The Brilliant Engineering of the French War Galley

⚓ In 1704 six French galleys carrying 3,000 men rowed out of Ostend to take five helpless merchant ships. The ships were Dutch men of war with their gunports shut, and more than 250 of the galley men were killed. This is the engineering story of the French war galley, told through La Palme of the Dunkirk squadron and her fight with the frigate Nightingale in 1707. Working from the memoirs of Jean Marteilhe, who rowed on La Palme, Falconer's dictionary, the French rules of 1691 and the English court martial, we follow a chain of problems: moving without wind, timing three hundred men, a shallow hold, the open sea and guns that fired only ahead. The galley was a machine built around people. Its sides belonged to the oars, so its guns pointed over the bow, and in a line of battle there was no place for a ship that could only shoot ahead. 🔧 Inside this video: • The Unicorn of Rotterdam, taken in a dead calm without a fight • A hull of 144 French feet and an oar frame 26 French feet across • Oars of up to 50 feet, balanced on the apostis with lead • Six men to a bench and a silver whistle for 300 rowers • Convicts shared out at Dunkirk like oxen at a fair • Peter Bart, the gale off Ambleteuse and a galley brought in under sail • The coursier gun, the spur and why a galley raked from the bow • Respectable benches, the comite's whip and twenty hours at the oar • Seth Jermy, the grappling irons and one gun that killed seventeen men Salt & Oak takes one object apart like this every week, built from primary sources and arithmetic. Subscribe if that is your kind of naval history. ⚓ Seth Jermy gave up his ship to buy time for a convoy of merchantmen. Was that the right call for a naval captain, or should he have saved the Nightingale? Make your case in the comments and bring your source. #AgeOfSail #NavalHistory #MaritimeHistory #MilitaryHistory #RoyalNavy #SaltAndOak 00:00 The Trap Off Ostend, 1704 01:28 A Warship Taken in a Calm 03:12 From Bronze Ram to Bow Gun 04:33 Slim Hull, Wide Frame 06:03 A Galley Launched Between Two Suns 07:34 Sorted Like Oxen at Dunkirk 09:05 Problem One: Moving Without Wind 10:54 Three Hundred Men, One Stroke 11:45 Seven Feet of Hold 13:03 The Gale Off Ambleteuse 14:36 The Last Problem: The Guns 15:48 Twenty Hours at the Oar 17:43 Respectable Benches and the Whip 20:12 Six Galleys Against the Nightingale 22:53 One Gun, Eighteen Men 25:39 Why the Gun Port Won 26:55 Outro: An Engine in Chains