In addition to them, the ship had its carpenter (Antonio de Cuéllar), physician (Juan Sanchez), goldsmith (Cristobal Caro), interpreter (Luis de Torres), two boatswains (Bartolome Garcia and Chachu) and a comptroller (Rodrigo Sanchez). Rodrigo de Escobedo, secretary of the fleet.Juan de la Cosa, owner, and master of Santa Maria served as an official cartographer.Christopher Columbus served as a captain-general of the flagship and the entire fleet.On the Columbus mission, there were six officers: The crew of Santa MariaĪ full complement of the ship required a crew of 40 people – around 30 deck sailors, few specialized workers, and officers. Like many other merchant ships of that time, Santa Maria carried armaments – four 90 mm bombards (full-sized cannons) and several smaller 50 mm culebrinas cannons. As for sails, it had two main and three smaller side-sails. Santa Maria, therefore, had an estimated keel length of 12.6 meters, beam (widest point of the ship) of 5.5 meters, and draught (distance between water level and bottom of the ship) of 3.2 meters. Santa Maria is one of the most celebrated ships in our history.Īs for other measures of the ship, only estimates can be provided since no official records or images of the ship were ever preserved. According to records, Santa Maria carried as many as six anchors. Fully loaded with supplies, it could displace the impressive 150 metric tons of water, but it lacked some speed and maneuverability that smaller ships like Pinta and Niña had. Santa Maria was the largest ship on the first voyage of Columbus across the Atlantic, with a single deck, three small masts, the weight of 108 tons and length of 19m (of which, 17 meters was accessible on the main deck). This made nau ships larger and slower than many other trade ships. It was officially ranked as a medium-sized "nau" ( carrack ) and was a preferred choice for trade by merchants who wanted to carry a large complement of supplies and trade goods in a single ship. Originally built in 1460 in Pontevedra, Galicia, under the name of La Gallega, it was later renamed into La Santa María de la Inmaculada Concepción (Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary). Owned and commanded by the Spanish navigator and cartographer Juan de la Cosa, the flagship of Columbus's first exploratory fleet was Santa Maria. This caused some issues by the shipowners ( Juan de la Cosa and the Pinzón brothers), who opposed the order of the Crown to donate their ships to the possibly dangerous cause, but Columbus managed to finish the journey regardless. The Spanish crown commissioned all three ships and took from the existing naval and exploratory vessels present in Spain. ![]() This prompted Columbus to test his theories about the size of the Earth (which was even by then known by mathematicians and astronomers to be round) and gather funds for the brave trip into the unknown – months-long journey west across the unexplored Atlantic all the way to the shores of India and the Orient.Īfter several years of campaigning and preparations, he finally assembled his famous fleet comprised of just three ships and started his journey to Asia on 3 August 1492. With such tools, late 15th-century captains finally gained confidence in sailing for prolonged periods of time away from the coasts, and the increased need of European nations to find a stable naval passage to rich trade regions of India and China.
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