Posted on 10/07/2004 9:47:44 AM PDT by omega4412
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Lepanto, October 7, 1571, in which a Christian navy under Don John of Austria defeated the Turks.
Commemorated in G K Chesterton's poem Lepanto. An excerpt...as Don John approaches, Mohammed ("Mahound") speaking to his demons...
"But a noise is in the mountains, in the mountains, and I know
The voice that shook our palacesfour hundred years ago:
It is he that saith not 'Kismet'; it is he that knows not Fate;
It is Richard, it is Raymond, it is Godfrey at the gate!
It is he whose loss is laughter when he counts the wager worth..."
Fans of the poem might like the book "Lepanto by G K Chesterton," edited by Dale Ahlquist, on the historical and literary background of the poem. Ahlquist writes,
"So the problem with the poem is that it is a defense of the Catholic Church, of the Crusades, and of war: three things not generally looked kindly upon in today's English literature classes. Of course, neither are rhyme and meter. The only 20th century poetry that is permitted to be studied is that which clashes with everything: with the ear, with history, and with common sense."
More on the history
bttttttttt
Yes, except they had exceptionally long ranged guns, and destroyed the Turkish fleet (20 ships, taken out by 4) before they even got in range.
You ain't kidding. In the late 70s/early 80s, I taught at a Catholic prep school in Phx. and could assign TWICE the workload that I can to my college students, with an equal amount of understanding/retention.
I admit a gap in my knowlege of naval tactics during Lepanto-era. I'm betting that the heavy-caliber cannon fire was directed pretty much in the forward direction, because the galley was strongest along its keel, and therefore gunfire was used as a prelude to ramming. Firing guns at any other angle would likely induce a destabilizing roll. Guns that were directed outward along the beams of a galleyas would probably be used to discourage ramming or to clear the decks of an opponent prior to boarding.
I do know that during the later period of the Spanish Armada, the guns of the Spanish galleons were basically impossible to reload -- so naval gunfire was basically a one-shot, or one salvo affair. Only the English had a compact gun carriage that would permit reloading, but this was still some years off. Also, ships of that later period were generally not sunk, they were more commonly boarded & captured. But with the less robust construction of galleys (relative to galleons, cogs, etc.) this may not have held true.
Like you, I'm certainly no expert on this, but Hanson says they were longer range guns. Much of this was achieved by the Genoese and Venetian practice of BRONZE casting of guns, which gave them the ability to maintain a slightly larger powder charge. I do think the Galleass' guns were re-loadable. They simply could not have achieved a five-fold kill ratio if they weren't.
Whatever the reasons for their success, the Galleas was a 'silver bullet' weapon at Lepanto. The Turks simply had no weapon or tactic to counter it.
Yep, and two of the six never saw action, along with 20 of the Christian galleys.
BTTT
Reposted. Thanks for the reminder.
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