![]() A month later, on December 24, the Santa Maria ran aground on a coral reef two miles off the Haitian coast, where it quickly capsized and filled with water. On November 21, 1492, Vicente's brother Martín rashly abandoned his squadron, a controversial move that ultimately destroyed his reputation and which left the Niña and Santa Maria anchored off the coast of San Salvador. Cuba was named Juana in honor of the Spanish princess. Columbus and his men explored several islands in the region, including Cuba and Haiti (Hispaniola), and in front of curious groups of native Arawaks claimed each piece of land they set foot on as the property of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. The only ship of the three to carry arms, the Niña was outfitted with ten breech-loading bombardas or swivel guns.Īfter weeks of sailing, land was sighted on October 11th, and the next day Columbus, the Pinzóns, and the rest of the crew set foot in the New World, believed to be India but which was later determined to be an island in the Bahamas, probably Watling's Island. The four-masted Niña was 67 feet long, her 21-foot mast the shortest in Columbus's small fleet, and her shallow draft allowed her to anchor close to shore and maneuver in less than seven feet of water. The Niña and the Pinta were caravels smaller and lighter than the Santa Maria, they were also far more maneuverable and capable of maintaining greater speeds. Slow due to her size and large crew, she could cover only 150 miles per day under the best of sailing conditions. The largest of the three ships, the cumbersome Santa Maria was a full-rigged ship that weighed in at over 100 tons and measured approximately 100 feet from stem to stern. In the Pinta was Martín Alonso Pinzón, who counted among his 26 men yet another Pinzón, his first mate and youngest brother Francisco Martín Pinzón. ![]() Columbus commanded the flagship Santa Maria, while Vicente took charge of the Niña and its crew of 24. Vicente, of course, quickly became an enthusiastic participant in Columbus's expedition, and when the squadron of three ships set sail from Palos, Spain, on August 3, 1492, he was among the estimated 120 men on board. Would Vicente be interested? Set Sail for China and Fabled West Indies Martín had already provided the Italian with much-needed additional funding now he was helping him secure a competent crew. An Italian explorer named Cristóbal Colón had just been granted funding from King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella of Spain and was planning a voyage to India and the Orient by a very novel means: he planned to sail around the circumference of the earth in the opposite direction and had several rudimentary maps to guide him. The spring of 1492 found the 30-year-old Pinzón at work in the family shipbuilding trade when he was approached by his brother Martín, 20 years his senior, with a proposition. He also became skilled in navigation and developed into a talented captain. Hearing tales of far-off lands and the wonders-and wealth-they contained from men who, like his much older brother Martín, had explored Africa and the Mediterranean, Vicente caught the spirit of adventure that characterized the age of exploration. Raised in comfortable circumstances, he was one of a long line of seafarers and shipowners, and as a child he spent many hours on the sea. ![]() Pinzón was born in 1443 in the Spanish seaport town of Palos de Muguer. While Martín died, dishonored, shortly after his return from the New World, Vicente went on to distinguish himself as an explorer in his own right in subsequent years and is credited with the discovery of the Brazilian mainland and being the first European to sail up the mouth of the Amazon River. Martín Alonso Pinzón, destined to become a thorn in Columbus's side during the voyage, was in charge of the Pinta while the less volatile Vicente Yáñez Pinzón captained the Niña. From the helm of the flagship Santa Maria, Columbus benefited from the navigational skills of the brothers Pinzón in captaining the two remaining ships in his small squadron. Funded by the king of Spain rather than Italy, he headed what was essentially a Spanish expedition. When 15th-century Genoese-born explorer Christopher Columbus embarked upon the voyage that would change the course of world history, he traveled with a crew of what he considered foreigners. Spanish navigator Vicente Yáñez Pinzón (1463-1514) captained the ship Niña during Italian explorer Christopher Columbus's first expedition to the New World in 1492 and went on to participate in the exploration of Brazil, becoming that nation's first governor.
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