Can a wooden Boat [galleon, caravel] go up a river?

Question

Can a wooden boat like from the 1500s go up a river? My history teacher said that Africa wasn't explored by Europeans until the 1800s because their boats were wooden and wooden boats can't go up a river because the current would push them back.
Thats why they invented the steam engines.
But then how did boats go up a river to go to London and Seville, and other European naval ports, yet not do the same thing in Africa?

So can these boats go up a river?

http://www.forks-web.com/jim/wood%20boat.jpg
http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/25200/25235/galleon_25235_lg.gif
http://img.nytstore.com/IMAGES/NSAPCP2_LARGE.JPG

copy and past the URLs in your browser.

Answer 1

Your teacher is wrong.

1) Many rivers experience tides, a boat can penetrate a river from the sea just by being carried in on the rising tide.

2) Caravels and galleons have sails. If the wind is right they can sail up river as far as depth and width permit.

3) Some galleons and all caravels carried long oars, called sweeps, as well sails. These were routinely used to navigate rivers and bays.

4) Galleons typically had smaller vessels, called "frigatas" and "zabras" in Spanish and pinnaces in English, especially for such inshore work as river navigation. Pinnaces were typically towed behind a galleon or sailed in company with the galleon if they had a separate crew assigned.

The reason that 15th century European explorers didn't sail far up the African rivers is that most of the rivers of East Africa aren't navigable. (The Congo is navigable, but only by shallow draft vessels). That means that the rivers are too shallow or too narrow to permit large ships entering from the sea. Using caravels, and later on galleons, the Portuguese explored the Amazon for a thousand miles before the river became too shallow for sea-going ships.

PS
Being made of wood had nothing to do with it. The first steam ships were wood. Also in the the Age of Exploration one of the greatest problems was something called shipworm. Shipworms were various marine invertebrates, such as tubeworms, which bored into the hulls of wooden ships, thus weakening them and causing leaks. It was a terrible problem that turned ships into useless junk if they sailed too long in tropical waters. Columbus's Santa Maria was abandoned because of the damage done by worms. One thing they did learn was that shipworms died if they were exposed for several days to fresh water. Therefore, whenever they came across a river mouth that was sufficiently wide and deep they would put in there to soak their hulls in the worm-killing water.

Regarding your pictures:

The first is a topsail schooner, a popular coastal merchantman during the 18th and 19th centuries. This kind of ship is well-suited to enter rivers as it has a rather shallow draft, though the voyages of discovery used much older types

The second is a large galleon, probably in excess of 500 tons. This kind could enter deeper rivers, like the Thames and the Hudson, but unsuitable for exploration

The last is a 44-gun frigate, a large 18th century warship of 2200 tons displacement. Not suited at all to river exploration, this kind of vessel was for fighting at sea only.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

2

Answer 4

You need a new history teacher. As for the boats you show they could not go very far inland because the wind would not be strong enough to overcome the current. There are sailing vessals that can go a lot further upstream though. They have more sale per weight.
once you get inland enough big boats would bottom out. But there were canoes and other river boats that would easily go upstream.
There were certain europeans who went a long way inland.

But they brought their goods downstream to the ports where the bigger ships would then transport their goods to Europe.
So what really happened was the people who kept good records didnt go inland. Just the illiterate ones ventured inland.
You might explain that to your football coach history teacher.

Answer 5

Your teacher should learn what the facts are before opening mouth. Others here have provided good examples so I'll give only one. For thousands of year before steam, wooden boats went both up and down the Nile.

Ask your teacher if you can bring a guest to class, then go to the local sail club (most communities have at lease one) and bring in a sailing master who will explain just how such sailing was accomplished.

Its no wonder that history is so poorly understood when the instructors give incorrect information.

Answer 6

Tell your history teacher he/ she is an ignorant.


From 1415 onwards the portuguese explored, mapped and established trading posts throughout the entire west and east african coasts, being the first europeans to do this. They were to control the trade in all of Africa for the next 400 years and they sailed many times up the african rivers.

Besides coastal exploration, the portuguese became the first inland explorers of Africa, many centuries before the english, the main voyages of exploration being:

- 1444, Nuno Tristão sails up the river Geba, today's Gambia in a 3 weeks expedition.

- 1445, João Fernandes becomes the first official european explorer to venture inland on foot after sailing up the river Geba, leading a 7 month expedition through modern day Senegal, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Mali, Niger, etc.

- 1482, Diogo Cão reaches the mouth of the river Zaire, sails upstream and sends a team of explorers inland to contact the king of Congo, Africa's most important leader at the time and that no european had ever seen. they eventually reach the kingdom after 1 month on foot.

- 1491, an official embassy of the portuguese king João II reaches the kingdom of Congo establishing diplomatic and commercial bonds with the king of Congo, the first official contacts between a european and an african king.

As you can see, 400 years before the english the portuguese had not only explored inland Africa but also established themselves far deep within Africa.

All of these explorations were made using the portuguese caravela, the most advanced ship in it's time and what made possible both coastal, inland and open sea explorations.

It doesn't surprise me, though, to hear that ignorant remark from an american teacher, you seem to completely ignore the portuguese explorations that were far important and greater in scale than anything the spanish ever did. While the spanish stuck mainly in north and south america, the Portuguese Empire stretched from Africa to Brazil to India, Indonesia, Malaysia, China and even Japan.

Answer 7

Caravel Boat

Answer 8

Early steam driven boats were... wooden. See the stereotypical Mississippi paddle wheelers for examples. What your asking is, could ships prior to steam engines travel up river? Yes, if they could generate enough power from wind or rowing to overcome the current. It will depend on lots of factors including ship design, skill of the sailors, and strength of the river current.

I'm not sure, but I think part of the Louis and Clark expedition was up river. And all the had were paddles.

Answer 9

I'm afraid your teacher is wrong here. Of course these ships could travel up the larger rivers. Here's an excerpt from the Wiki site for Caravels.

"Caravels were light two or three-masted Mediterranean lateen-rigged vessels. Because of its smaller size, the caravel was able to explore upriver in shallow coastal waters. With the lateen sails affixed, it was able to go speedily over shallow water and take deep wind, while with the square Atlantic-type sails attached, the caravel was very fast. Its economy, speed, agility, and power made the caravel esteemed as the best sailing vessel of its time."

The first sailing ship you show is lateen rigged while the other two are square riggers. All of these ships could sail up the Thames river to London as you astutely point out. They could have sailed up the Congo or Niger rivers. The problem with exploring central Africa was disease - especially malaria - until Europeans figured out how to use quinine preventively in the 1800s.

This photo is a small two masted lateen rigged caravel similar to Portuguese and Spanish ships in the late 1400s and early 1500s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Caravel_Boa_Esperanca_Portugal.jpg

This photo shows a square rigged caravel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Caravel_Espirito_Santo_Brazil.jpg

Added Note - Lewis and Clark rowed and sailed up the Missouri river in the first leg of their journey.

Answer 10

Jamestown Va is up river. Ship would "kedge" up rivers. Row out an anchor in a small boat and pull the ship upriver. If the wind was blowing up river they could sail too. De soto upthe missisipi. yes they can sail upriver to the tide lines.