Square-rigged caravel

The square-rigged caravel, originally caravela redonda in Portuguese (meaning round caravel, but of the type with Portuguese origin), also called caravela de armada (generically and also particularly for a largest or strong major sub-type of this ship) was a sailing ship created by the Portuguese in the second half of the fifteenth century. Its use was most notorious from the end of that century. The square-rigged caravel had a notable role in the Portuguese expansion during the age of discovery, especially in the first half of the sixteenth century, for its exceptional maneuverability and combat capabilities. This ship was also sometimes adopted by other European powers. The hull was galleon-shaped, and some experts consider this vessel a forerunner of the fighting galleon.[1]

Square-rigged caravel (Caravela Redonda)

History

Two square-rigged caravels (detail)

The Portuguese square-rigged caravel or round caravel appeared more frequently in the end of the fifteenth century and especially in the beginning of the sixteenth century. Traditionally considered a particular type of the caravel, but also a new and different type of ship due to its significant structural differences, was the result of an evolution in design of the caravel (lateen caravel) and a structural combination between the carrack and the same caravel, but distinct, however, from both. Christopher Columbus, on his voyages to the New World in the service of Spain, used ships also called caravelas redondas (round caravels) by the combination of sails, they were however different of the Portuguese models, which differed by the number and arrangement of the sails and by the hull shape, among other features. There were regulations for the construction of caravels of 150 to 180 tons, 110 to 150 tons, and from 100 to 125 tons. Square-rigged caravels and lateen caravels were different types of ships, being only the generic name caravel the greatest link between both.[2]

Naus and square-rigged caravels in the 4th Portuguese India Armada of 1502 (Livro de Lisuarte de Abreu)

The squared-rigged caravel possessed aftercastle and forecastle, unlike the lateen caravel, which could not have any structure erected on the bow of the ship, because of the maneuver of the foremast. From this point of view, the square-rigged caravel was closer to the naus and galleons than to its lateen caravel counterpart. She had taper and narrow hull lines, checking that the relationship between length and width was between 3:1 and 4:1 (some rare, possibly longer), walking roughly in the middle. This relationship goes close to the patache, ship of some similar characteristics, and was slightly higher than the 3:1 ratio stipulated by the regulations for ships of 150 tuns.[3]

If the Portuguese galleon, largely designed for better navigation and for naval defense, would be of more mixed use, warfare and transportation, as would also be the Spanish galleon (among other European ships of this "class" or similar style), the square-rigged caravel or caravela de armada, though partly bifunctional, was essentially dedicated to naval warfare and for the defense of armadas.

The square-rigged caravels had optimal use in coast guard armadas, in the Strait of Gibraltar, Atlantic Islands, North Africa, Mediterranean, Brazil and Indian Ocean. When D. Manuel I decided to send ships to the Azores in order to protect the ships from India, or when he created the Armada do Estreito (Strait Armada), he did so with square-rigged caravels, armed for naval military action. Despite this ship has been partially replaced by the galleon, its great qualities allowed its use until the end of the seventeenth century.

Square-rigged caravel or caravela de armada, of Joao Serrao (Livro das Armadas)

The Portuguese Man o' War was named after this curious type of fighting ship.

Design

Having been a combination of the carrack and the caravel, the square-rigged caravel was distinguished clearly from both ships by its combined sails (absent in the caravel), with four or more masts, usually three with lateen rigged sails and the fore-mast with two square sails, and by its hull design which was narrower and longer. The square-rigged caravel was proportionally narrower in width and longer than the caravel, distinguished also by the sterncastle, more elongated and usually more projected backwards, and more complex, in two floors or two-deck castle-like, on diagonal gradation in length. It was also distinguished from the caravel by the existence of a lower forecastle and by having a snout or head (long beak) projecting forward from the bow below the level of the forecastle (both absent in the caravel).[4]

The configuration of the square-rigged caravel obeyed to round ships, generally having a more narrow and elongated hull than the vessels of bigger size, more lower lines, aftercastle and forecastle, with two or one floors, and two covers. The ship had four masts, one with two square-rigged sails (the foremast) and lateen sails on the other ones; perfectly adequate morphology tonnage according to the general evolution of sailing vessels since the fifteenth century, which saw firstly a large increase in its superstructures, and came gradually to decrease in volume.

