The Venetian navy (Venetian: Armada) was the navy of the Venetian Republic which played an important role in the history of the republic and the Mediterranean world. It was the premier navy in the Mediterranean Sea for many centuries between the medieval and early modern periods, providing Venice with control and influence over trade and politics far in excess of the republic's size and population. It was one of the first navies to mount gunpowder weapons aboard ships, and through an organised system of naval dockyards, armouries and chandlers was able to continually keep ships at sea and rapidly replace losses. The Venetian Arsenal was one of the greatest concentrations of industrial capacity prior to the Industrial Revolution and responsible for the bulk of the republic's naval power.
Driven at first by a rivalry with the Byzantine Empire, and later the maritime republics of Pisa and Genoa for primacy over trade with the Levant, the Venetian navy was at times technically innovative and yet operationally conservative. With the final fall of Constantinople it played a key role in checking the maritime advance of the Ottoman Empire for over three centuries. The navy's long decline mirrored that of the republic, beginning in the 16th century and ending with the capitulation of the city to Napoleon in 1797.
Evolution of the Venetian navy
Giving shelter to refugees fleeing Hunnic invaders in the 6th century, Venice grew in the Venetian Lagoon in the northern Adriatic. From the very beginning, it focused on establishing and maintaining maritime trade routes across the Eastern Mediterranean to the Levant and beyond; Venice's commercial and military strength, and continued survival, was founded on the strength of its fleet. This allowed it for centuries to check the maritime advance of the numerically superior forces of the Ottoman Empire.
Origins, 8th to 11th centuries
The origins of the Venetian navy lay in the traditions of the Roman and Byzantine navies. Before developing into the Empire's archnemesis, Venice was originally a vassal, later an ally of the Byzantine Empire and it utilised Byzantine naval and military techniques. At this time there was little difference between the merchant and naval fleets; all ships had to be able to defend themselves if the need arose. In the event of hostilities ships and crews were taken up from trade to reinforce the war fleet, being dispersed back to the pursuit of commerce on the ending of the emergency. Even so, there were two types of vessels one primarily military and one predominantly mercantile.
The nave sottile (thin ship), a narrow-beamed galley, derived from the trireme, which for a millennium was the principal ship of the Mediterranean. When not in use as warships, galleys were used to transport low bulk high value cargoes.
The nave tonda (round ship) derived from the Roman navis oneraria (a sail-driven merchant vessel), this was a stubby broad-beamed ship with a high freeboard and multiple decks. It was designed for a profitable transport of cargo. Propelled mainly by the wind, the round ship was limited to sailing before the wind, and were therefore less maneuverable and more vulnerable to enemy attack than oar-propelled vessels. However, in the event of war, they would be used as supply and support ships.
Towards the end of the 9th century there appeared the main instrument of Venetian power:
The galea sottile (thin galley), an agile narrow-beamed ship with a single deck, propelled as needed by oars or lateen sails. It was an uncomfortable ship as, save perhaps a tent for the officers, the entire crew had to live exposed to the elements, the hold being devoted to supplies and cargo. However, the size of the crew, speed and maneuverability in combat, and the fact that it could sail against the wind or be rowed in the absence of the wind, made it ideal both as a warship and as a transport of the most valuable of cargoes. Length was about 45 metres and the beam 5, provision was made for about 25 banks of rowers.
In addition a number of other types of ships are mentioned in the Chronicles,
the galandria (or zalandria), a masted galley, with a raised archery platform or "castle"
the palandria, another type of war galley
the dromon, similar to contemporary Byzantine ships of the same name, but often larger, they were twin decked and equipped with "castles" and Greek fire projectors, making them useful in maritime sieges
the gumbaria, mentioned in the time of Pietro II Candiano, a term mostly associated with Muslim heavy warships
the ippogogo, a cavalry transport (from Greek: ἱππαγωγόν, "horse-carrier")
the buzo, the great war galley, twin or triple masted, a possible progenitor of the Bucentaur (the state barge of the Doges)
With these ships, Venice fought alongside the Byzantines against the Arabs, Franks and Normans, winning by the year 1000 dominance of the Adriatic, subjugating the Narentines and taking control of Dalmatia, the first domain in what would become Venice's Stato da Màr.