The Beginnings Of Exploration: Ships

This image is a model of the Santa Maria, a caravel used in Columbus' voyage to the Americas, photographed by Edward H. Hart. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/det1994012335/PP/

             Without the technological developments to ships made in the years before Europeans, especially the Spanish and the Portuguese, established transatlantic trade routes, colonization of the Americas would not have been possible. One ship that grew extremely popular in Spain and Portugal as Atlantic exploration grew was the caravela redonda, a ship that featured two to three masts, square sails, and a high length-to-beam ratio (Paine). The set-up of the ship’s masts and sails and its ability to easily maneuver through the sea enabled sailors to better capture the winds on the open ocean, a feature that would help to ensure European explorers, such as Christopher Columbus, success in sailing vast distances across the oceans. The new ship design also offered travel benefits. The high length-to-beam ratio of the carrack, the English name for the caravel, allowed the ship to travel faster, while the increased number of masts and sails meant the ship could take greater advantage of wind power (Clydesdale). With faster travel times and more power, European sailors possessed the ability to make more trips to and from their destinations instead of having to undergo longer voyages with the less maneuverable, slower ships they used before the caravel. New developments in ship technology solved problems and risks associated with ocean travel. With the ability to better command their ships, as well as determine their location with improved navigation tools, sailors no longer had to closely sail by the coastline and could take advantage of winds that would power them through dangerous areas, such as the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.