page_title: Square-rigged caravel
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Square-rigged caravel / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Depiction of the 4th Portuguese India Armada (fleet of Vasco da Gama, 1502) from the Livro de Lisuarte de Abreu (Pierpont Morgan Library, M.525)
context_page_description: The square-rigged caravel, was a sailing ship created by the Portuguese in the second half of the fifteenth century. A much larger version of the caravel, its use was most notorious beginning in the end of that century. The square-rigged caravel held 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, by the name of caravela de armada.
context_section_description: 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 Castile, used ships also called caravelas redondas (round caravels) by the combination of sails (Possibly in based lateen caravels and other traditional ships models), they were however different from 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.
  The square-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 also had a beak apparently quite innovative (for its time) or of "modern" style, projecting forward from the bow below the level of the forecastle, somewhat similar to that commonly used later in galleons of the second half of the 16th century. 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 tons.
  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 use of these square-rigged caravels for exploration reconnaissance and combat (if necessary), following a larger number of naus in each fleet, were instrumental in the exploration of North America, South America the East, and particularly in the Portuguese India Armadas - including the discovery of Brazil - from the expedition of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 and continuing in the fleets that followed. They were also important, along with naus, in decisive historic battles, as Diu.
  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, also some naus, and later on, galleons (in the North Atlantic); and in the Strait of Gibraltar, joining them to the fustas and galleys. Despite the round caravel has been partially replaced by the galleon, its great qualities allowed its use until the end of the seventeenth century.
  The Portuguese Man o' War was named after this curious type of fighting ship.
caption: Naus and square-rigged caravels in the 4th Portuguese India Armada of 1502 (Livro de Lisuarte de Abreu)
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