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Caravel Ships
 The Caravel ship’s was very fast. Its economy, speed, agility, and power made the

caravel seem as the best sailing vessel of its time. The Caravel ship’s was also used to explore

and find new lands near the coasts and on the Pacific Ocean. The Caravel ship’s was built by the

Portuguese in the 15th century, Caravels were mainly used by the Portuguese and the Spanish for

oceanic exploration voyages during the 16th and 17th centuries in the age of Exploration.

The caravel ship usually has two or three masts with lateen sails, while the other ships

had four masts. Early caravels ships usually had two masts. The Caravel ship’s has a narrow

ellipsoidal frame making them very fast and maneuverable but with a low capacity, meaning that

it can only carry a low amount of weight. Towards the end of the 15th century, the caravel was

then remodeled, it then was given a foresail, square mainsail and lateen mizzen, but not the

carrack's high forecastle or much of a stern castle, which would make it unable to withstand

weathers.

It was the Caravel ships that Christopher Columbus set out on his expedition in 1492;

Santa Maria, was a 200-600 ton carrack which served as the flagship. Columbus ship’s the Pinta

and Niña were Caravel ships, but it were smaller caravels of around 30 m with a beam of 6 m

and weighting around 150 tons.

 In the first half of the 16th century, the Portuguese created a specialized fighting ship also

called Caravela Redonda to act or help as an escort or guide in Brazil and in the East Indies

route. It has a foremast with square sails and three other masts with a lateen each, for a total of 4

masts. The hull was galleon-shaped, and some experts consider this vessel a forerunner of the

fighting galleon. “The Portuguese Man o' War” was named, because of their curious type of

fighting ship which was in use in battles or just exploring new lands until the 18th century.

The Caravel ships were also used to or were used for trading with other countries, like

china and Africa etc… Because it was a small and fast maneuvering ship it was very easily used

for many good purposes. That’s probably why the Spanish and Portuguese used the Caravel

ships.