Carrack

Last updated May 21, 2024

A carrack (Portuguese : nau; Spanish : nao; Catalan : carraca; Croatian : karaka) is a three- or four-masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal and Spain. Evolving from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for European trade from the Mediterranean to the Baltic and quickly found use with the newly found wealth of the trade between Europe and Africa and then the trans-Atlantic trade with the Americas. In their most advanced forms, they were used by the Portuguese for trade between Europe and Asia starting in the late 15th century, before being gradually superseded in the late 16th and early 17th centuries by the galleon.

In its most developed form, the carrack was a carvel-built ocean-going ship: large enough to be stable in heavy seas, and capacious enough to carry a large cargo and the provisions needed for very long voyages. The later carracks were square-rigged on the foremast and mainmast and lateen-rigged on the mizzenmast. They had a high rounded stern with aftcastle, forecastle and bowsprit at the stem. As the predecessor of the galleon, the carrack was one of the most influential ship designs in history; while ships became more specialized in the following centuries, the basic design remained unchanged throughout this period.^[1]

Name

English carrack was loaned in the late 14th century, via Old French caraque, from carraca, a term for a large, square-rigged sailing vessel used in Spanish, Italian and Middle Latin.

These ships were called carraca in Portuguese and Genoese, carraca in Spanish, caraque or nef in French, and kraak in Dutch.

The origin of the term carraca is unclear, perhaps from Arabic qaraqir "merchant ship", itself of unknown origin (maybe from Latin carricare "to load a car" or Greek καρκαρίς "load of timber") or the Arabic القُرْقُورُ (al-qurqoor) and from thence to the Greek κέρκουρος (kerkouros) meaning approximately "lighter" (barge) literally, "shorn tail", a possible reference to the ship's flat stern). Its attestation in Greek literature is distributed in two closely related lobes. The first distribution lobe, or area, associates it with certain light and fast merchantmen found near Cyprus and Corfu. The second is an extensive attestation in the Oxyrhynchus corpus, where it seems most frequently to describe the Nile barges of the Ptolemaic pharaohs. Both of these usages may lead back through the Phoenician to the Akkadian kalakku, which denotes a type of river barge. The Akkadian term is assumed to be derived from a Sumerian antecedent.^[2] A modern reflex of the word is found in Arabic and Turkish kelek "raft; riverboat".^[3]

Origins

By the Late Middle Ages, the cog and cog-like square-rigged vessels equipped with a rudder at the stern, were widely used along the coasts of Europe, from the Mediterranean, to the Baltic. Given the conditions of the Mediterranean, galley type vessels were extensively used there, as were various two masted vessels, including the caravels with their lateen sails. These and similar ship types were familiar to Portuguese navigators and shipwrights. As the Portuguese gradually extended their trade ever further south along Africa's Atlantic coast during the 15th century, they needed larger, more durable and more advanced sailing ships for their long oceanic ventures. Gradually, they developed their own models of oceanic carracks from a fusion and modification of aspects of the ship types they knew operating in both the Atlantic and Mediterranean, generalizing their use in the end of the century for inter-oceanic travel with a more advanced form of sail rigging that allowed much improved sailing characteristics in the heavy winds and waves of the Atlantic Ocean and a hull shape and size that permitted larger cargoes. In addition to the average tonnage naus, some naus (carracks) were also built in the reign of John II of Portugal, but were widespread only after the turn of the century. The Portuguese carracks were usually very large ships for their time, often over 1000 tons displacement,^[4] and having the future naus of the India run and of the China and Japan trade, also other new types of design.

A typical three-masted carrack such as the São Gabriel had six sails: bowsprit, foresail, mainsail, mizzensail and two topsails.

In the Republic of Ragusa, a kind of a three or four masted carrack called Dubrovačka karaka (Dubrovnik Carrack) was used between the 14th and the 17th century for cargo transport.

In the middle of the 16th century, the first galleons 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 middle of the 17th century due to their larger cargo capacity.

In Asia

Starting in 1498, Portugal initiated for the first time direct and regular exchanges between Europe and India—and the rest of Asia thereafter—through the Cape Route, a voyage that required the use of more substantial vessels, such as carracks, due to its unprecedented duration, about six months.

