Caravel. The caravel (Portuguese: , ) is a small sailing ship that may be rigged with just lateen sails, or with a combination of lateen and square sails. It was known for its agility and speed and its capacity for sailing windward (beating). Caravels were used by the Portuguese and Spanish for the voyages of exploration during the 15th and 16th centuries, in the Age of Discovery.

The caravel is a poorly understood type of vessel. Though there are now some archaeologically investigated wrecks that are most likely caravels, information on this type is limited. We have a better understanding of the ships of the Greeks and Romans of classical antiquity than we do of the caravel.

History 
The long development of the caravel was probably influenced by various Mediterranean tending or coastal craft. Among these influences might have been the boats known as , that were introduced to the Islamic controlled parts of Iberia Al-Andalus from the Maghreb.

The earliest  caravels appeared in the thirteenth century along the coasts of Galicia and Portugal as single-masted fishing vessels. They were small, lightly built vessels of up to 20 tons at most, carrying, in one example, a crew of five men. Evidence suggests that these were . They carried a single-masted, triangular lateen sail rig. By the fourteenth century, their size had increased and their use had spread; for instance, there is mention, in 1307, of larger caravels of up to 30 tons in Biscay. Caravels were a common type of vessel in the coastal waters of the Iberian Peninsula in the fifteenth century.

The caravel was the preferred vessel of Portuguese explorers like Diogo Cão, Bartolomeu Dias, Gaspar, and Miguel Corte-Real, and was also used by Spanish expeditions like those of Christopher Columbus. They were agile and easier to navigate than the barca and barinel, with a tonnage of 50 to 160 tons and 1 to 3 masts. Being smaller and having a shallow keel, the caravel was suited for sailing shallow coastal waters and up rivers. With the Mediterranean-type lateen sails attached it was highly maneuverable in shallow waters, while with the square Atlantic-type sails attached it was very fast when crossing the open sea. Its economy, speed, and agility made it esteemed as the best sailing vessel of its time. Its main drawback was its limited capacity for cargo and crew but this did not hinder its success.

The exploration done with caravels made the spice trade of the Portuguese and the Spanish possible. However, for the trade itself, the caravel was soon replaced by the larger carrack (nau), which could carry larger, more profitable cargoes. The caravel was one of the pinnacle ships in Iberian ship development from 1400 to 1600.

Etymology
The English name caravel derives from the Portuguese , which in turn may derive from the  or the  perhaps indicating some continuity of its carvel build through the ages.

Design 
The earliest caravels in the thirteenth century were small and are believed to have been un-decked, carrying one mast with lateen sails, while later types were larger and had two or three masts and decks. Caravels such as the caravela tilhlda of the 15th century had an average length of between , an average capacity of 50 to 60 tons, a high length-to-beam ratio of around 3.5 to 1, and narrow ellipsoidal frame (unlike the circular frame of the nau), making them very fast and maneuverable but with a limited cargo capacity. It was in such ships that Christopher Columbus set out on his expedition in 1492, while the Santa María was a small carrack of about 150 tons and served as the flagship, the Pinta and ' were caravels of around 15–20 m with a beam of 6 m and a displacement of around 60–75 tons. The Niña was re-rigged by Columbus with square rig to give better performance on the Atlantic crossingmost of which was following favourable winds, for which lateen was less suitable.

Square-rigged caravel

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 of a carrack, 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" () 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 it remained in use until the 17th century.

See also
 Iberian ship development, 1400–1600
 Notorious – a replica caravel in Australia
 Portuguese India Armadas
Carrack, a type of round ship used in voyage to East India
Lateen sail
Square rig

Molasses Reef Wreck one of the oldest wrecks of European ships in the Americas and likely to be a caravel

References

External links

The History and Development of Caravels - A Thesis - George Robert Schwarz, B.A., University of Cincinnati, Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Luis Filipe Vieira de Castro, May 2008
 Museu da Marinha 
 Museu da Marinha, fac-similes, 
 Instituto Camões. Caravela
 Durchbruch am Kap des Schreckens dir. Axel Engstfeld, Germany 2002, 52m. ZDF 

Sailing ship types
Exploration ships
Maritime history of Portugal
Portuguese inventions
Age of Sail