San Salvador flagship
Encyclopedia
San Salvador was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was a Portuguese explorer noted for his exploration of the west coast of North America on behalf of Spain. Cabrillo was the first European explorer to navigate the coast of present day California in the United States...

's 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...

. It was 100-foot full-rigged galleon
Galleon
A galleon was a large, multi-decked sailing ship used primarily by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries. Whether used for war or commerce, they were generally armed with the demi-culverin type of cannon.-Etymology:...

 with 10-foot draft and capacity of 200 ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...

s. It carried officers, crew, slaves and a priest.

Explorations

San Salvador together with La Victoria, the second Cabrillo's ship, were the first two ships to anchor at Santa Catalina Island, California
Santa Catalina Island, California
Santa Catalina Island, often called Catalina Island, or just Catalina, is a rocky island off the coast of the U.S. state of California. The island is long and across at its greatest width. The island is located about south-southwest of Los Angeles, California. The highest point on the island is...

 October 7, 1542. The two ships were not square-rigged galleons commonly used for crossing vast expanses of open ocean. Rather, they were built in Navidad
Navidad
Navidad is the Spanish Christmas album by Christian pop singer Jaci Velasquez and is essentially a Spanish version of her previous album Christmas.-Tracklist:# Oh Ven, Oh Ven, Emmanuel# La Cancion Del Angel# El Rey De Israel...

, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, especially for exploration along the coast. Navidad is some 20 miles northwest from Manzanillo, Colima
Manzanillo, Colima
The name Manzanillo refers to the city as well as its surrounding municipality in the Mexican state of Colima. The city, located on the Pacific Ocean, contains Mexico's busiest port. Manzanillo was the third port created by the Spanish in the Pacific during the New Spain period...

, today almost forgotten.

The requirements of building exploration-ships was the ability to sail with ease into small harbors. The ships were rigged with triangular sails supported by swept booms. This sail arrangement, a forerunner to the sails found on modern-day sloops, ketch
Ketch
A ketch is a sailing craft with two masts: a main mast, and a shorter mizzen mast abaft of the main mast, but forward of the rudder post. Both masts are rigged mainly fore-and-aft. From one to three jibs may be carried forward of the main mast when going to windward...

es and yawl
Yawl
A yawl is a two-masted sailing craft similar to a sloop or cutter but with an additional mast located well aft of the main mast, often right on the transom, specifically aft of the rudder post. A yawl (from Dutch Jol) is a two-masted sailing craft similar to a sloop or cutter but with an...

s, made the craft more agile and gave them the ability to point higher into the wind than square riggers. Entering harbors and coves would have been much easier with these craft as compared to square riggers.

San Salvador replica construction. Started Spring 2011 in San Diego, California

The Maritime Museum of San Diego
Maritime Museum of San Diego
The Maritime Museum of San Diego, established in 1948, preserves one of the largest collections of historic sea vessels in the United States. Located in the San Diego Bay, the centerpiece of the museum's collection is the Star of India, an 1863 iron bark. The museum maintains the MacMullen Library...

 is building a full-sized, fully functional, and historically accurate replica of Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo’s flagship, San Salvador. San Salvador will be constructed in full public view (village opening June 24th 2011) at Spanish Landing in San Diego California, giving people the opportunity to watch from a close perspective as an example of the first modern industrial activity in the Americas comes to life in full public view. After construction, San Salvador will remain on exhibit as part of the Museum's fleet of historic and replica ships and will travel along the California coast as an ambassador for San Diego.

Model of San Salvador

Cabrillo's flagship San Salvador has been described as having four masts: a square-rigged foremast, lateen-rigged main and mizzen-masts and an even smaller mizzen-type
mast with a boom which swung well outboard, in the style of the modern-day yawl
Yawl
A yawl is a two-masted sailing craft similar to a sloop or cutter but with an additional mast located well aft of the main mast, often right on the transom, specifically aft of the rudder post. A yawl (from Dutch Jol) is a two-masted sailing craft similar to a sloop or cutter but with an...

. Such descriptions depict La Victoria as having two masts, both lanteen rigged. A model of San Salvador, was built by Señor Manuel Monmeneu in association with the Naval Museum in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. The model project was sponsored by the Portuguese-American Social and Civic Club of San Diego. This model depicts San Salvador more like La Victoria - with two major masts.

Homonymic ships

San Salvador, the flagship of Dunkirk - Battle of the Downs
Battle of the Downs
The naval Battle of the Downs took place on 31 October 1639 , during the Eighty Years' War, and was a decisive defeat of the Spanish, commanded by Admiral Antonio de Oquendo, by the United Provinces, commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp.- Background :The entry of France in the Thirty...

San Salvador, the flagship carrying 64 sailors and 319 troops
San Salvador
San Salvador (Guipúzcoan squadron)
The San Salvador was a Spanish galleon of the Spanish Armada as part of the Guipúzcoan squadron.It was damaged and captured as a result of the first encounter of the Armada with the Royal Navy in 1588...

a ship of Guipúzcoa Squadron in the Spanish Armada
Spanish Armada
This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...

.
Salvador del Mundo 122-gun ship in ref. to John Jervis
John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent
Admiral of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent GCB, PC was an admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom...

's fleet (see also HMS Captain (1787)
HMS Captain (1787)
HMS Captain was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 26 November 1787 at Limehouse. She served during the French revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars before being placed in harbour service in 1799...

.
San Salvador seized by Robert Reneger, Anglo-Spanish merchant and alleged Brazilian trader

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK