The New World was first sighted by Rodrigo de Triana aboard La Pinta on 12 October 1492.

Santa María (also known as the Gallega) was the largest, of a type known as a carrack (carraca in Spanish), or by the Portuguese term nau.

This word represents a capacity about one-tenth larger than that expressed by the modern English "ton".

Peter von Danzig of the Hanseatic League was built in 1462 and was 51 m (167 ft) long.

Ships built in Europe in the 15th century were designed to sail the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean coastlines.

This made it difficult to recruit crew members, and a small number were jailed prisoners given a light sentence if they would sail with Columbus.

Other authorities, however, speak as if La Niña only was an open vessel, and the two larger were decked.

[4] A replica of La Pinta was built by the Spanish government for the Columbian Naval Review of 1893.