''Flor do Mar'' or ''Flor de la Mar'' (Flower of the Sea), spelled ''Frol de la Mar'' in all Portuguese chronicles of the 16th century, was a
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
''nau'' (
carrack
A carrack (; ; ; ) is a three- or four- masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal. Evolved from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for European trade fr ...
) of 400 tons, which over nine years participated in decisive events in the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
until her sinking in November 1511. Nobleman
Afonso de Albuquerque
Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...
was returning from the conquest of Malacca, bringing with him a large treasure trove for the Portuguese king, when the ship was lost off the coast of
Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
. A replica of ''Flor do Mar'' is housed in the
Maritime Museum
A maritime museum (sometimes nautical museum) is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water. A subcategory of maritime museums are naval museums, which focus on navies and the militar ...
in
Malacca
Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
.
History
Career
''Flor do Mar'' was built in Lisbon in 1502, being one of the finest vessels of the time. She was built for the
Portuguese India run. At 400 tons, she was the largest carrack yet built, nearly twice the size of the largest ships that had gone on previous runs.
She took her
maiden trip from Portugal to India in 1502, under the command of
Estevão da Gama, a cousin of
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea.
His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...
. However, her return trip in 1503 met some complications—once loaded with spices, her large size and weight made her hard to manoeuver, particularly in the fast currents of the
Mozambique Channel
The Mozambique Channel (french: Canal du Mozambique, mg, Lakandranon'i Mozambika, pt, Canal de Moçambique) is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about long ...
(notably, around
Cape Correntes
Cape Correntes (sometimes also called "Cape Corrientes" in English) ( Port.: "Cabo das Correntes") is a cape or headland in the Inhambane Province in Mozambique. It sits at the southern entry of the Mozambique Channel.•
Cape Correntes was hi ...
). Eyewitness
Thomé Lopes
Thomé Lopes (sometimes modernized as Tomé Lopes) was a Portuguese scrivener, writer of an eyewitness account of the second journey of Vasco da Gama to India (1502–1503).
Thomé Lopes's background is obscure. All that is known is that he wa ...
reports her springing leaks and being forced to stop for repairs on
Mozambique Island
The Island of Mozambique ( pt, Ilha de Moçambique) lies off northern Mozambique, between the Mozambique Channel and Mossuril Bay, and is part of Nampula Province. Prior to 1898, it was the capital of colonial Portuguese East Africa. With its ric ...
for nearly two months. She finally arrived in Portugal in late 1503.
''Flor do Mar'' went out again on another India run in March 1505 under the command of
João da Nova
João da Nova ( gl, Xoán de Novoa, Joam de Nôvoa; es, Juan de Nova; ; born c. 1460 in Maceda, Ourense, Galicia; died July 16, 1509 in Kochi, India) was a Portuguese-Galician explorer of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans at the service of Portug ...
, as part of the
7th Portuguese India fleet of 22 ships, carrying D.
Francisco de Almeida
Dom Francisco de Almeida (), also known as the Great Dom Francisco (c. 1450 – 1 March 1510), was a Portuguese nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against ...
as the first
viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...
of
Portuguese India
The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...
. On the return trip in 1506, she once again ran into difficulties in the Mozambique Channel. Springing leaks, she was forced to dock once again in Mozambique island for lengthy repairs. This time, she would stay stuck in the channel for some ten months. Nova attempted to take her out repeatedly, but the heavy-laden ship kept running into problems, forcing him to return to the island, repair and try again.
The ship and her frustrated captain were still stuck in Mozambique when they were found in February 1507—almost exactly one year after ''Flor do Mar'' left India—by the outgoing
8th India armada under the command of
Tristão da Cunha
Tristão da Cunha (sometimes misspelled Tristão d'Acunha; ; c. 1460 – c. 1507) was a Portuguese explorer and naval commander. In 1499, he served as ambassador from King Manuel I of Portugal to Pope Leo X, leading a luxurious embassy presentin ...
. Cunha ordered his crews to help repair the ship back to seaworthy shape, unload the ship's spice cargo onto another Portugal-bound transport (under the command of
António de Saldanha António de Saldanha was a Castilian-Portuguese 16th-century captain. He was the first European to set anchor in what is now called Table Bay, South Africa, and made the first recorded ascent of Table Mountain.Mary Gunn, L. e. Codd, L. E. W. Co ...
) and then annexed the empty ''Flor do Mar'' and her captain into his own India-bound armada. She was never to return to Portugal.
''Flor do Mar'' and her captain João da Nova participated in Cunha's conquest of
Socotra
Socotra or Soqotra (; ar, سُقُطْرَىٰ ; so, Suqadara) is an island of the Republic of Yemen in the Indian Ocean, under the ''de facto'' control of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, a secessionist participant in Yemen’s ...
. In the aftermath, to Nova's surprise, Cunha ordered her to remain in the western Arabian Sea, integrated into the patrol squadron of
Afonso de Albuquerque
Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...
