Publications

Santos, T.A., Fonseca, N. and Castro, F. (2007), “Naval Architecture Applied to the Reconstruction of an Early 17th Century Portuguese Nau”, Marine Technology, Vol. 44, Issue 4, pp. 254-267

The Portuguese sailed yearly on the India Route for more than two centuries, between the early 16th and the 17th centuries. Most ships employed in this route belonged to the Nau type and were among the largest and strongest ships of their time. Although extremely interesting, there is presently very little knowledge about the technical characteristics of these ships. The reason is that they were built in a preindustrial era when technical design and documentation procedures almost did not exist. The method that is presently being applied by the authors to investigate the technical characteristics of these ancient ships combines the analysis of archaeological remains, the interpretation of contemporary texts on shipbuilding, and modern naval architecture techniques. The paper starts by describing the shipwreck discovered recently at the mouth of the Tagus River, known as the Pepper Wreck, which was identified as the Portuguese ship Nossa Senhora dos Mártires, lost on its return voyage from Cochim, India, on September 14, 1606.

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