What were caravels used for?
Caravel, a light sailing ship of the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries in Europe, much-used by the Spanish and Portuguese for long voyages. Apparently developed by the Portuguese for exploring the coast of Africa, the caravel’s chief excellence lay in its capacity for sailing to windward.Click to see full answer. Consequently, what is a caravel…
Caravel, a light sailing ship of the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries in Europe, much-used by the Spanish and Portuguese for long voyages. Apparently developed by the Portuguese for exploring the coast of Africa, the caravel’s chief excellence lay in its capacity for sailing to windward.Click to see full answer. Consequently, what is a caravel and why is it important?The caravel was a vessel of paramount importance in the 15th and 16th centuries, when it was used to traverse the immense barrier to the New World. During these centuries, the caravel was a ship with a distinctive shape and admirable qualities.Also Know, why were caravels used for exploration? The main reasons it was chosen for the exploration of the African coast were speed and the ability to sail windward. However, the caravel’s great lateen sail required a large crew, which was dangerous because the diminutive explorer could not carry vast amounts of fresh water for a large band of sailors. Subsequently, one may also ask, why was the caravel better than other ships? Advantages of the caravel The caravel was much beter than previous ships due to its ability to sail fast and into the wind. Caravel planking was much thicker, and they were broad-beamed ships with 2 or 3 masts (later, they had as many as 4) with square sails and a triangular sail.Did caravels have cannons?Towards the end 16th century it seems a 40-50 tons caravel had just two falcons and 4 berço’s. Slightly larger caravels had on average 14-18 cannons but no large cannons as they were considered too heavy.
