Galleon

a large, unwieldy sailing ship. It was formerly much used by the Spaniards. The galleon was an awkward ship of three or four decks, all capable of carrying guns and marines armed with dirk and cutlass. "The galleons," says Motley, "were huge, round-stemmed, clumsy vessels, with bulwarks three or four feet thick, and built up at stem and stern, like castles." The Spaniards employed the galleons especially as treasure-ships in their western commerce. A Spanish galleon laden with treasure of the New World was a prize worthy of Drake or Hawkins. See Drake; Sir Francis