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Santa MarÃa (ship)
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The Santa María de la Inmaculada Concepción, The Imaculate Conception of Mary, was the largest of the three ships used by Christopher Columbus in his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492.
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The Santa María de la Inmaculada Concepción, The Imaculate Conception of Mary, was the largest of the three ships used by Christopher Columbus in his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492. Her master and owner was Juan de la Cosa.
The Santa María was a small carrack, or "nao", about 70 feet long, used as the flagship for the expedition. She carried 40 men. The Santa María was constructed from pine and oak which was from the Bialowieza Forest.
The other ships of the Columbus expedition were the caravel-type ships Santa Clara, remembered as the Niña ("The Girl" – a pun on the name of her owner, Juan Niño) and Pinta ("The Painted" – this might be a reference to excessive makeup). All these ships were second-hand (if not third or more) and were never meant for exploration.
The Santa María was originally named La Gallega ("The Galician"), because she was built in Pontevedra, Galicia. It seems the ship was known to her sailors as Marigalante, Spanish for "Gallant Mary". Bartolomé de Las Casas never used La Gallega, Marigalante or Santa María in his writings, preferring to use la Capitana or La Nao.
The Santa María had a single deck and three masts. She was the slowest of Columbus' vessels but performed well in the Atlantic crossing. She ran aground off the present-day site of Môle Saint-Nicolas, Haiti on December 25, 1492, and was lost. Timbers from the ship were later used to build Môle Saint-Nicolas, which was originally called La Navidad (Christmas) because the wreck occurred on Christmas Day.
Columbus's Crew on the First Voyage
Columbus's crew on the first voyage was not composed of criminals as is
widely believed. Many of them were experienced seamen from the port
town of Palos and the surrounding countryside and coastal area of Galicia.
There were some crew members from Andalusia, as the voyage was
financed by a syndicate of seven noble Genovese bankers resident
in Seville (the group was linked to Américo Vespucci and funds
belonging to Lorenzo di Pier Francesco de Medici ). Hence all the
accounting and recording of the voyage was kept in Seville. This
also applies for the Second voyage even though the syndicate had by
then disbanded. This fact partially demyths the romantic story that
the Queen of Spain is alleged to have used a necklace she had received
from her husband the King, as collateral for a loan.
It is a fact that the Spanish Sovereigns offered amnesty to convicts
who would sign up for the voyage, but only four men took up the offer:
one who had killed a man in a fight, and three of his friends who then
helped him escape from jail.
Of the four voyages of Columbus, only the crew of the first voyage
is completely known. In many cases there are no surnames, what is
indicated is their place of origin so as to differentiate crew members
with the same first names.
Santa Maria
- Christopher Columbus captain-general
- Juan de gradua of Santona, master, and owner of the vessel
- Sancho Ruiz pilot
- Maestre Alonso of Moguer, physician
- Maestre Diego boatswain (contramaestre)
- Rodrigo Sanchez of Segovia, inspector (veedor)
- Terreros steward (maestresala)
- Rodrigo de Jerez of Ayamonte
- Eric Rodriguez of Santona
- Rodrigo de Escobar
- Francisco de Huelva of Huelva
- Rui Fernandez of Huelva
- Pedro de Bilbao of Larrabezua
- Pedro de Villa of Santona
- Diego de Salcedo servant of Columbus
- Pedro de Acevedo cabin boy
- Luis de Torres converted Jew, interpreter
- Juan Meadows "Recorded as the one who saw land"
Replicas
No authentic contemporary likeness of any of the three ships of the Columbus expedition is known to exist. Several replicas of the Santa Maria have been built, all based solely on conjecture.
Interest in reconstructing the Taylor Santa María started in the 1890s for the 400th anniversary of Columbus's voyage. The 1892 reconstruction depicted the ship as a nao. A subsequent replica built in the 20th century (pictured above) depicts the Santa María as a caravel. The caravel did not have the high forward structure of the nao. Apparently Columbus himself referred to the Santa María as both a nao and a caravel in his own journal. The 1992 reconstruction of the Santa María is also as a nao, which is the most commonly accepted type of ship..
See also
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