 'castles' had also become much larger than the Caravel-Nao line, reaching up to 1000 tons draft by 1498 CE.
A good example of a Carrack from around this time was the Mary Rose, launched in England in 1511 CE. She was originally a 500 ton clinker-built hull with 2 gun decks, but 64 of her 78 guns were anti-personnel weapons only - oversized muskets rather than true 'cannon'.
In 1536 CE she was rebuilt, the hull changed to 'caravel' planking and a third gun deck added. Now she carried 96 guns, but only 22 were cannon, the rest still 'swivel guns' or anti-personnel only. Note that from her wreckage they also salvaged a mass of personal weapons, including longbows, so she was still not a true 'gunship': the intention remained Medieval in that she was going to close in, riddle the enemy crew with arrows and musketballs, and then board her. Effective ship killing cannon were still in the future.
Those came with the Galleon, another Mediterranean development.
It was developed in Spain in the early 16th century (first illustration is from 1511 CE) from the Venetian galleone, a combination oared and sail-powered ship used to hunt down pirates. By the 1530s the Spanish had lost all the oars and developed a pure ailing ship with a longer, lower, and narrower hull than the average Carrack, carrying 3 - 4 masts of which only the mizzen was lateen rigged, all the others square rigged. With lower stern and , especially, a low forecastle Galleons were much more maneuverable than Carracks of the same size, and the lower hulls could carry more and bigger guns (by the 1550s, up to 32 pounders) without becoming fatally top heavy (the Vasa was a Carrack design which turned turtle and sank before she got out of harbor)
But note: a late Carrack, large Nao/Caravel or Galleon could all be about the same size - 450 - 600 tons, and the Carrack and Caravel type hulls were neither well-designed to carry lots of big cannon safely.
Which is why the Galleon was the one that got developed. In the 1560s England built three galleons, then in 1570 John Hawkins cut down their forecastles and stern castles (remember, these were already lower than the Carracks') and produced the 'race built galleon'. An example was the Foresight, which was only 300 tons, so not much larger than a large Nao, but with a relatively low superstructure, so could sail closer to the wind and maneuver handily, and was much more stable. She had a continuous gun deck with 28 heavy cannon, making her better armed than Carracks twice her size. Galleons could be rigged exactly like Carracks, with 3 - 4 masts and a lateen rigged mizzen, but increasingly the lateen sails disappeared on the masts, and all masts were square-rigged.
In the 17th century, once race built galleons started being built with 2 or 3 continuous gun decks, the Ship-of-the-Line was born. The first is generally considered to have been the English Sovereign of the Seas, launched in 1637 CE. She was a 3 masted fully rigged ship (square sails on all masts) of 1522 tons, 3 gun decks, and carried over 100 'big guns' - the first ship in the world to carry so much heavy ordinance.
Now, in game terms, I suggest that the Caravel is really a Scout vessel more than anything else. Only the Portugeuse UU Nau could be considered a 'fighting ship', and it would really be a Melee vessel, having largely anti-personnel short-ranged guns only.
The Carrack would be the Renaissance Melee ship: again, largely short ranged anti-personnel weapons.
The Galleon is the Renaissance Ranged ship, the first type carrying deck-loads of heavy cannon, and the type that can be Upgraded realistically into the Ship-of-the-Line of the (early) Industrial Era.
First, recognize that the Renaissance Era saw a lot of development and experimentation in ship design. Specifically, in the Caravel, Carrack, and Galleon there are three types that come from completely different starting points and, since they werre essentially all aiming for the same multi-purpose capability, became more and more alike as they developed.
Second, realize that the nomenclature was not hard and fast, and the term that refered to one thing nautical might refer to something entirely different a century later.
So, to start with, the Caravel.
This is first mentioned about 1451 CE, a Portuguese development from small lateen-rigged coastal trading and fishing boats. The earliest illustration of a Caravel shows a two-masted ship, lateen sails on both masts, total capacity about 50 tons. It was considered very fast and maneuverable but the small size meant that it couldn't carry enough food and water to spend many days without making port: the earliest Caravels could scout down the African coast, but attempting to cross the Atlantic or Indian Oceans was liable to result in making port, if at all, with half the crew dead of starvation or dehydration.
Consequently, they started getting bigger, and by the end of the 15th century were up to 160 - 200 tons, with 3 - 4 masts, and the largest of them started adding low stern and forecastles and square rigging the foremast - becoming the Nao or Nau and not coincidentally, becoming big enough both to carry small cannon and cross oceans without decimating their own crew.
