Publication Date
2009
Categories
In the return trip of the voyage in which Bartolomeu Dias empirically proved the existence of a maritime connection between the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans and, with it, of the possibility of navigating directly to the Oriental spice markets, it became evident that the Latin Caravel presented four types of limitations.
The first rested on autonomy: the Latin Caravel was used in exploratory navigation because it was a larger ship than those that had been utilized until then and, therefore, with greater cargo-holding capacity. The growing length of Atlantic routes resulted in a gradual decrease of this autonomy, especially when the ships navigated along inhospitable coastal regions, where provisioning was not possible. João de Barros, in the first of his Decadas da Asia, clearly states that in Diogo Cão´s voyage the caravel´s capacity to carry provisions for the crew (especially drinking water) was inadequate, thus Dias traveled with two Latin Caravels and a small supply ship, destined to be abandoned - a temporary solution that was not viable in the long run.
On the other hand, the navigators relayed to the King the existence of "mares grossos", rough seas, which they were unable to navigate with caravels.
The nature of the cargo: the spices were light but voluminous and the caravels could not hold large enough loads to make the new commercial route they intended to establish profitable.
Finally, the known wind pattern of the South Atlantic made it desirable to utilize "pano redondo" [square or rectangular sails] and to have constant tail winds to assure more comfortable, safer, and faster navigation, as the caravel´s triangular Lateen sails were not the most adequate.
The answer to all these issues - the carrack: a larger ship, with bulging hull adequate for transporting voluminous cargo, greater ability to withstand the sea, rigged with square sails at two masts and an auxiliary Lateen-type sail at the aft mast. The carrack was a cargo vessel par excellence, and the largest of these in Vasco da Gama´s fleet had a tonnage of around 120; however, the tonnage rapidly reached 500-600, which became the standard of the 1500s carrack. The ship had three decks with wood flooring from stern to stern, where provisions, cargo, and heavy armament were stored. It had two rounded sterns with an aftcastle and a forecastle, where there was extra space to accommodate cargo and weapons, besides housing the most important passengers.
The carrack was already known in the European Middle Ages as a type of boat; this generic ship category was given various names in different countries. What the Portuguese achieved was to construct the first vessel prepared for long-term interoceanic navigation, starting from a traditional approach to building ships, and theirs were distinguished by a superior reinforcement of the hull structure and by a sail surface area much larger than that which was common at the time, requiring particular dexterity from its crews.
The size of this type of ship is normally exaggerated, and there is no basis to speak of carracks over 1000 or more tons in the 16th century - carracks able to make several round trips to India. This tonnage would only be reached regularly in the 17th century, with the four-decked ships; however, the three-decked ones were preferred. This while other European nations, such as England and Holland, tended to utilize smaller, two-decked, more easily maneuverable ships than those of the Portuguese.
Despite being a cargo ship, the carrack was equipped with large-caliber artillery pieces (about 20 on the average 600 ton ship), which were increasingly necessary as they were required to face the threats posed by corsair navigation and non-allied oriental potentates. Although it was designed for increased cargo-holding capacity, due to the circumstances, the carrack was a bifunctional vessel.
Bibliography:
CASTRO, Filipe Vieira de, A Nau de Portugal. Os navios da conquista do Império do Oriente 1498-1650, Lisboa, Prefácio, 2003. DOMINGUES, Francisco Contente, Os Navios do Mar Oceano. Teoria e empiria na arquitectura naval portuguesa dos século XVI e XVII, Lisboa, Centro de História da Universidade de Lisboa, 2004.
Translated by: Maria João Pimentel
The first rested on autonomy: the Latin Caravel was used in exploratory navigation because it was a larger ship than those that had been utilized until then and, therefore, with greater cargo-holding capacity. The growing length of Atlantic routes resulted in a gradual decrease of this autonomy, especially when the ships navigated along inhospitable coastal regions, where provisioning was not possible. João de Barros, in the first of his Decadas da Asia, clearly states that in Diogo Cão´s voyage the caravel´s capacity to carry provisions for the crew (especially drinking water) was inadequate, thus Dias traveled with two Latin Caravels and a small supply ship, destined to be abandoned - a temporary solution that was not viable in the long run.
On the other hand, the navigators relayed to the King the existence of "mares grossos", rough seas, which they were unable to navigate with caravels.
The nature of the cargo: the spices were light but voluminous and the caravels could not hold large enough loads to make the new commercial route they intended to establish profitable.
Finally, the known wind pattern of the South Atlantic made it desirable to utilize "pano redondo" [square or rectangular sails] and to have constant tail winds to assure more comfortable, safer, and faster navigation, as the caravel´s triangular Lateen sails were not the most adequate.
The answer to all these issues - the carrack: a larger ship, with bulging hull adequate for transporting voluminous cargo, greater ability to withstand the sea, rigged with square sails at two masts and an auxiliary Lateen-type sail at the aft mast. The carrack was a cargo vessel par excellence, and the largest of these in Vasco da Gama´s fleet had a tonnage of around 120; however, the tonnage rapidly reached 500-600, which became the standard of the 1500s carrack. The ship had three decks with wood flooring from stern to stern, where provisions, cargo, and heavy armament were stored. It had two rounded sterns with an aftcastle and a forecastle, where there was extra space to accommodate cargo and weapons, besides housing the most important passengers.
The carrack was already known in the European Middle Ages as a type of boat; this generic ship category was given various names in different countries. What the Portuguese achieved was to construct the first vessel prepared for long-term interoceanic navigation, starting from a traditional approach to building ships, and theirs were distinguished by a superior reinforcement of the hull structure and by a sail surface area much larger than that which was common at the time, requiring particular dexterity from its crews.
The size of this type of ship is normally exaggerated, and there is no basis to speak of carracks over 1000 or more tons in the 16th century - carracks able to make several round trips to India. This tonnage would only be reached regularly in the 17th century, with the four-decked ships; however, the three-decked ones were preferred. This while other European nations, such as England and Holland, tended to utilize smaller, two-decked, more easily maneuverable ships than those of the Portuguese.
Despite being a cargo ship, the carrack was equipped with large-caliber artillery pieces (about 20 on the average 600 ton ship), which were increasingly necessary as they were required to face the threats posed by corsair navigation and non-allied oriental potentates. Although it was designed for increased cargo-holding capacity, due to the circumstances, the carrack was a bifunctional vessel.
Bibliography:
CASTRO, Filipe Vieira de, A Nau de Portugal. Os navios da conquista do Império do Oriente 1498-1650, Lisboa, Prefácio, 2003. DOMINGUES, Francisco Contente, Os Navios do Mar Oceano. Teoria e empiria na arquitectura naval portuguesa dos século XVI e XVII, Lisboa, Centro de História da Universidade de Lisboa, 2004.
Translated by: Maria João Pimentel