Resumen de Santiago de Galicia and the Illyrian squadron: Characteristics, dimensions and tonnages of Mediterranean-built galleons for Philip’s II Atlantic fleets (1593–1597)
This article discusses the characteristics, dimensions and tonnages of the Mediterranean-built galleons of the Illyrian squadron, focusing on its vice-flagship, Santiago de Galicia. In 1590 Philip II signed an asiento (contract) with two Ragusan noblemen – Pedro de Ivella, and his nephew, Estefano de Oliste – for the construction of 12 galleons to serve in the Spanish Atlantic fleets. According to Ivella’s correspondence, these galleons were designed and built as ocean-going warships. Contemporary documents located in the General Archive of Simancas (Spain), however, reveal the Mediterranean influence, rather than ocean-going qualities, of the vessels’ form and construction. Their dimensions, tonnages and ratios were more like the Mediterranean navi of the Great Armada than the ocean-going galleons built in Spain, Portugal or England. Discrepancies are also present regarding the composition of the squadron and of the tonnages for the same galleons between these documents – these subtle changes could be interpreted as an attempt to swindle the Spanish Crown by increasing the ships’ tonnages for Ivella’s own benefit. Despite these discrepancies, Santiago de Galicia and other galleons of the Illyrian squadron served in Phillip II’s Atlantic fleets only to be lost, or badly damaged, due to storms in the Armadas of 1596 and 1597.
