Model of a small galley or galiot with 16 banks of oars. Similar to the vessel Los Cuatro Santos de Cartagena (Alias Vigilante), 1761–65

The vessel has a long, slender hull and low sides. On the prow is a sturdy naval ram, while the stern is flat with skegs and a central rudder. The hull is almost entirely taken up by the rowing chamber, where the rowers’ benches are arranged diagonally, 16 per row, separated by a raised gangway where the supervisor directed and monitored the workers. There are 16 oars on each bank. The blades are decorated with gilded scroll-like patterns, and the oars are connected to rowlocks. The model has been repainted and modified several times, changing its appearance. The guns are a recent addition. Previously there were 2 more banks of oars where the guns are.

Galleys were Mediterranean ships that were mainly used as military vessels. Although there were merchant galleys, some of which crossed the Atlantic to the Indies, their lack of capacity for heavy loads, poor seafaring ability of their hulls in rough seas, and the fact that their sails and rigging were not able to adapt very well to ocean winds meant that other types of vessels were preferred for sailing in these conditions. Until the 16th century, they were the warships par excellence of the Mediterranean. They began to fall into decline after the Battle of Lepanto, finally disappearing altogether in the 18th century. Galiots had an identical structure to galleys but were smaller. They had between 16 and 20 rowing banks, with a single rower instead of the 3 or 4 in a galley. They did not have a stern corridor or a forecastle. Their weapons often consisted of 3 falconets at the prow and 2 at the stern, as seen in the plan of a 17th century galiot held at the Archive of Seville. Lightweight, fast vessels which rode well in the wind, they were the preferred vessels of Barbary pirates and corsairs, and also used as part of fleets of galleys on discovery missions, as packet vessels, and in the prevention of piracy.

On December 9, 1760, Friar Julián de Arriaga, Secretary of the Navy under Charles III of Spain, ordered the building of 2 galiots in Cartagena. This was in response to the ever-increasing North African pirate raids, which the Spanish navy was unable to contain using the xebecs (or zebecs, a Mediterranean sailing ship used mostly for trading) brought into service the previous decade. Another 2 were soon built at the same naval base, and then another 4 which were built in Naples for economic reasons. Work on the first galiot commenced on May 25, 1761, and it was named Los Cuatro Santos Cartageneros (alias La Vigilante). Following an official order sent on July 4, it was launched on September 5.

There is evidence of the model’s existence at Cartagena Naval Base in 1770, from where it was sent to the Naval Museum on October 8, 1844.