São Gabriel (ship)

For the Brazilian city in Rio Grande do Sul, see São Gabriel (Rio Grande do Sul ), the Brazilian city in Bahia, see São Gabriel (Bahia)

The São Gabriel (male saints name after the archangel Gabriel ), a built 1496/97 Nau, was the flagship of Vasco da Gama. With it, he left to find an eastern route to India on July 8, 1497 the port RESTELO in Lisbon. Pilot ( helmsman and navigator ) was the then very famous Pêro de Alenquer.

On May 20, 1498, Vasco da Gama of East Africa coming to 2,700 nautical miles in 27 days with her Calicut on the Malabar Coast (also called pepper coast ) in Kerala. The return trip to Malindi ( Kenya today ) took over 3 months. After sailing a detour via the Azores on the way back to Portugal, there to lose track of the ship in history. Da Gama was born without it on September 9, 1499 with a handful of Indian spices to Lisbon.

• Height: 21.3 m long, 7 m wide, 2.7 m Draft
• Rigging: 3 masts, including 2x with square sails on the mizzen and a Ladin; foremast already a second square sail
• Team: 60 men, the armament consisted, inter alia, from 20 cannons
• Loading capacity: about 100 to

The ship has a length to width ratio of 2.5:1 and worked despite its long Quarterdecks that reached down to the ship's center, very round. Striking is also the triangular building on the bow. Dating back to his time ship model of a " Catalan Nau " ( 1450 ) at the Marine Museum " Prins Hendrik Maritime Museum - " Rotterdam is a comparison, an important witness to the development of this type of ship. The Santa Maria his " Spanish " competitors Columbus was, in whose opinion the type of boat manufactures a Nao.