A 14th-century Spanish galleon sailing on the high seas.
A galleon (the augmented form of Spanish galeon, from Latin galea) is a large multi-deck sailing vessel of the 16th–18th centuries with fairly powerful artillery armament, used as a military and commercial vessel. The main impetus for its creation was the emergence of permanent transportation between Europe and the American colonies. Galleons gained the greatest fame as ships transporting Spanish treasures and in the Battle of the Invincible Armada, which took place in 1588.