The Three Christopher Columbus Ships

ships of christopher columbus

A similar ship of Christopher Columbus' fleet

Did you know that when Christopher Columbus sailed to America he had two other ships on his fleet? Although many historians refused to name Columbus as the first explorer to discover America, he was, nonetheless, the first explorer who came to America from a modern, established civilization. When Columbus embarked on a voyage that was supposed to head to India on August 3, 1492, he sailed on his flagship, Santa Maria, and brought two other ships on his fleet, the Niña and Pinta. The band was composed of Columbus commanding the Santa Maria; Vicente Yanez Pinzon, captain of the Niña; and Martin Alonzo Pinzon, captain of the Pinta together with 90 other men.

The Santa Maria, Niña, and Pinta

The Santa Maria was the largest in the fleet; she was sluggish weighing between 200 to 600 tons measuring 18 meters in length, 12 meters in keel length, 6 meters beam, and 2 meters draft. However, she can carry a lot more cargo compared to the other two that were designed to explore close to shore and into inland rivers. The Pinta was a caravel about 70 tons and 17 meters in length, and the Niña was the smallest in the fleet, which was another caravel weighing about 50 to 60 tons.

Onboard Christopher Columbus ships

Of all the three ships, the Santa Maria would have carried a lot more treats (mostly wine) for the captain and the sailors. Nonetheless, there were wines onboard the other two ships to make the sailors company in a lonely journey at sea. The accommodation would have been very dismal for the able-bodied sailors, a little comfortable for the captains. The food would consist of fresh caught fish, cheese, some provisions from the live animals below deck, dried peas and some grains, and occasional salted meat. But the wine was pretty abundant.

Some interesting facts about Christopher Columbus Ships and the sailors

All three Christopher Columbus ships used primitive navigation system: primitive charts, compasses, hourglass, sundial, navigation cross-staffs, and the like were used to guide the fleet across the Atlantic. The crew that was put together by Martin Pinzon, the captain of the Pinta, included four prisoners pardoned by the Spanish throne because they agreed to take part in the voyage. Santa Maria was wrecked during her return trip from Hispaniola (now Dominican Republic and Haiti) and Cuba, and Columbus had to return to Spain onboard the Niña on March 15, 1493. Columbus managed to return twice to Southern America since then until his death on May 20, 1506; to his death, Columbus really thought he was exploring Asia instead of America.

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