What Ships Did Columbus Go On

The people of the Middle Ages were mostly exploring new lands and finding new and faster routes of trade. Though they were limited in technology, things like ships are much faster better built than in the Fifteenth Century. This paper will discuss the differences between fifteenth century and modern day ships.

In the Middle Ages large ships were used for trade and exploration. In the case of Columbus he had three ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. The Nina and Pinta were caravels, these have shallower drafts than that of the nao.

Caravels did not have much cargo space. They were better to use than naos, because they were able to navigate in and around bays or rivers. Caravels were square-rigged in the fore and mainmasts, used lateen sails, and had a crew of at least twenty members. The Santa Maria was nao, because these were such large ships they were unable to sail near the coastline of the mainland.

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Naos were better able to with stand bad weather. This is what Columbus’s ships were described to look like. Though many are not too sure about the description of the Santa Maria.

The Nina was the smallest of Columbus’s fleet. She was captained by Vicente Anes Pinzon. The Nina was a fifty or sixty ton caravel with a fifteen meter length. When the ship left Spain it had lateen sail on all masts, much like the Santa Maria, but the lateen sails were replaced with square ones in the Canary Islands.

These sails went on the fore and main masts. The Nina is said to have had four masts, including a small counter-mizzen at the stern. This could have made the Nina the better choice for sailing upwind.

The Pinta was captained by Martin Alonso Pinzon. The Pinta was a seventy to caravel with a seventeen meter length. She more than likely had three masts and carried the same sails used on the Santa Maria.

The Santa Maria was rented, she was owned by Juan de la Cosa. Cosa sailed with Columbus as one of his first officers. The Santa Maria was formerly known as the La Gallega, since Cosa was from Galicia. The Santa Maria had three masts, each of them carried one large sail. The Santa Maria also has a crow’s nest on the mainmast. She had a raised stern and a forecastle in the bow of the ship. The Santa Maria was ran aground within the region of Hispaniola and was abandoned.

Now in the Twenty-First Century we have so many technological advances. Many of them involve ships and new ways to run them. Today cargo ships and others similar to them are fossil fuel dependent. Many ships today use exhaust technology using an open-loop scrubber and catalytic reduction similar to the technology deployed with automobiles running internal combustion engines. Some think going nuclear is a solution to reducing pollution. This research began in 1955 with submarine. Nuclear submarines could remain underwater for days running at high speeds. Today there is 140 nuclear-powered ships in operation using 180 small nuclear reactors. Nuclear powered ships have demonstrated an outstanding safety record. Another way they are trying to run these ships is with hybrid engine technology. Companies such as Siemens are supplying diesel-electric propulsion systems for large merchant ships. This technology delivers low fuel and energy consumption and reduced CO2 emissions. One advantage over conventional diesel includes greater cruising range and increased reliability. Today cruise ships use electrical power and combine it with gas turbine or diesel. To name a few advantages for Hybrid Engine ships: reduced power plant sizes and making a more flexible ship design, increased engine efficiency even at low speeds, and fuel and cost savings