Christopher Columbus' lost ship, the Santa Maria, may have been found!

[Biggles]

As seen here:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/worl...icle-1.1789618

Always exciting when the people of today catch up with the people of the past!

[TarJak]

Will be interesting to see if it turns out to be that ship or a later wreck.

[Jimbuna]

If it is the Santa Maria it would be great if they could raise what's left of her and copy what was done for the Mary Rose

http://www.maryrose.org/

[Wolferz]

No matter what, that Galeon ain't gonna make it back to Spain.

[Sailor Steve]

As they say in the article, all the salvagable wood was used to build a fort. How much was actually left?

If this does turn out to be what's left of Santa Maria (and how will they determine that?), the biggest boon I see would be its proximity to different islands, and the possible proof of Columbus's actual landing place, something which has never been determined.

[Catfish]

@Wolferz:

A Galleon ??!!

This, Sir, is a Nao, a late Caravella redonda, or maybe a Carrack, but NEVER a Galleon

[Wolferz]

Originally Posted by Catfish

@Wolferz:

A Galleon ??!!

This, Sir, is a Nao, a late Caravella redonda, or maybe a Carrack, but NEVER a Galleon

I like Galleons.
Christopher was just another lost sailor in my book and he had no idea where he was going or where he ended up. All I know is he ended up dead from an STD that he freely distributed to the natives he encountered.
Sure, some say he discovered America but I think Leif Ericson and Americo Vespucci might beg to differ.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Wolferz

IAll I know is he ended up dead from an STD that he freely distributed to the natives he encountered.

In that case all you know is wrong. People at the time claimed he died from gout, which was a catch-all for various diseases of the joints. Modern suspicion is that he died from Reiter's Syndrome, which can be aquired through STDs or through intestinal bacteria. Therefore there's an equal likelihood he got it through food poisoning. While your hypothesis is certainly possible, you don't know it at all.

Also against that is the fact that while the Spaniards certainly brought a lot of diseases to the Americas against which the natives had no defense, none of them were STDs. The accusation in that quarter is that the explorers brought Syphilis, Chlamydia and Gonorrhea back to Europe rather than the other way around.

Sure, some say he discovered America but I think Leif Ericson and Americo Vespucci might beg to differ.

Leif Erikson did establish a settlement in Canada, but it didn't last, the colonists abandoning the venture after a couple of years. Stories of settlements in middle America are nonsense. Vespucci did have the land named for him by a German cartographer, but it was Columbus who spread the word and started the wave of settlement that brought us to where we are today. He deserves full credit for the discovery.

[TarJak]

It was a landfall by a European. Nothing more. There were several thousand humans that were living there that found it long before any eurotrash turned up.

[Jimbuna]

Here's me thinking George Washington founded the US first

[Wolferz]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Here's me thinking George Washington founded the US first

George founded the CIA and led the first American army and he was made the first president for his victories.
Not bad for a toothless old git in a powdered whig.

[swamprat69er]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Here's me thinking George Washington founded the US first

Naw! He just chopped down an old Cherry Tree that probably had Black Knot in it anyway.

[u crank]

Interesting. Just finished reading Columbus: The Four Voyages, 1492-1504 by Laurence Bergreen. Some notes from the book. The shipwreck occurred on Christmas eve, 1492. The crew had been drinking to celebrate the occasion and with a fairly calm sea the helmsman turned over the tiller to the ship's boy and went to sleep. Ship struck a reef with a 14 year old at the helm.
Despite all attempts to free her including off loading the cargo with help of natives the ship was lost.

Columbus turned the disaster to something in his favor and claimed Divine intervention. Always on the lookout for future endeavors he used the ships timbers to build a fort, La Navidad, and he left 39 of his men there to man it as the other two ships returned to Spain. In effect, he created the necessity of a rescue mission because he feared his future voyages would not be sponsored by the Spanish crown. His fear was based on the fact that he had not found what he had promised to find; the riches of China.

On his return he found that all the men had perished although their exact fate was hard to determine. Some had obviously been killed by the natives but the reason was never known. One can guess.

Great book, highly recommended.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by u crank

His fear was based on the fact that he had not found what he had promised to find; the riches of China.

I haven't seen anyone speculate about it in print, but I've always wondered if Columbus himself had a pretty good idea of the truth of his discoveries, but never dared admit it for that very fear. He had after all claimed the world was much smaller than his opponents did, and his claims were based on the work of Martinus of Tyre, which gave a much smaller estimate than did the findings of Ptolemy two hundred years later.

I also wonder if he didn't use the computations for a smaller earth intentionally, convinced that he would never get backing if he admitted the voyage might have been longer than was feasible at the time.

[nikimcbee]

Originally Posted by Wolferz

George founded the CIA and led the first American army and he was made the first president for his victories.
Not bad for a toothless old git in a powdered whig.

Somebody has been watching Turn.