The ship
The Spanish galleon, explained
What a Spanish galleon was: how it developed, how to recognise one, why pirates targeted it, and what it means that Cozumel's pirate ship is a replica.
Reserve a place on the galleon ↗Quick answer
A galleon was a big sailing ship with several decks that grew out of earlier Portuguese and Spanish designs in the 1500s. It served as an armed cargo carrier and a warship, and it is most famous from the Spanish treasure fleet. Cozumel's pirate ship is described by its operator as a replica of a 17th-century Spanish galleon. Real galleons were the ships buccaneers hunted, so a Spanish galleon dressed as a pirate ship is a playful twist.
What a galleon was
The galleon descended from the caravel and the carrack, and it first appeared in Portugal and Spain early in the 16th century. It was a large sailing ship with several decks. Europeans used it as an armed cargo carrier from the 16th to the 18th centuries, during the Age of Sail. They were also the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the mid-17th century. In plain terms, a galleon was a working ship that could carry goods and also fight, which is why it mattered so much at sea.
How to recognise one
Galleons generally carried three or more masts. The rear masts had a lateen fore-and-aft rig, while the fore-mast and main-mast used square-rigged sail plans. The hull was carvel built, with a prominent squared-off raised stern. A long beak or beakhead projected forward from the bow. The galleon differed from the carrack primarily by being longer, lower and narrower, with a square tuck stern instead of a round one. When you look at a replica, these are the features to check: tall square sails on the front masts, slanting lateen yards behind them, and a high stern that rises well above the waterline.
The classic design
Captains of the Spanish navy designed the definitive long and relatively narrow-hulled galleon in the 16th century. Galleons were generally smaller than the biggest carracks, although some Manila galleons grew very large. They were powered entirely by wind, on three or four masts. They were used in military and trade roles, and most famously in the Spanish treasure fleet and the Manila galleons.
Why pirates hunted them
Galleons sailed most famously in the Spanish treasure fleet, so they were the prize. The writer Alexandre Exquemelin credits the Tortuga buccaneer Pierre Le Grand with pioneering the settlers' attacks on galleons making the return voyage to Spain. Buccaneers were privateers and pirates operating in the Caribbean in the 17th and 18th centuries. So the old picture is almost the reverse of a pirate show: the galleon was the target, and the pirates were the ones attacking it.
A replica in Cozumel
The ship on the Cozumel cruise is described by the operator as a replica of a 17th-century Spanish galleon. Replicas of this type exist elsewhere. Galeón Andalucía, built in Spain, is one real example, and the photographs on this page show it. The only original galleon to be preserved is the Vasa, which was raised from the sea and is kept as a museum ship. How closely any replica copies the original is for its operator to say, so this guide describes the type and not the ship.
What to look at on board
Use the features above as a checklist when you are on deck: the number of masts, the shape of the sails and yards, and the height of the stern. Then enjoy what the evening actually is, which is a pirate crew, a dinner and a party on the water. A replica galleon gives the show a stage that looks right, and the details of how it was built matter less than the sword fights, the games and the music.
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