Carrack A carrack or nau was a three - or four - masted sailing ship developed in the 15th century by the Portuguese for use in the Atlantic Ocean and became widely used by Europe ' s maritime powers . It had a high rounded stern with large aftcastle , forecastle and bowsprit at the stem . It was first used by the Portuguese , and later by the Spanish , to explore and map the world . It was usually square - rigged on the foremast and mainmast and lateen - rigged on the mizzenmast . Carracks were ocean - going ships : large enough to be stable in heavy seas , and roomy enough to carry provisions for long voyages . They were the ships in which the Portuguese and the Spanish explored the world in the 15th and 16th centuries . In Portuguese this type was called a nau , while in Spanish it is called a carraca or nao . In French it was called a caraque or nef . As the forerunner of the great ships of the age of sail , the carrack was one of the most influential ship designs in history ; while ships became more specialized , the basic design remained unchanged throughout the Age of Sail . Origins . By the Late Middle Ages the cog , and cog - like square - rigged vessels , were widely used along the coasts of Europe , in the Baltic , and also in the Mediterranean . Given the conditions of the Mediterrenean , but not exclusively restricted to it , galley type vessels were extensively used there , as were various two masted vessels , including the caravel s with their lateen sails . These and similar ship types were familiar to Portuguese navigators and shipwrights . As the Portuguese gradually extended their explorations and trade ever further south along Africa ' s Atlantic coast during the 15th century they needed a larger and more advanced ship for their long oceanic adventures . Gradually , they developed the carrack from a fusion and modification of aspects of the ship types they knew operating in both the Atlantic and Mediterranean and a new , more advanced form of sail rigging that allowed much improved sailing characteristics in the heavy winds and waves of the Atlantic ocean . A typical three - masted carrack such as the " São Gabriel " had six sails : bowsprit , foresail , mizzen , spritsail , and two topsails . Carracks in Asia . From around 1515 , Portugal had trade exchanges with Goa in Portuguese India , consisting of 3 to 4 carracks leaving Lisbon with silver to purchase cotton and spices in India . Out of these , only one carrack went on to Ming China in order to purchase silk , also in exchange for Portuguese silver . From the time of the acquisition of Macau in 1557 , and their formal recognition as trade partners by the Chinese , the Portuguese Crown started to regulate trade to Japan , by selling to the highest bidder the annual " Captaincy " to Japan , in effect conferring exclusive trading rights for a single carrack bound for Japan every year . That trade continued with few interruptions until 1638 , when it was prohibited on the grounds that the ships were smuggling priests into Japan . In the middle of the 16th century the first galleon s were developed from the carrack . The galleon design came to replace that of the carrack although carracks were still in use as late as the early 17th century .