reale france xvii century max - Reale de France XVII century galley by De Espona

The history of the Reale de France started in the XVII century at the time of the slaves. The vessel was of 63 m long and 9,70 wide with 413 oarmen that is 7 men per oar.
In order to be used as a sailing vessel, the Reale de France was equipped with two lateen sails which were always furled and the lateen yard chained to the masts to prevent them from sticking the oarsmen when the enemy fired.
However, due to the poor armament it took a large number of galleys to defeat a three armed mast. The galleys became very rare and the battle of Matapan in 1717 was the last one in which the galleys took part.

Decorated by the famous sculptor Pierre Puger, the ornamentation of Reale de France is today still conserved in the marine museum of Paris