Carrack
The carrack (derived from Flemish kraeck , [kraːk] ) was a type of sailing ship from the late Middle Ages and the early modern times . The ship type appeared for the first time in Genoa as carraca in the first half of the 14th century and was widespread until the beginning of the 17th century. It was used as both a merchant and a warship .
Development and typology
The carrack developed from the Nef and the Kraweel . In the second half of the 15th century it resembled the Spanish-Portuguese ship type Nao and the northern European Hulk . It was also similar to the caravel , but was considerably larger and heavier. The length could be up to approx. 40 meters and the load capacity up to approx. 500 tons. The carrack was probably the largest type of ship of the time in the western world.
The carrack was a three-master, in the 16th century also a four-master, the hull of which was paneled in a Kraweel construction . Typical features that may differ are:
- Bowsprit with blind (n)
- Foremast with a square sail
- Mainmast with one or two square sails
- Mizzen mast with latin sail
- Bulbous shape of the trunk and round spine
- Beak-shaped bow
- Vertical struts on the lateral outer hull ( bularcamas )
- Front castle
- two-deck aft fort
Most of the maritime traffic in the early age of discovery (15th / 16th century) between Spain and Portugal on the one hand and America and East India on the other hand was carried out with carracks and caravels.
Well-known carracks
- Bom Jesus ,merchant ship sunkoff the coast of South West Africa in1533; their 2008 find is considered one of the most important in the world.
- Grace Dieu (1418), flagship of Henry V of England, an unusually large transition type from nef to carrack.
- Santa Anna (1522), warship of the Order of St. John studded with lead plates, which was successfully used in defensivebattlesagainst the Ottomans .
- Santa Maria , flagship of Christopher Columbus , which is only referred to as Nao in his diaries. The classification as a caravel is controversial, the typification as a caravel is also being discussed.
- Jesus von Lübeck , was bought by Henry VIII in Lübeck for the Royal Navy.
literature
- Alfred Dudszus, Ernest Henriot, Friedrich Krumrey: The great book of ship types . transpress VEB Verlag for Transport, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-344-00161-2 , p. 288 .