On average, four carracks connected Lisbon to Goa carrying gold to purchase spices and other exotic items, but mainly pepper. From Goa, one carrack went on to Ming China in order to purchase silks. Starting in 1541, the Portuguese began trading with Japan, exchanging Chinese silk for Japanese silver; in 1550 the Portuguese Crown started to regulate trade to Japan, by leasing the annual "captaincy" to Japan to the highest bidder at Goa, in effect conferring exclusive trading rights for a single carrack bound for Japan every year. In 1557 the Portuguese acquired Macau to develop this trade in partnership with the Chinese. That trade continued with few interruptions until 1638, when it was prohibited by the rulers of Japan on the grounds that the ships were smuggling Catholic priests into the country. The Japanese called Portuguese carracks "Black Ships" (kurofune), referring to the colour of the ship's hulls. This term would eventually come to refer to any Western vessel, not just Portuguese.

The Islamic world also built and used carracks, or at least carrack-like ships, in the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. A picture of an Ottoman barca on Piri Reis' map shows a deep-hulled ship with a tall forecastle and a lateen sail on the mizzenmast.^[5]^{: 329–330} The harraqa (Saracen: karaque) was a type of ship used to hurl explosives or inflammable materials (firebomb in earthenware pots, naphtha, fire arrows). From the context of Islamic texts, there are two types of harraqa: The cargo ship and the smaller longship (galley-like) that was used for fighting. It is unclear whether the nomenclature harraqa has a connection with European carraca (carrack), or whether one influences the other. One Muslim harraqa named Mogarbina was captured by the Knights of St. John in 1507 from the Ottoman Turks and renamed Santa Maria.^[5]^{: 343–348} Gujarati ships are usually called naos (carracks) by the Portuguese. Gujarati naos operated between Malacca and the Red Sea, and were often larger than Portuguese carracks. The Bengalis also used carracks, sometimes called naos mauriscas (Moorish carracks) by the Portuguese. Arabs merchants of Mecca apparently used carracks too, since Duarte Barbosa noted that the Bengali people have "great naos after the fashion of Mecca".^[6]^{: 605–606, 610}

Famous carracks

Santa María, in which Christopher Columbus made his first voyage to America in 1492.
Gribshunden, flagship of the Danish-Norwegian King Hans, built in the Low Countries 1485 and served the Danish-Norwegian crown until sinking in June 1495.^[7]^[8]
São Gabriel, flagship of Vasco da Gama, in the 1497 Portuguese expedition from Europe to India by circumnavigating Africa.
Flor do Mar or Flor de la Mar, as it was called, served over nine years in the Indian Ocean, sinking in 1512 with Afonso de Albuquerque after the conquest of Malacca with a huge booty, making it one of the legendary lost treasures.
Victoria, the first ship in history to circumnavigate the globe (1519 to 1522), and the only survivor of Magellan's expedition for Spain.
La Dauphine , Verrazzano's ship to explore the Atlantic coast of North America in 1524.
Grande Hermine , in which Jacques Cartier first navigated the Saint Lawrence River in 1535. The first European ship to sail on this river past the Gulf.
Santo António, or St. Anthony, the personal property of King John III of Portugal, wrecked off Gunwalloe Bay in 1527, the salvage of whose cargo almost led to a war between England and Portugal.
Great Michael , a Scottish ship, at one time the largest in Europe.
Mary Rose , Henri Grâce à Dieu and Peter Pomegranate , built during the reign of King Henry VIII of England — English military carracks like these were often called great ships.
Grace Dieu , commissioned by King Henry V of England. One of the largest ships in the world at the time.
Santa Catarina do Monte Sinai , a war ship built in India by the Portuguese
Santa Anna , a particularly modern design commissioned by the Knights Hospitaller in 1522 and sometimes hailed as the first armoured ship.
Jesus of Lübeck , chartered to a group of merchants in 1563 by Queen Elizabeth I of England. Jesus of Lübeck became involved in the Atlantic slave trade under John Hawkins.
Madre de Deus , built in Lisbon during 1589, she was one of the world's largest ships. She was captured by the English off Flores Island in 1592 with an enormously valuable cargo from the East Indies that is still considered the second-largest treasure ever captured.
Cinco Chagas , presumed to have been the largest and richest ship to ever sail to and from the Indies until it exploded and sank at the action of Faial in 1594.
Santa Catarina, Portuguese carrack which was seized by the Dutch East India Company off Singapore in 1603.
Nossa Senhora da Graça , Portuguese carrack sunk in a Japanese attack near Nagasaki in 1610
Peter von Danzig , ship of the Hanseatic League in 1460s–1470s.
La Gran Carracca, the ship of the Order of St. John during their rule over Malta.^[9]
Bom Jesus , a Portuguese ship that disappeared in 1533 after sailing from Lisbon. The well preserved shipwreck was discovered in 2008 on the coast of Namibia, along with its cargo of assorted copper ingots, elephant ivory and over 2000 gold and silver coins.

