São Gabriel (ship)
Encyclopedia
The São Gabriel was the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

 of Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira was a Portuguese explorer, one of the most successful in the Age of Discovery and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India...

's armada
Naval fleet
A fleet, or naval fleet, is a large formation of warships, and the largest formation in any navy. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land....

 on his first voyage to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 in 1497-1499.

São Gabriel

The São Gabriel was a Portuguese "nau" (carrack
Carrack
A carrack or nau was a three- or four-masted sailing ship developed in 15th century Western Europe for use in the Atlantic Ocean. 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...

) that, like its sister ship
Sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...

, the São Rafael, was built specifically for the expedition; both exhibited similar construction. There are no known contemporary pictures of the ships; the earliest are from about fifty years later.

The ship was constructed under the supervision of Bartolomeu Dias
Bartolomeu Dias
Bartolomeu Dias , a nobleman of the Portuguese royal household, was a Portuguese explorer who sailed around the southernmost tip of Africa in 1488, the first European known to have done so.-Purposes of the Dias expedition:...

, who having reached Cape Hope before, knew what type of vessel would be suited for the voyage. The timber was cut in the crown woods of Leiria
Leiria
Leiria is a city in Leiria Municipality in the Centro Region, Portugal. It is the capital of Leiria District. The city proper has 50,200 inhabitants and the entire municipality has nearly 120,000...

 and Alcácer do Sal
Alcácer do Sal
Alcácer do Sal is a municipality in Portugal, located in Setúbal District. It has a total area of and a total population of 13,624 inhabitants.-History :-Earliest settlement:...

. The size of the vessel given by contemporary describers was between 90-120 t, but modern estimates tend to be higher. It has been estimated that the overall length was 25.7 meters, the width 8.5 m, the draft of 2.3 m and fully loaded weight about 178 t. To enter estuaries the draft was kept shallow.

The vessel carried three masts, including a 110-foot (measured from the keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...

) mainmast, with a crow's nest
Crow's nest
A crow's nest is a structure in the upper part of the mainmast of a ship or structure, that is used as a lookout point.This position ensured the best view of the approaching hazards, other ships or land. It was the best device for this purpose until the invention of radar.In early ships it was...

 at 70 feet (21.3 m). The ship could fly six sails; a bowsprit, foresail, mizzen, spritsail, and two topsails. As a carrack, the sails of the fore and mainmast were cut square, while the mizzenmast sail was triangular. The total sail area was 4000 square feet (371.6 m²). The blood-red cross of the Order of Christ
Order of Christ (Portugal)
The Military Order of Christ previously the Royal Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ was the heritage of the Knights Templar in Portugal, after the suppression of the Templars in 1312...

 was painted on the sails. Carracks tended to be slower and less able to sail against the wind than the caravel
Caravel
A caravel is a small, highly maneuverable sailing ship developed in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave her speed and the capacity for sailing to windward...

, but were steadier and safer, and more comfortable for the crew.

The carrack was equipped by Fernão Lourenço. The ship was protected by the fore
Forecastle
Forecastle refers to the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters...

- and aftcastle
Aftcastle
An aftcastle is the upper deck of a sailing ship positioned behind the mizzenmast. It was used in medieval shipping such as galleys or galleasses to provide a heightened platform from which to fire upon other ships; it was also a place of defense in the event of boarding. More common, but much...

s that also housed the officers, the captain had his quarters in the top of the aftcastle
Aftcastle
An aftcastle is the upper deck of a sailing ship positioned behind the mizzenmast. It was used in medieval shipping such as galleys or galleasses to provide a heightened platform from which to fire upon other ships; it was also a place of defense in the event of boarding. More common, but much...

. Carrying 20 guns, 6 were placed in the 2 castles, and 8 on the lower quarterdeck
Quarterdeck
The quarterdeck is that part of a warship designated by the commanding officer for official and ceremonial functions. In port, the quarterdeck is the most important place on the ship, and is the central control point for all its major activities. Underway, its importance diminishes as control of...

 it was well-armed. In the forward hold requisites were kept including spare sails and spare anchor, midships water, and in the aft ammunition and arms. The ship was equipped with the latest scientific astronomical and nautical instruments. Navigational instruments and training were provided by the astronomer Abraham Zacut.

Key personnel of the São Gabriel were Vasco da Gama, captain-major, Pêro de Alenquer
Pêro de Alenquer
Pêro de Alenquer Portuguese explorer of the African coast. Accompanied Bartolomeu Dias in his journey around the Cape of Good Hope in 1487/1488. Latter wrote a description of Vasco da Gama's first voyage to India. Pêro was born in Alenquer....

, pilot, Gonçalo Álvares, master, and Diogo Dias, clerk. The ship held about 60 men.

The other three ships

Velho indicated that the sources agreed that the armada contained four ships, but there was disagreement about the names. These were the other three ships according to him:
  • The São Rafael: The sister ship of the São Gabriel, built by the same builder at the same time for the same purpose. It was of similar dimensions as the São Gabriel. Paulo da Gama
    Paulo da Gama
    Paulo da Gama was a Portuguese explorer, son of Estevão da Gama and the older brother of Vasco da Gama.He was a member of the first voyage from Europe to India, led by his brother, commanding the ship São Rafael, which would be later scuttled in the return trip. Paulo da Gama joined the São Gabriel...