Now, the Carrack has a longer and more varied development. First, because it started earlier than the Caravel: the first Carracks were developed from the Cog (which is obviously needed as a Civ Medieval ship type given its importance as an ancestor to later types) between 1304 and 1380 CE in Genoa. The earliest Carracks shown late in the 14th century have 2 masts, the mizzen mast lateen rigged and the foremast square rigged. The ships had no stern or forecastles, so early Carracks looked very similar to small Naos or late-model Hulks. By 1410 CE Genoan Carracks appear in northern Europe, by about 1468 CE are shown with 3 masts, and large stern and forecastles as part of the hull. The square sails on the forward masts also added topsails and by about the end of the 15th century only the mizzen mast was lateen rigged.
In northern Europe Carracks were 'clinker built' - the technique used since at least 700 CE by the Scandinavians, in which the hull planks were overlapped like shingles and nailed together, so that a lot of the strength of the hull was from the planking rather than the frame. This became so common that 'Carrack-built' or 'Carrack Hull' referred to this clinker construction, not the ship-type. This type of construction had one fatal flaw, however: cut a hole in the hull - like say, for a gun port - and you weakened the entire hull. Since after 1500 CE not only gunports for big guns but also sealable covers for the gunports had been invented, the Carracks after that date are increasingly 'caravel built' with smooth-sided planking nailed to a sturdy frame of keel and ribs.
By the end of the 15th century Carracks with their towering 'castles' had also become much larger than the Caravel-Nao line, reaching up to 1000 tons draft by 1498 CE.
A good example of a Carrack from around this time was the Mary Rose, launched in England in 1511 CE. She was originally a 500 ton clinker-built hull with 2 gun decks, but 64 of her 78 guns were anti-personnel weapons only - oversized muskets rather than true 'cannon'.
In 1536 CE she was rebuilt, the hull changed to 'caravel' planking and a third gun deck added. Now she carried 96 guns, but only 22 were cannon, the rest still 'swivel guns' or anti-personnel only. Note that from her wreckage they also salvaged a mass of personal weapons, including longbows, so she was still not a true 'gunship': the intention remained Medieval in that she was going to close in, riddle the enemy crew with arrows and musketballs, and then board her. Effective ship killing cannon were still in the future.
Those came with the Galleon, another Mediterranean development.
It was developed in Spain in the early 16th century (first illustration is from 1511 CE) from the Venetian galleone, a combination oared and sail-powered ship used to hunt down pirates. By the 1530s the Spanish had lost all the oars and developed a pure ailing ship with a longer, lower, and narrower hull than the average Carrack, carrying 3 - 4 masts of which only the mizzen was lateen rigged, all the others square rigged. With lower stern and , especially, a low forecastle Galleons were much more maneuverable than Carracks of the same size, and the lower hulls could carry more and bigger guns (by the 1550s, up to 32 pounders) without becoming fatally top heavy (the Vasa was a Carrack design which turned turtle and sank before she got out of harbor)
But note: a late Carrack, large Nao/Caravel or Galleon could all be about the same size - 450 - 600 tons, and the Carrack and Caravel type hulls were neither well-designed to carry lots of big cannon safely.
Which is why the Galleon was the one that got developed. In the 1560s England built three galleons, then in 1570 John Hawkins cut down their forecastles and stern castles (remember, these were already lower than the Carracks') and produced the 'race built galleon'. An example was the Foresight, which was only 300 tons, so not much larger than a large Nao, but with a relatively low superstructure, so could sail closer to the wind and maneuver handily, and was much more stable. She had a continuous gun deck with 28 heavy cannon, making her better armed than Carracks twice her size. Galleons could be rigged exactly like Carracks, with 3 - 4 masts and a lateen rigged mizzen, but increasingly the lateen sails disappeared on the masts, and all masts were square-rigged.
In the 17th century, once race built galleons started being built with 2 or 3 continuous gun decks, the Ship-of-the-Line was born. The first is generally considered to have been the English Sovereign of the Seas, launched in 1637 CE. She was a 3 masted fully rigged ship (square sails on all masts) of 1522 tons, 3 gun decks, and carried over 100 'big guns' - the first ship in the world to carry so much heavy ordinance.
Now, in game terms, I suggest that the Caravel is really a Scout vessel more than anything else. Only the Portugeuse UU Nau could be considered a 'fighting ship', and it would really be a Melee vessel, having largely anti-personnel short-ranged guns only.
The Carrack would be the Renaissance Melee ship: again, largely short ranged anti-personnel weapons.
The Galleon is the Renaissance Ranged ship, the first type carrying deck-loads of heavy cannon, and the type that can be Upgraded realistically into the Ship-of-the-Line of the (early) Industrial Era.
