Cristóbal Colón

First Voyage  1492 - 1493

Everybody is familiar with the story of Christopher Columbus's struggle to get support from the Kings and Queens of Europe to prove that he could sail west to reach the riches of the Far East. I well not go into that story, since it is not the purpose of these pages.
Colón, set sail from the port of Palos, in southern Spain on August 2, 1492. His squadron consisted of three small ships. The first ship was owned by Cristóbal Quintero, and was named  Pinta. The second ship was owned by Juan Niño, and was named the Santa Clara, but became known by its nickname, the Niña. Both of these ships were caravels, at 60 tones and between 70 to 80 feet long, and with a crew of between 20 to 30 men.  The Flag Ship was the Santa Maria, had a crew of about 40 men. This ship was larger than the other two, and it was rounder than the caravels, with a large hold. This ship was owned by Juan de la Cosa and displaced about 90 to 100 tons, and was about the same length as the other two. The crew was composed mostly of sailors from the area, not criminals, has tradition tells us.  The list of the crew of the three ships, list only 87 name; but, some historians believe that there may have been up to 120 men. Most of the crew were experienced Spanish sailors from the vicinity of Palos. Other than Columbus, who was from Genoa, there was another Genoese, a Venetian and a Calabrian on the crew. There were also, a couple of Spanish government officials. Since this was a voyage of exploration, there were no soldiers, priests or settlers on this voyage.

Colón's crew sighted land on October 12, 1492 in the Bahamas, the exact island is the subject of much debate. He arrived in Cuba on October 28. While sailing on the northern coast of Cuba, the captain of the Pinta, Martin Alonso Pinzón, took off on his own, searching for an island called "Babeque". The natives of the area, had told him that it was a land of many riches and plenty of gold. Columbus continued with his other two ships, and sailed south east and discovered Española on December 5th.

While exploring the northern coast of Española, the Santa Maria ran aground on a reef on Christmas Eva, and sank the next day. With the remains of the Santa Maria, he built a fort and called it La Navidad. Since all of his men could not fit on the Niña, he left some at La Navidad, on January 2nd, of 1493, and continued his explorations along the coast of Española, headed towards Spain. Farther down the coast he ran into the Pinta. He hoped to return to Spain hoping to mount another expedition to rescue the men that he was leavening behind in La Navidad.

Note: The course that is outlined is not the exact course taken by Columbus, but an approximation of it. I just want to give the readers an idea of the general course and the mail islands discovered by Columbus on his first voyage of discovery.


Panama History Home Conquistadores

 

Pre-Voyages
 < 1492

Second Voyage
1493 - 1496

Third Voyage
1498 - 1500

Fourth Voyage
1502 - 1504

 
Panama History Home Conquistadores

October 9, 2001