The smaller caravels were very popular in Columbus’ day, the sports cars of the sea. Each was likely a second hand merchant ship, the best that could be obtained at the time to be fast enough and reliable enough to do the job. None of the three ships were ever explicitly intended for exploration. Sleeping quarters were not included, the crew would have slept on the deck. Each ship carried supplies for their crews. The Nina and the Pinta were known as caravel vessels. The flagship Santa Maria was a carrack that displaced about 100 tons. The Santa Maria’s deck was around 58 feet and was the largest of the three, meant for carrying cargo. The Nina clocked in at about 50 feet of deck length. The Pinta had a deck length of only 56 feet. The Nina and the Pinta were both very small. These were not the mighty seafaring vessels some might have expected them to be. They were la Santa Clara (Niña), la Pinta and la Santa Gallega (Santa Maria). The Story of Christopher Columbus’ ShipsĬolumbus set sail with three vessels. They found a new land that no one had expected to be there. He realized right away that they hadn’t found the Orient. The problem was he thought it was a lot smaller than it truly is and that it would be a shortcut to China and India. The reason Columbus headed West was because everyone knew the world was round. Keep in mind, the popular story many people hear was that either Columbus thought the world was flat or that he thought he found China. The voyage was funded by the crown but it still must have seemed daunting at best to a crew who had never heard of anyone doing what they were about to do. He took three ships and a crew of 86 sailors. It was August of 1492 when Columbus set sail. Just how did Columbus make the journey that only a handful of Vikings had ever made before? When Columbus Sailed for the Americas But there’s one part of the story that not enough people pay attention to and that’s the ships themselves. Gone are they days when people thought Columbus thought the world was flat. The story has evolved over time to take a more realistic and practical view of the trip. It was in such ships that Christopher Columbus set out on his expedition in 1492 Santa María was a nau of about 100 tons which served as the flagship and the Pinta and Niña were smaller caravels of around 15–20 m with a beam of 6 m and displacing around 60–75 tons.Most schoolchildren learn the tale of Christopher Columbus and his historic voyage across the ocean. Early caravels such as the caravela tilhlda of the 15th century had an average length of between 12 and 18 m (39 and 59 ft), an average capacity of 50 to 60 tons, a high length-to-beam ratio of around 3.5 to 1, and narrow ellipsoidal frame (unlike the circular frame of the nau), making them very fast and maneuverable but with somewhat low capacity. The caravel was one of the pinnacle ships in Iberian ship development from 1400–1600.ĭue to its lighter weight and thus greater speed, the caravel was a boon to sailors.Įarly caravels generally carried two or three masts with lateen sails, while later types had four masts. However, for the trade itself, the caravel was later replaced by the larger carrack ( nau), which was more profitable for trading. The exploration done with caravels made the spice trade of the Portuguese and the Spanish possible. The limited capacity for cargo and crew were their main drawbacks, but did not hinder its success. Its economy, speed, agility, and power made it esteemed as the best sailing vessel of its time. With the lateen sails attached, it was highly maneuverable and could sail much nearer to the shore, while with the square Atlantic-type sails attached, it was very fast. Being smaller and having a shallow keel, the caravel could sail upriver in shallow coastal waters. They were agile and easier to navigate than the barca and barinel, with a tonnage of 50 to 160 tons and 1 to 3 masts, with lateen triangular sails. The caravel became the preferred vessel for Portuguese explorers like Diogo Cão, Bartolomeu Dias or Gaspar and Miguel Corte-Real, and by Christopher Columbus. Caravels were clearly a common type in Iberia for most of the 15th century. There is mention, in 1307, of larger caravels (up to 30 tons) in Biscay – a size that can be regarded as a ship, rather than a boat. Evidence from 1388 suggests that these were open boats. They were small, lightly-built vessels – perhaps of 20 tons or less, carrying, in one regional example, a crew of 5 men. These early caravels were used for offshore fishing and some coastal cargo carrying. They may well have been derived from similar Muslim craft that were used elsewhere in the Iberian Peninsula. The earliest caravels originated in the thirteenth century on the coasts of Galicia and Portugal. A replica of the caravel Boa Esperança in the city of Lagos, Portugal
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