Gallery

Small 16th-century carrack
Famous Portuguese nau Flor de la Mar (launched in 1501 or 1502), in the 16th-century "Roteiro de Malaca"
A replica of Nao Victoria, in 1522 the first ship to circumnavigate the globe and the only Magellan ship to return
Columbus' Ships (G.A. Closs, 1892): the Santa Maria and Pinta are shown as carracks; the Niña (left) as a caravel.
Model of the carrack Madre de Deus , in the Maritime Museum, Lisbon. Built based on another design, later in Portugal (1589), she was one of the largest ship in the world in her time. She had seven decks.
Portuguese carrack, as depicted in a map made in 1565
Japanese depiction of a Portuguese carrack, dubbed kurofune (black ship)
Carracks of the Indian Ocean: Indian carrack "Piroga" — Carrack of Mecca — Carrack of Rumes (Ottoman)
A four-masted Turkish carrack, 1586

Popular culture

The Italian word caracca and derivative words are popularly used in reference to a cumbersome individual, to an old vessel, or to a vehicle in a very bad condition.^[9] The Portuguese form of "carrack", nau, is used as its unique unit in the Civilization V and Civilization VI strategy game.

Related Research Articles

A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships carry square sails on each mast—the brig and full-rigged ship, said to be "ship-rigged" when there are three or more masts. Others carry only fore-and-aft sails on each mast, for instance some schooners. Still others employ a combination of square and fore-and-aft sails, including the barque, barquentine, and brigantine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rig (sailing)</span> Description of the specific ways that a sailing craft is rigged

A sailing vessel's rig is its arrangement of masts, sails and rigging. Examples include a schooner rig, cutter rig, junk rig, etc. A rig may be broadly categorized as "fore-and-aft", "square", or a combination of both. Within the fore-and-aft category there is a variety of triangular and quadrilateral sail shapes. Spars or battens may be used to help shape a given kind of sail. Each rig may be described with a sail plan—formally, a drawing of a vessel, viewed from the side.

A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail. The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galleon</span> Large and multi-decked sailing ships

Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships developed in Portugal and Spain and first used as armed cargo carriers by Europeans from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the mid-1600s. Galleons generally carried three or more masts with a lateen fore-and-aft rig on the rear masts, were carvel built with a prominent squared off raised stern, and used square-rigged sail plans on their fore-mast and main-masts.

The caravel is a small maneuverable sailing ship used in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean and by Columbus on his expeditions of exploration of the Americas. They used both lateen and square sails and were known for their agility and speed and their capacity for sailing windward (beating) with their lateen sails. Caravels were used by the Portuguese and Spanish for the voyages of exploration during the 15th and 16th centuries, in the Age of Discovery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carvel (boat building)</span> Method of building a boat

Carvel built or carvel planking is a method of boat building in which hull planks are laid edge to edge and fastened to a robust frame, thereby forming a smooth surface. Traditionally the planks are neither attached to, nor slotted into, each other, having only a caulking sealant between the planks to keep water out. Modern carvel builders may attach the planks to each other with glues and fixings. It is a "frame first" method of hull construction, where the shape is determined by the framework onto which the planks are fixed. This is in contrast to "plank first" or "shell first" methods, where the outer skin of the hull is made and then reinforced by the insertion of timbers that are fitted to that shape. The most common modern "plank first" method is clinker construction; in the classical period "plank first" involved joining the edges of planks with mortise and tenon joints within the thickness of the timbers, superficially giving the smooth-hull appearance of carvel construction, but achieved by entirely different means.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lateen</span> Type of sailing rig

A lateen or latin-rig is a triangular sail set on a long yard mounted at an angle on the mast, and running in a fore-and-aft direction. The settee can be considered to be an associated type of the same overall category of sail.

The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, giving necessary height to a navigation light, look-out position, signal yard, control position, radio aerial or signal lamp. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship. Nearly all sailing masts are guyed.

A fluyt is a Dutch type of sailing vessel originally designed by the shipwrights of Hoorn as a dedicated cargo vessel. Originating in the Dutch Republic in the 16th century, the vessel was designed to facilitate transoceanic delivery with the maximum of space and crew efficiency. Unlike rivals, it was not built for conversion in wartime to a warship, so it was cheaper to build and carried twice the cargo, and could be handled by a smaller crew. Construction by specialized shipyards using new tools made it half the cost of rival ships. These factors combined to sharply lower the cost of transportation for Dutch merchants, giving them a major competitive advantage. The fluyt was a significant factor in the 17th-century rise of the Dutch seaborne empire. In 1670 the Dutch merchant marine totalled 568,000 tons of shipping—about half the European total.

