In the 17th and 18th centuries, the most commonly used ships by Europeans were galleons. Galleons were improved versions of carracks. As you can see, they had three masts with square sails, a lower central deck, an angled forecastle and a heightened poop deck.

In the 17th century, galleons were used for transporting gold and silver that were found by Spanish and Portuguese explorers in the American colonies. Some of the silver was shipped by galleons to Manila; then, transferred by junks to China. The silver became part of the currency in China.

An existing 17th century galleon is the Swedish warship, Vasa. The ambitious Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus, ordered many people to work on it, and he spent a lot of money to build this warship to convey his maritime power to the world. It was exquisitely decorated, and the design was deemed to be the glory of the Swedish Royal Family. A poor cannon design led to the sinking of the Vasa during her maiden voyage in 1628.

The wreck of the Vasa was found in 1956 and it took five years to finish the salvage operation. The Vasa was not badly damaged during the sinking, so she was salvaged largely intact and is the best preserved 17th century warship. The Vasa Museum was established in 1990 and has become a popular attraction in Sweden.