First+Voyage


 * __First Voyage-Finding America 1492-1493__**

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Christopher Columbus' first voyage departed from the port of Palos in southern Spain on the 3rd of August 1492 in charge of three ships, the ﻿Nina the Pinta and the Santa Maria. He left Spain with high hopes of finding a direct route from Europe to Asia. He knew that if he found a way to get to Asia it would prove that the world was not flat (although most people already knew that the world was round). ======

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Columbus first stopped at the Canary Islands where he was delayed for four weeks because of calm winds and the need to repair the ships. They left the island of Gomera on September the 6th 1492 but more calm winds left him within sight of the westernmost island Hierro until september the 8th. ======

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On October the 12th Columbus sighted what is now called the Bahamas before proceeding on to Cuba on October the 28th. While sailing North of Cuba on November the 22nd without warning the Pinta's captain, Martin Alonso Pinzon left the other two ships and sailed away looking for an island called Babeque which, according to what one of the natives had told him was full of gold. Columbus was furious as he continued Eastward along with the Nina before reaching Hispaniola on December the 5th. ======

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Santa Maria the flagship grounded on a reef on Christmas eve 1492 and foundered the next day. Columbus used the remains of the ship to build a fort on the shore which he called la Navidad (Spanish for Christmas). The Nina was to small to carry all of the remaining crew so Columbus was forced to leave around 40 men behind at La Navidad to await his return from Spain. Columbus departed from Hispaniola on January the 2nd 1493. Columbus continued along the eastwood coast of Hispaniola before suprisingly finding the Pinta on January the 6th. Columbus' anger at Pizon evaporated as relief with being able to return to Spain with another ship set in. ======

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The two ships left Hispaniola on January the 16th but were again seperated by a fierce storm on the North Atlantic on February the 14th. Columbus and Pinzon each believed each other had perished in the storm. Columbus sighted the Azores islands a few days later while Pinzon missed them and ended up travelling to the port of Bayona in Northern Spain. Meanwhile Columbus had made it to the port of Lisbon, a few towns away from Palos where he arrived on the 15th of March 1493. The Pinta made it to the port of Palos a few hours after the Nina. Pinzon thought he would be hailed as a hero but all the honour had already been given to Columbus. Pinzon died a few days later and Columbus was hailed as a hero. ======