There was neither fanfare nor fireworks when, on Friday, August 3, 1492, half an hour before dawn, a small flotilla left under the command of Christopher Columbus left the port of Palos. Departing to unknown shores, the flotilla consisted of three ships. Today, these ships are known by the names Santa Maria, Pinta and Nina.
Instruction manual
1
"Santa Maria" is the largest of the vessels used by Columbus on his first voyage. The ship was built in Castro Urdiales, in the northeastern Spanish province of Cantabria. Reliable images of him were not preserved. Judging by the descriptions, the ship was of the NaO type, or, in other words, Karak. It was a three-masted sailboat with a separate deck, about seventeen and a half meters in length and with a displacement of just over one hundred tons.
2
"Santa Maria" in the Columbus flotilla served as the flagship. Columbus himself in his diaries described her as "a bad vessel, completely unsuitable for discoveries." Santa Maria sank on December 24, 1492, stumbling upon a reef near the island of Haiti. Part of the ship’s timber went to the construction of a fort called Columbus La Navidad (Christmas). The anchor of "Santa Maria" is now stored in the National Pantheon Museum in the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince.
3
The second ship - "Pint" was smaller than the "Santa Maria" and belonged to the caravels. It is estimated that its displacement was about sixty tons. It was about seventeen meters long and a little over five wide. Caravel is famous for the fact that her sailor Rodrigo de Triana was the first to make out the outlines of America.
4
"Pint" is a nickname, not the real name of the ship. By tradition, Spanish ships were named after Christian saints. The true name of this caravel is not known. The date of construction of the ship is also disputed. It is believed that it was launched back in 1441, and for the Columbus expedition it was overhauled.
5
Nina is Columbus's favorite ship. It was a small caravel with a displacement of 40 to 60 tons, about 15 meters long. Like "Pint", "Nina" ("baby") - the nickname of the ship. His real name is "Santa Clara". "Nina" - the only ship that participated in both the first and second expeditions of Columbus. In September 1493, she joined the grand fleet of 17 ships sailing to the shores of America.
6
In 1495, Nina became one of the few ships to survive the terrible hurricane of 1495. In 1496, Columbus returned to Spain on it. In 1499, Nina made a solo voyage to the island of Haiti. After 1501, information about it is not found in historical archives.