A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel with a sail plan of three or more masts, all of them square-rigged. Such a vessel is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged, with each mast stepped in three segments: lower, top, and topgallant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fore-and-aft rig</span> Sailing rig consisting mainly of sails

A fore-and-aft rig is a sailing vessel rig with sails set mainly along the line of the keel, rather than perpendicular to it as on a square rigged vessel.

Medieval ships were the vessels used in Europe during the Middle Ages. Like ships from antiquity, they were moved by sails, oars, or a combination of the two. There was a large variety, mostly based on much older, conservative designs. Although wider and more frequent communications within Europe meant exposure to a variety of improvements, experimental failures were costly and rarely attempted. Ships in the north were influenced by Viking vessels, while those in the south by classical or Roman vessels. However, there was technological change. The different traditions used different construction methods; clinker in the north, carvel in the south. By the end of the period, carvel construction would come to dominate the building of large ships. The period would also see a shift from the steering oar or side rudder to the stern rudder and the development from single-masted to multi-masted ships. As the area is connected by water, people in the Mediterranean built different kinds of ships to accommodate different sea levels and climates. Within the Mediterranean area during the Medieval times ships were used for a multitude of reasons, like war, trade, and exploration.

The Portuguese Indian Armadas were the fleets of ships funded by the Crown of Portugal, and dispatched on an annual basis from Portugal to India. The principal destination was Goa, and previously Cochin. These armadas undertook the Carreira da Índia from Portugal, following the maritime discovery of the Cape route, to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama in 1497–99.

Due to centuries of constant conflict, warfare and daily life in the Iberian Peninsula were interlinked. Small, lightly equipped armies were maintained at all times. The near-constant state of war resulted in a need for maritime experience, ship technology, power, and organization. This led the Crowns of Aragon, Portugal, and later Castile, to put their efforts into the sea.

The square-rigged caravel, was a sailing ship created by the Portuguese in the second half of the fifteenth century. A much larger version of the caravel, its use was most notorious beginning in the end of that century. The square-rigged caravel held a notable role in the Portuguese expansion during the Age of Discovery, especially in the first half of the sixteenth century, for its exceptional maneuverability and combat capabilities. This ship was also sometimes adopted by other European powers. Its hull resembled the shape of the later galleon and some scholars have claimed that this vessel is a forerunner of the fighting galleon, by the name of caravela de armada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sail</span> Fabric or other surface supported by a mast to allow wind propulsion

A sail is a tensile structure, which is made from fabric or other membrane materials, that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may be made from a combination of woven materials—including canvas or polyester cloth, laminated membranes or bonded filaments, usually in a three- or four-sided shape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shipbuilding in the early modern era</span>

Maritime travel experienced a large leap in the capabilities of seafaring vessels thanks to technological improvements in shipbuilding in the early modern era. Europe, Asia, and the Middle East all saw improvements on prior construction techniques, contributing to the Age of Discovery. As a result, the introduction of these technologies in the production of naval vessels was critical as they allowed nations that utilized these advancements to ascend to a state that could expand its influence at a far greater range. In military engagements, the exploration of new lands and potential colonies, or the transportation of goods for trade, better shipbuilding techniques coincided with prosperity. It is during this time that the practice of naval architecture appeared, as skilled designers could produce designs that had an enormous impact in ship performance and capabilities.

Portuguese nautical science evolved from the successive expeditions and experience of the Portuguese pilots. It led to a fairly rapid evolution, creating an elite of astronomers, navigators, mathematicians and cartographers. Among them stood Pedro Nunes with studies on how to determine latitude by the stars, and João de Castro, who made important observations of magnetic declination over the entire route around Africa.