    , Vasco's brother, was the captain, other people include João de Coimbra, pilot, and João de Sá, clerk.

  • The Bérrio, also known as the São Miguel: This caravel
    Caravel
    A caravel is a small, highly maneuverable sailing ship developed in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave her speed and the capacity for sailing to windward...

     was named after its former owner. Only carrying lateen sails, it was the smallest and swiftest of the convoy with a tonnage of 50t-90t. Key people were: Nicolau Coelho
    Nicolau Coelho
    Nicolau Coelho was an expert Portuguese sailor during the age of discovery. He participated in the discovery of the route to India by Vasco da Gama where he commanded Berrio, the first caravel to return; was captain of a ship in the fleet headed by Pedro Álvares Cabral who landed in Brazil...

    , captain, Pedro Escobar
    Pedro Escobar
    Pedro Escobar, also known as Pêro Escobar, was a 15th century Portuguese navigator who discovered São Tomé and Príncipe together with João de Santarém and Fernão do Pó circa 1470. He is then recorded sailing with Diogo Cão on his first voyage in 1482, and as the pilot of the famous Bérrio caravel...

     pilot, and Álvaro de Braga, clerk.

  • A supply ship, name unknown: The ship was a carrack of about 110 or 200 tons with Gonçalo Nunes as captain.

Provisions

The provisions of the convoy were based on the expectation that the voyage would last 3 years; also merchandise intended for the Indian market was brought along. This merchandise included wash basins, clothes, sugar, honey, corals, glass beads and trinkets, and turned out to be neither adequate in quality nor in quantity for its purpose. Daily rations were calculated to be 1.5 pounds biscuit
Biscuit
A biscuit is a baked, edible, and commonly flour-based product. The term is used to apply to two distinctly different products in North America and the Commonwealth Nations....

, 1 lb beef or 0.5 lb of pork, 2.5 pint
Pint
The pint is a unit of volume or capacity that was once used across much of Europe with values varying from state to state from less than half a litre to over one litre. Within continental Europe, the pint was replaced with the metric system during the nineteenth century...

s water, 1.25 pints wine, plus 0.3 gill of vinegar, and 0.6 gill of oil. On fasting
Fasting and Abstinence in the Roman Catholic Church
For Roman Catholics, fasting is the reduction of one's intake of food to one full meal a day. This may or may not be accompanied by abstinence from meat when eating....

 days meat was substituted by rice, fish, or cheese. Other provisions included flour, lentils, sardines, plums, almonds, garlic, mustard, salt, honey, sugar. Also, fresh fish was caught en route, and supplies were replenished in harbors including oranges
Orange (fruit)
An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....

 (against scurvy
Scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...

).

The ships also carried a number of padrões
Padrão
A padrão was a large stone cross inscribed with the coat of arms of Portugal that was placed as part of a land claim by numerous Portuguese explorers during the Portuguese Age of Discovery...

, pillars of stone headed by the cross and bearing the seal of Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 and used as markers to claim land.

Operational history

The armada left Restelo, Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

 on July 8, 1497. After rounding the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...

, the armada anchored at the Aguada de São Brás (Mossel Bay
Mossel Bay
Mossel Bay is a harbour town of about 130,000 people on the Southern Cape of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province...

) where the supply ship was broken up and its contents distributed on the others. The three ships sailed further North along the African coast to Malindi
Malindi
Malindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Galana River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi is 117,735 . It is the capital of the Malindi District.Tourism is the major industry in Malindi. The city is...

, East Africa. After crossing the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

 they reached the harbor of Calicut
History of Kozhikode
Kozhikode , also known as Calicut, is a city in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the third largest city in Kerala and the headquarters of Kozhikode district....

 at the Malabar coast
Malabar Coast
The Malabar Coast is a long and narrow coastline on the south-western shore line of the mainland Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing mountain...

 in India on May 20, 1498.

The return crossing of the Indian Ocean took over three months and many of the crew members got sick from scurvy and died. With a diminished crew the São Rafael became superfluous; the vessel was burned at East Africa after the transfer of its crew and provisions. The remaining two vessels got caught in a storm near the Cape Verde
Cape Verde
The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...

 islands and separated. At that time both ships were leaking and in poor shape.

The Bérrio under Nicolau Coelho's command arrived at Cascais
Cascais
Cascais is a coastal town in Cascais Municipality in Portugal, 30 kilometres west of Lisbon, with about 35,000 residents. It is a cosmopolitan suburb of the Portuguese capital and one of the richest municipalities in Portugal. The former fishing village gained fame as a resort for Portugal's royal...

 near Lisbon on July 10, 1499, and the São Gabriel without Da Gama and directed by João de Sá came in one month later. Da Gama had left the São Gabriel on its final leg and commissioned another vessel to bring him with his dying brother Paulo to the Azores before he returned to Portugal in early September, 1499.

Cultural depictions

São Gabriel is depicted in the 2011 Indian film, Vasco da Gama
Urumi (film)
Urumi is a 2011 Malayalam historical-fantasy film directed and co-produced by Santosh Sivan and written by Shankar Ramakrishnan. It stars Prithviraj, who was also one of the producers of the film, as Chirakkal Kelu Nayanar, Prabhu Deva as Vavvali, Robin Pratt as Vasco da Gama, Alexx ONell as...

.
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