Vasco Da Gama

3 Pages 752 Words

Vasco Da Gama

Vasco De Gama was a Portuguese explorer, born in the year 1460, to a noble family in Sines, Portugal, and died in Cochin, India, on December 24, 1524. He was responsible for the discovery of an oceanic route from Portugal to the east. From a tender age, De Gama had a taste for the sea. He grew up in a sea-faring environment where fishing, swimming, boating, and sailing had a huge impact in shaping his future as an explorer. He was simply a gentleman at the court of King Manuel when he was commissioned for his famous voyage. King Manuel’s plan was to remove the “Muslim middleman”. He desired Portuguese supremacy over the oriental oceanic trades and did this by sending Da Gama on this voyage. This voyage was to be the first step towards the realization of King Manuel’s ambitions for Portugal. After only his first voyage, Vasco Da Gama had accomplished the same amount of great discoveries and fame that took many other explorers their lifetimes to gain. He achieved King Manuel’s goal of discovering a sea route to India, which opened a major oceanic trade for Portugal.
On July 8, 1497 Da Gama departed from the Tagus River in Lisbon, Portugal.1 His objectives were to establish a sea route to India in order to engage in the eastern spice trade and make contact and treaties with local Christian rulers. Da Gama voyage consisted of four ships. He commanded St. Gabriella, which was the flagship, accompanied by St. Raphael, Berrio, and St. Marin, which contained large amount of supplies. These ships were also well armed for safety (852). Da Gama was ahead of his time, thanks mostly to an intelligent system of organization, which was provided by the nautical schools that King Henry established. He took advantage of wind patterns, which were helpful and swung southwest instead of taking the usual direct route towards the Cape of Good Hope. In doing so, they got the most favorable winds. Da Gama, therefore, achieved t...