page_title: Caravel
section_title: Square-rigged caravel
hierarchical_section_title: Caravel / Design / Square-rigged caravel
caption_attribution_description: OLISIPO, SIVE UT PERVETUSTA LAPIDUM INSCRIPTIONES HABENT, ULYSIPPO, VULGO LISBONA FLORENTISSIMUM PORTUGALLIA EMPORIU English: View of Lisbon and Tagus River in the 16th century - Sailing ship’s Caravel and Carrack at the age of Portuguese discoveries Français&#160;: Vue de Lisbonne et du fleuve Tage au XVIe siècle - Navires à voile Caravelle et Caraque à l’époque grandes découvertes portugaises Português: Vista de Lisboa e Rio Tejo no século XVI - Navios à vela Caravela e Carraca na era descobrimentos portugueses
context_page_description: The caravel was a small, highly manoeuvrable sailing ship developed in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing windward. Caravels were used by the Portuguese and Castilians for the oceanic exploration voyages during the 15th and 16th centuries in the Age of Discovery.
context_section_description: Towards the end of the 15th century, the Portuguese developed a larger version of the caravel, bearing a forecastle and sterncastle – though not as high as those carracks, which would have made it unweatherly – but most distinguishable for its square-rigged foremast, and three other masts bearing lateen rig. In this form it was referred to in Portuguese as a "round caravel" (caravela redonda) as in Iberian tradition, a bulging square sail is said to be round. 
  It was employed in coast-guard fleets near the Strait of Gibraltar and as an armed escort for merchant ships between Portugal and Brazil and in the Cape Route. Some consider this a forerunner of the fighting galleon and remained in use until the 17th century.
caption: Lisbon and the Tagus (1572). Galleon in the center (one type of Portuguese galleon), carracks, galley, round caravels, and caravels (lateen), among other vessels
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