Galleon

The galleon is the most famous among the ancient vessels. It was directly evolved from the carrack; it had three or even 4 masts. It was designed and developed during 15th and 16th centuries - when the big forces in Europe started to colonize the world, and to have some pretensions among themselves about this colony domination distribution. These ships were slender than all other ships, and this helped a lot in their speed - the more slender a ship is, the faster it moves (but also the less stable it is to heeling). The first and biggest victory of fleet comprised of only galleons was the battle between the British naval forces and the Spanish Armada (1588), the British won.
With the development of the galleon, sea battle strategies were revolutionized - because wind was now in the role of the oarsmen. So people were there to fight, to fire guns.
In the 16th century, another innovation was introduced - guns were put inside the cabins, and the firemen shot them through holes in the hull. By the end of the century, even bigger boats of this type began to be built. They also began carrying more and heavier weaponry. Even the name of the ship comes from the Celtic word for "war vessel".
The biggest ever galleons were built by the two nations with longest traditions in overseas travelling - Spain and Portugal. And they were built for trade. These galleons were the ancestors of the full-rigged ships that dominated the seas until the revolutionizing introduction of steam propulsion in the middle of 19th century.