Pinta (ship)

"La Pinta" (the "Painted") was the fastest of the three ships used by Christopher Columbus in his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492. The New World was first sighted by Rodrigo de Triana on the Pinta on October 12 1492.

Pinta was a caravel-type vessel. By tradition Spanish ships were named after saints and usually given nicknames. Thus, Pinta, like Niña, was not the ship's actual name. The actual name of the Pinta is unknown.

Pinta was square rigged and was smaller than the "Santa María", weighing approximately 60 tons with a length of 20 meters and a width of 7 meters. The crew size was 26 men. Captain of the Pinta was Martín Alonzo Pinzón.

The other ships of the Columbus expedition were the "Niña" and the "Santa María." There are no known contemporary likenesses of Columbus' ships. Replicas of each of all three ships exist, the best-known of which is the "sailing museum" IPA|"Niña", built in 1992, which has toured the world continuously since then. [ [http://www.thenina.com The Niña - Columbus Foundation British Virgin Islands] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/caribarch/columbus.htm Florida Museum of Natural History.] List of crew members on the Pinta.