Caravel/Carrack (Nao)

Timeline

1. c. 1470–1490Ports of Portugal and Castile · Iberian PeninsulaShipwrights combined northern high-sided square sails with Mediterranean lateen sails, creating an early carrack with a high forecastle, multiple masts, and capacity of several hundred tons, suited to North Atlantic waves and winds.
2. c. 1492–1520North Atlantic sea lanes · North AtlanticVoyages by Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and others relied heavily on carracks for transoceanic provisioning and cargo transport, making them the core transport vessels of the Spanish and Portuguese colonial systems.
3. 1521–1530Indian Ocean–Atlantic trade network · GlobalIn the 1520s carracks still carried long-haul trade in American silver, Asian spices, and African slaves, serving alongside early galleons and forming the foundation of Iberian maritime hegemony.