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This page: 2. The Evolution of the Square-rigged ship -Caravels and
Carracks...
This is followed by: 3.
The East Indiaman Merchant Ship
2. Caravels & Carracks of the 15th & 16th Centuries
The Caravel.
The Caravel was a type of fishing vessel that originated in Portugal
andwas developed and enlarged so that it became a fair sized ship.
Usually it was a vessel with a small stern castle, with a quarter
deck and poop deck at the stern, but with no forecastle, the forward
part of the ship. The typical size was 80 - 100 tons and went of
on voyages of discovery in the 15th century. |
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Caravel
Circa Late 15th and 16th Centuries |
The Nina & The Pinta: Christopher Columbus
Two well know examples of these were the "Nina" and the "Pinta"
that sailed with Christopher Columbus on his first journey to the West
Indies. Both were small vessel's estimated as about 60 tons with a probable
length of 65ft, a beam of 25ft and a draft of maybe 10 feet. Very small
vessels, you will agree!
In some cases a Caravel was converted to a Caravel Redunda by
moving the largest mast back to the center of the ship and the
second mast forward to the forecastle , then recutting the sails to
fit the yards . This was done to Christopher Columbus's "Nina" at
the Canary Islands on the way to America.
Caravel Redunda: Circa early 16th Century |
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The Mayflower: Columbas'
Flag Ship
Columbas' flag ship was a larger vessel, most likely a
Carrack, which had pretty much evolved from the Caravel by the end
of the 15th century. This was a very enclosed vessel, often with a
double forecastle deck and in fact only a small waist forward of the
midship mark, but still representing the original clear decks. Also
of interest, as far as the rig was concerned is that the shrouds are
now taken outside the hull to projecting platforms called chains or
channels from which they are braced with iron bars back to bolts
through the shipside. The significance is either that the
ship-builders were attempting to increase sail area by means of
taller masts or that they were attempting to decrease the hull beam
for the same sail area. Both of these would be a result of a desire
to increase the ship's sailing performance. |
The Mayflower
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Columbus was not very complimentary
about her sailing performance, however, and only calls her a Nao
(Often referred to as a distinct rig from the era, but more likley
was just a word that meant, "ship".) He mentions that she set a
spritsail - a small sail set under the bowsprit - and that she did
occasionally make use of the dinghy sail, set on the dinghy while it
was still on its chocks on board. All told, however, it is clear
that Columbus preferred the caravel type of his other two ships.
Five small cannon were often carried in the sterncastle as well as a
small swivel gun in the Mizen top. (The Mizzen is the aftermost mast
on a three masted ship.) Her dimensions were probably around 115 ft
in length, beam 33 ft and depth around 17 ft. Still a very small
ship to be sailing across the stormy Atlantic from England to
establish your colony on Roanoke.
The Nao (the ship of that name)
Interestingly, the only model preserved for us of a "Nao" from the
era is the Mataro ship now in Rotterdam Museum. Officially she is
called a "Nao", but, as I have mentioned, this term probably has
much the same meaning as the word ship in English and refers to a
broad type. Experts think that she really represents a two-masted
carrack. The model shows very clearly the amount of top hamper,
which was being built onto the original simple hull form. The aft
castle now extends as a solid structure all the way to the mainmast
amidships and the space below the forecastle has been boarded in as
well. Further, on top of the stern castle is another plat-form and
one can see in embryo the towering edifices which became such a
feature of the Spanish galleon.
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2. The East Indiaman Merchant Ship |
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at the evolution of sailing ship design -Caravels & Carracks...
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-Different Types of Vessels with Square-rig]
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