carrack

carrack, the larger type of trading vessel in use in northern and southern Europe during the 14th–17th centuries. It was developed as a compromise between the typical square rig of the northern European nations and the lateen rig of the Mediterranean. It was very similar in rig to the later three-masted development of the caravel (caravela rotunda) though larger, beamier, and generally more robust, with very high fore and after castles. The carrack was the forerunner, and first example, of the larger three-masted ship which dominated shipbuilding until the general introduction of steam propulsion in the mid-19th century. It was square rigged on fore- and mainmasts, and lateen rigged on the mizzen, the largest being about 1,200 tons. During the 16th and early 17th centuries, almost all the Spanish and Portuguese trading voyages to India, China, and America were performed in carracks. It was superseded during the 17th century by the more efficient galleon.