Narrow passages, island fortifications, rowing craft, and landed artillery made the Baltic awkward for large ships of the line. Russia still needed powerful ships in navigable Baltic waters and for its separate Black Sea fleet. Venice faced a financial problem: it wanted credible maritime power after losing much of the spice-trade and banking wealth behind its earlier dominance. Geography and affordability could therefore lead navies with very different circumstances to the same 74-gun solution.
Notable Point · 7:43-10:44
Why Russia and Venice needed 74-gun ships
Baltic geography and Venetian finances show how different strategic requirements could lead both navies to the 74-gun ship.