Colonial-Era Spanish Ships
Spanish Florida was connected to the outside world by wooden sailing ships, including those that initially explored its coastlines starting in 1513, and those that provided a lifeline of provisions and other equipment and supplies via regular maritime travel between St. Augustine (and, later, Pensacola and St. Marks) and more central Spanish colonial ports at Havana, Veracruz, and other locations around the Caribbean basin. The image to the right is an illustration on the larger planisphere map drawn by Urbano Monte in 1587 (the digitized original can be found here), and shows an assortment of ship types commonly used on early Spanish colonial fleets in the New World.
Below is a digitized journal issue with an excellent short article that provides an overview of the various types of sailing ships used in the early Spanish colonial period and particularly in the exploration of Spanish Florida (pp. 18-29).
Smith, Roger C.
1992 Ships in the Exploration of La Florida. Gulf Coast Historical Review 8(1):18-29.
Ship types described include the larger caravelas, naos, and galeones, along with smaller bergantines, fragatas, and barcos, as well as fustas and chalupas.
Within the primary source record, the ca. 1537 manuscript volume commonly known as the Espejo de Navegantes ("Mariner's Mirror"), written by the royal cosmographer Alonso de Chaves includes his own list of ship types ranked by size from small to large, including a wide range of ships used not just in the New World but also in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Atlantic Ocean. The digitized original manuscript can be found at the Spanish Royal Academy of History under the name Quatri partitu en cosmographia pratica i por otro no[m]bre llamado Espeio de Navegantes.
Navios Mancos y Pesados
copatenes
esquifes
bateles
barcos
barcas
chalupas
tafurcas
gavarras
pataxes
pinaças
caravelas
navios
naos
urcas
galeones
carracones
carracas
Navios Subtiles, o Ligeros
zabras
bergantines
galeotas
esquiracas
fustas
galeras
galeras bastardas
galeaças
This page is still in development.