The Santa María was probably a medium sized nao (carrack) , about 60 feet long on deck, “very little larger than 100 toneladas” (100 tons), [1][2][3] and was used as the flagship for the expedition. The other ships of the Columbus expedition were the smaller caravel-type ships Santa Clara, remembered as La Niña (“The Girl”), and La Pinta (“The Painted One”). All these ships were second-hand (if not third or more) and were never meant for exploration. The Niña, Pinta, and the Santa María were modest sized merchant vessels comparable in size to a modern yacht, and not the largest ships in Europe at the time. They were smaller trade ships greatly surpassed in size by ships like the Great Michael, built in Scotland in 1511 with a length of 73.2 m (240 ft), and a crew of 300 sailors, 120 gunners, and up to 1,000 soldiers. The Peter von Danzig of the Hanseatic League was built in 1462 and was 51 m (167.3 ft) long. The reason size is mentioned is that Columbus’ three ships were built to sail the Mediterranean sea, not the open ocean. This says a great deal about the courage of Columbus and his crew. Flagship Santa María Issue of 1893 The Santa María was originally named La Gallega (“The Galician”), because she was built in Pontevedra, Galicia, in Spain’s north-west. 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’s vessels but performed well in the Atlantic crossing. She ran aground off the present-day site of Cap-Haïtien, Haiti on December 25, 1492, and was lost. The anchor of the Santa María now resides in the Musée du Panthéon National Haitien (MUPANAH), in Port-au-Prince. The item “ZHL Santa Maria1492 scale 1/50 30 inch wooden model ship kits” is in sale since Monday, June 25, 2018. This item is in the category “Toys & Hobbies\Models & Kits\Wooden”. The seller is “modelshipkit” and is located in , . This item can be shipped worldwide.
- MPN: Does Not Apply
- Brand: ZHL
- Gender: Boys & Girls
- Country of Manufacture: China