THE CARRACK
This is a ten-foot model of the Carrack – one of the ships of the navy of the Order of St John. I took this shot last Sunday when my brother and I with some others visited the Malta Maritime Museum in Birgu. Would have liked to have the real thing in/by the museum but this will have to do.
During its prime days the carrack was considered as a floating fortress. It was developed in Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries and continued into the 17th century. In its most developed form, the carrack was a carvel built ocean-going ship: large enough to be stable in heavy seas, and for a large cargo and the provisions needed for very long voyages. 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.
Some of the famous carracks are:
• Santa María, in which Christopher Columbus made his first voyage to America in 1492.
• São Gabriel, flagship of Vasco da Gama, in the 1497 Portuguese expedition from Europe to India by circumnavigating Africa..
• La Dauphine, Verrazzano's ship to explore the Atlantic coast of North America in 1524.
• Mary Rose, Henri Grâce à Dieu and Peter Pomegranate, built during the reign of Henry VIII — English military carracks like these were often called great ships.
• Santa Anna, a particularly modern design commissioned by the Knights of St John in 1522 and sometimes hailed as the first armoured ship.
• Nossa Senhora da Graça, Portuguese carrack sunk in a Japanese attack near Nagasaki in 1610
• La Gran Carracca, one of the ships of the Order of St. John during their rule over Malta.
Source: Wikipedia
Thank you so much for looking and for the comments and fav’s on yesterday’s picture.
