The myth of Columbus’ three ships

The Santa Maria, his flagship was wrecked off Hispaniola on the morning of December 25, 1492. There are several publications which state the names of the three ships with which he arrived in Trinidad in 1498.

These include (a) Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A life of Christopher Columbus by Samuel Eliot Morrison:1942, which on Page 513 gives the names of the ships as La Vaquenos, El Correo, and the third ship which he simply referred to as La Nao; (b) La Magdalena: The story of Tobago: 1498 to 1898 by D Phillips in which the ships were named as Santa Maria de Guia, La Castilla nicknamed Vaquenos and La Garda nicknamed Correo; (c) The story of Trinidad: 1498 to 1797 by Douglas Archibald which on Page 16 gives the names of the ships as Guia (El Nao), Los Vaquenos, and El Correo; and the most recent publication, (d) The Book of Trinidad by Gerard Besson and Bridget Brereton: 2010, which on Page 14 gives the names of the ships as Santa Maria de Guia, La Castilla, and La Gorda also known as Correo.

In addition Wikipedia gives the names of the ships as Santa Maria de Guia, the Vaquenos and the Correo.

On Thursday October 11, 2012, the Ambassador of Spain , His Excellency Joaquin de Aristegui Laborde, to mark our country’s 50th anniversary of Independence, donated a selection of historical documents and maps of the Spanish period of Trinidad and Tobago, as a gift from the government and people of Spain to the Government and people of Trinidad and Tobago.

In addition the Ambassador took the opportunity to launch the English version of La Trinidad Espanola (Spanish Trinidad) which covers the period of Spanish Occupation, 1498 to 1797.

It is my wish that this publication will contain information which will debunk the myths which we have been accepting as the truth for more than 500 years.

Hopefully it will clarify not only the names of the three ships used by Christopher Columbus on his visit to Trinidad, but will also give the reason why he named the island “Trinidad”, and where his men landed on the island. Some of the above publications state that Columbus did not “set foot” on Trinidad.

It is informative to note that October 12, 2012 , marked 520 years since the arrival of Columbus to the “New World”.

We should all be grateful to the Ambassador for his initiative in obtaining these valuable gifts from the Spanish government.

Ian Lambie

via e-mail