ch worked by several men. She had the
drawbacks of most compromises. She could not sail as well as the frigate,
and her speed with the oar was much less than that of the galley. But the
gain was that she could be used as a floating battery, carrying many more
guns than the few pieces mounted in the galley's bows. The galleass's guns
were high above the water, and the galleys dreaded their plunging fire.
Each of Don Juan's six galleasses carried some thirty guns of various
calibres, and to defend their high sides against an attack by boarders,
their fighting-men were chiefly arquebusiers.

In order to fuse the triple fleet of the Allies into one armada, and to
avoid the risk of international jealousies, Don Juan proceeded to form his
galleys into five squadrons, each made up of ships selected from the three
fleets, so that none of these divisions could claim to act only for Rome,
or Spain, or Venice.

The organization of the Christian armada may be thus summed up in tabular
form:--

----------------+----------------------+--------+------------------------
Division. | Commander. |Galleys.| Sailing-ships.
----------------+----------------------+--------+------------------------
Vanguard |Juan de Cardona | 7 |
| | |Galleasses 6
M o { | | |Frigates 70
a f {Left Wing |Agostino Barbarigo | 53 | --
i { | | | 76
n b { | | |
a {Centre |Don Juan de Austria | 62 |These frigates sailed
l t { | | |during the voyage as a
i t { | | |separate squadron under
n l {Right Wing |Giovanni Andrea Doria | 50 |Don Cesar d'Avalos.
e e { | | |They were employed as
| | |storeships and tenders.
Reserve |Alvaro de Bazan, | |
|Marquis de Santa Cruz | 30 |
----------------+----------------------+--------+------------------------
Total 202 +76 sailing-ships = 278
ships in all.
----------------+----------------------+--------+------------------------

[Illustration: GALLEYS