The galleon became the dominate ship in Europe from the 16th to 18th centuries. The ship grew from both the carrack and caravel. Once again it was larger than its predecessors and this made it better suited for the tasks at hand. Improved cargo capacity made this the ship of choice for the Spanish and their trade between the Philippines, Mexico, and Spain. Its larger size made for good gun platforms and thus an excellent warship.

The galleon was mostly in the 500 ton size range. The Manila galleons did however reach 2000 ton displacement. Each galleon had between 3 and 5 masts. Wind power was its sole method of propulsion and the increased sail area was needed for this. The ships still carried the lateen sail, more on sail types coming up, this helped with cross wind travel.

Galleons were built using different types of wood, oak keels, pine masts, and other hard woods for framing and planking. The amount of material and craftsmen needed to build a galleon were enormous. Because of this galleons almost always began life as a privately funded trading vessel. A galleon captured from an enemy was almost always pressed into military service. Another unique system on a galleon as opposed to other sailing ships was its rigging system. Since they undertook longer voyages than other ships more of the crew was expected to die along the way. So the rigging was done in such a way to allow fewer men to sail the ship.

A galleon is distinguished by its long beak and lateen rigged mizzenmast. In larger ships there would be a fourth mast also rigged with a lateen sail. English galleons were distinguished by the fact they flew the Cross of St. George from each mast, except the middle mast which flew the Tudor Rose. Another feature of a galleon over other ships of the time included the squared off gallery off the captains cabin.

Improvements in the design were made over time and eventually the Ship of the Line came to life. By the 18th century the galleon had been replaced as a war ship and trade by other vessels, the fluyt, brig, and ship of the line.