Square-rigged caravels fighting and escorting naus in India Armadas

Caravela de Armada

The Caravela de Armada, fundamentally similar in design, was a sub-type of square-rigged caravel, created to meet the needs of war and protection of the Portuguese Armadas, especially influential in the sixteenth century. Apparently it was the conjugated need to carry more cargo and have more heavy artillery on board that led to increases in the square-rigged caravel. In order to keep the center of gravity low, so as not to compromise the stability, were increased the draft and the hull of the ship, thus enabling the existence of several decks (covered) inside.[5]

Galleon

Portuguese naus, galleon, small square-rigged caravel, galiots (fustas) and galleys - Portuguese Armada in Suakem, present day Sudan - 1541, from the Routemap of the Red Sea by João de Castro, during the Portuguese expedition to Suez - Egypt, in 1540-1541.

The Portuguese galleon have arisen probably during the first quarter of the sixteenth century, contributing to the hegemony of Portugal in the East. It was a ship more robust and better armed, with less cargo capacity than the carracks used to transport goods, but proved especially suitable for escort fleets, armadas and convoys, namely in the India run. This ship was a forerunner and a pioneer in its kind, including in the number and arrangement of its sails, and in its shape as a whole.

In structural terms the galleon may constitute an evolution (in part) of the square-rigged caravel, although wider and heavier. The galleon had a more lower and discrete forecastle and a more narrower and taper hull than the nau, as the square-rigged caravel, which is substantiated by the higher relation between the length and the bow. Both characteristics, allied to a powerful weaponry and more hydrodynamic lines, made the galleon, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Portuguese warship par excellence. Moreover, its hull had a higher density of beacons and stringers, which made the structure more solid and, above all, more resistant to projectiles of naval artillery.[6][7]

Portuguese Galleons and Naus (Carracks) - Routemap of the Red Sea (Roteiro do Mar Roxo) 1540 - 1541

Initially, the Portuguese galleon had long beaks and spurs, and operated with three masts, the foremast and the main-mast with two square-rigged sails each, and a lateen rigged sail in the mizzen-mast. Result of the natural evolution of new requirements raised by war, soon they were built with four masts; the larger vessels had this configuration, always with latteen rigged sails in the two mizzen-masts in almost all galleons, and a third square smaller sail at the tops of the fore-mast and the main-mast (the latter in larger ships), which can be seen in the galleon São João Baptista, the Botafogo, and on the galleons illustrated in the Roteiro do Mar Roxo of D. João de Castro. The galleon was so, also, a combination of the carrack and the square-rigged caravel in its sails.

Another detail which differs in the galleon is the presence of a beak of appreciable size, extending horizontally and forwardly the wheel of the bow. This feature, which could already be detected on the square-rigged caravel, appears to be evidence of greater effort required of the bowsprit, which will not be unaware of the fact that both the height of the mast as the sail surface have grown over time.

On the other hand, the more lower and narrower lines, the tapered and pointy shape of the hull, and the beak-shaped prow, allow the navigators to achieve greater speed, while the lower height of the forecastle gave her manoeuver qualities, including greater ability to navigate at a more bushy bowline, with advantage to maneuver on confined spaces. The great firepower of these ships tended to unbalance in their favor the outcome of battles fought at sea, having been used in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.[8]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Os Navios e as Técnicas Náuticas Atlânticas nos Séculos XV e XVI: Os Pilares da Estratégia 3C - Rear Admiral Antonio Silva Ribeiro - Revista Militar (Portuguese)
  2. ↑ Galeão - Navegações Portuguesas by Francisco Contente Domingues (Portuguese)
  3. ↑ BARATA, João da Gama Pimentel, Estudos de Arqueologia Naval, vols. I e II, Lisboa, Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, 1989.
  4. ↑ Galeão - Navegações Portuguesas by Francisco Contente Domingues (Portuguese)
  5. ↑ Os Navios e as Técnicas Náuticas Atlânticas nos Séculos XV e XVI: Os Pilares da Estratégia 3C - Rear Admiral Antonio Silva Ribeiro - Revista Militar (Portuguese)
  6. ↑ BARATA, João da Gama Pimentel, "O galeão português (1519-1625)", in Estudos de Arqueologia Naval, vol. I, Lisboa, IN-CM, 1989 (Portuguese) pp. 54, (pp. 303-326).
  7. ↑ O Galeão (Portuguese)
  8. ↑ Os Navios e as Técnicas Náuticas Atlânticas nos Séculos XV e XVI: Os Pilares da Estratégia 3C - Rear Admiral Antonio Silva Ribeiro - Revista Militar (Portuguese)

References