References

↑ Konstam, A. (2002). The History of Shipwrecks. New York: Lyons Press. pp. 77–79. ISBN 1-58574-620-7.
↑ Bosworth, C. Edmund (1991). "Some remarks on the terminology of irrigation practices and hydraulic constructions in the eastern Arab and Iranian worlds in the third-fifth centuries A.H.". Journal of Islamic Studies. 2 (1): 78–85. doi:10.1093/jis/2.1.78.
↑ Gong, Y (1990). "kalakku: Überlegungen zur Mannigfaltigkeit der Darstellungsweisen desselben Begriffs in der Keilschrift anhand des Beispiels kalakku". Journal of Ancient Civilizations . 5: 9–24. ISSN 1004-9371.
↑ Braudel, F (1979). The Structures of Everyday Life . Harper & Row. p. 423. ISBN 0060148454.
1 2 Agius, Dionisius A. (2007). Classic Ships of Islam: From Mesopotamia to the Indian Ocean. Brill Academic Pub. ISBN 978-9004277854.
↑ Manguin, Pierre-Yves. 2012. "Asian shipbuilding traditions in the Indian Ocean at the dawn of European expansion", in: Om Prakash and D. P. Chattopadhyaya (eds), History of science, philosophy, and culture in Indian Civilization, Volume III, Part 7: The trading world of the Indian Ocean, 1500–1800, pp. 597–629. Delhi, Chennai, Chandigarh: Pearson.^{[ ISBN missing ]}
↑ Foley, Brendan (2024-01-31). "Interim Report on Gribshunden (1495) Excavations: 2019–2021". Acta Archaeologica. 94 (1): 132–145. doi: 10.1163/16000390-09401052 . ISSN 0065-101X.
↑ Hansson, Anton; Linderson, Hans; Foley, Brendan (August 2021). "The Danish royal flagship gribshunden – Dendrochronology on a late medieval carvel sunk in the Baltic Sea". Dendrochronologia. 68: 125861. Bibcode:2021Dendr..6825861H. doi:10.1016/j.dendro.2021.125861. ISSN 1125-7865.
1 2 Cassar Pullicino, Joseph (October–December 1949). "The Order of St. John in Maltese folk-memory" (PDF). Scientia. 15 (4): 174. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 April 2016.

External links

Media related to Carracks at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition of carrack at Wiktionary
The Development of the Square-Rigged Ship: from the carrack to the full-rigger
Computer modeling of a Portuguese carrack
Dubrovačka karaka (Dubrovnik Carrack) – a kind of a three or four masted carrack used between the 14th and the 17th century for cargo transport in the Republic of Ragusa
Carrack (karaka) – a large three-masted cargo sailing ship in the 14th–17th centuries

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Konstam, A. (2002). The History of Shipwrecks. New York: Lyons Press. pp. 77–79. ISBN 1-58574-620-7.

[2] Bosworth, C. Edmund (1991). "Some remarks on the terminology of irrigation practices and hydraulic constructions in the eastern Arab and Iranian worlds in the third-fifth centuries A.H.". Journal of Islamic Studies. 2 (1): 78–85. doi:10.1093/jis/2.1.78.

[3] Gong, Y (1990). "kalakku: Überlegungen zur Mannigfaltigkeit der Darstellungsweisen desselben Begriffs in der Keilschrift anhand des Beispiels kalakku". Journal of Ancient Civilizations . 5: 9–24. ISSN 1004-9371.

[4] Braudel, F (1979). The Structures of Everyday Life . Harper & Row. p. 423. ISBN 0060148454.

[:22-5] 1 2 Agius, Dionisius A. (2007). Classic Ships of Islam: From Mesopotamia to the Indian Ocean. Brill Academic Pub. ISBN 978-9004277854.

[:2-6] Manguin, Pierre-Yves. 2012. "Asian shipbuilding traditions in the Indian Ocean at the dawn of European expansion", in: Om Prakash and D. P. Chattopadhyaya (eds), History of science, philosophy, and culture in Indian Civilization, Volume III, Part 7: The trading world of the Indian Ocean, 1500–1800, pp. 597–629. Delhi, Chennai, Chandigarh: Pearson.^{[ ISBN missing ]}

[7] Foley, Brendan (2024-01-31). "Interim Report on Gribshunden (1495) Excavations: 2019–2021". Acta Archaeologica. 94 (1): 132–145. doi: 10.1163/16000390-09401052 . ISSN 0065-101X.

[8] Hansson, Anton; Linderson, Hans; Foley, Brendan (August 2021). "The Danish royal flagship gribshunden – Dendrochronology on a late medieval carvel sunk in the Baltic Sea". Dendrochronologia. 68: 125861. Bibcode:2021Dendr..6825861H. doi:10.1016/j.dendro.2021.125861. ISSN 1125-7865.

[cassar-9] 1 2 Cassar Pullicino, Joseph (October–December 1949). "The Order of St. John in Maltese folk-memory" (PDF). Scientia. 15 (4): 174. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 April 2016.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]