. Nova and the ship participated in the Albuquerque-led conquest of the cities of Curiati (Kuryat),
Muscat
Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the capital and most populated city in Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is s ...
in July 1507,
Khor Fakkan
Khor Fakkan ( ar, خَوْر فَكَّان, Khawr Fakkān) is a city and exclave of the Emirate of Sharjah, located on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), facing the Gulf of Oman, and geographically surrounded by the Emirate of Fuja ...
, (accepting also the submission of the cities of Kalhat and
Sohar
Sohar ( ar, صُحَار, also Romanized as Suḥār) is the capital and largest city of the Al Batinah North Governorate in Oman. An ancient capital of the country that once served as an important Islamic port town, Suhar has also been credited ...
) and
Ormuz
The Kingdom of Ormus (also known as Hormoz; fa, هرمز; pt, Ormuz) was located in the eastern side of the Persian Gulf and extended as far as Bahrain in the west at its zenith. The Kingdom was established in 11th century initially as a depe ...
in the same year. Two years later in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, she was commandeered to serve as the
flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
of D.
Francisco de Almeida
Dom Francisco de Almeida (), also known as the Great Dom Francisco (c. 1450 – 1 March 1510), was a Portuguese nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against ...
in the 1509
battle of Diu
The Battle of Diu was a naval battle fought on 3 February 1509 in the Arabian Sea, in the port of Diu, India, between the Portuguese Empire and a joint fleet of the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, and the Zamorin ...
. João da Nova died that same year in Cochin, and Almeida (ending his term as vice-roy) planned to bring ''Flor do Mar'' back to Portugal himself, taking special care to repair her into shape. But his successor, Afonso de Albuquerque, forbade it and retained the ship in India, giving Almeida another ship to take home instead.
Under Afonso de Albuquerque's orders, ''Flor do Mar'' supported the
conquest of Goa in 1510 as well as the
conquest of Malacca in 1511.
Capacity
''
Flor do Mar'''s longevity was remarkable. At a time when India ships were built for only three or four years of useful service, ''Flor do Mar'' was one of the longest-lasting ships of the
India run. However, her service as a cargo ship left a lot to be desired. Dangerously unseaworthy when fully loaded, she only completed one full India run, and not without difficulties. Nonetheless, much was learned from the ship's experience. Although several larger ships—600t, 900t, 1500t—would be occasionally built, the average India nau would hover around 400–450t. As such, ''Flor do Mar'' can be considered the
prototype
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...
of what would become the typical 16th-century India nau. The ship's experience also led to the institutionalisation of the "outer route", i.e. captains of heavy-laden large ships were ordered to avoid returning via the fast Mozambique Channel, but rather sail a longer but calmer course east of
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
.
Shipwreck
Despite already being deemed unsafe, ''Flor do Mar'' served to support the conquest of Malacca, then the largest commercial center of the
East Indies
The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...
. Given her large capacity, Afonso de Albuquerque decided to use the ship to transport the vast treasure looted from the
Sultan of Malacca
The Malacca Sultanate ( ms, Kesultanan Melaka; Jawi script: ) was a Malay sultanate based in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. Conventional historical thesis marks as the founding year of the sultanate by King of Singapura, Paramesw ...
's palace back to Portugal.
When ''Flor do Mar'' came out of Malacca in late 1511 and sailed along the north-east Sumatran state of Pasé, in the Strait of Malacca, she was caught in a storm and wrecked on some shoals, causing numerous casualties. The ship did not survive the storm and sank during the night of 20 November 1511, off Timia Point in the Kingdom of Aru, Sumatra.
Afonso de Albuquerque was saved in the most difficult conditions, using an improvised raft, but the cargo was irretrievably lost. Also lost were more than 400 men on board. ''Flor de la Mar'' still lies undiscovered in the seabed.
Attempts to locate and salvage the shipwreck have been the cause of controversy. Portugal, Indonesia, and Malaysia all claim salvage rights.
[McNearney, Allison]
''The $2.6 Billion Treasure Still Lost at The Bottom of the Sea''
The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2017-01-07 A replica of ''Flor do Mar'' is housed in
Maritime Museum
A maritime museum (sometimes nautical museum) is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water. A subcategory of maritime museums are naval museums, which focus on navies and the militar ...
of
Malacca
Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...
.
The lost treasure of the ''Flor de la Mar'' plays a significant role in the 2022
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''.
* Sérgio Luís de Carvalho, A flor de la mar: 1510 - 1515 com Albuquerque na Índia, Texto Ed., 1993,
* Diffie, Bailey W. and George D. Winius (1977). ''Foundations of the Portuguese Empire, 1415–1580''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. .
* Albuquerque, Braz de (1774). ''Commentarios do grande Afonso Dalboquerque''. Lisbon: Na Regia Officina Typografica. Available in English as ''The Commentaries of the Great Afonso Dalboquerque, Second Viceroy of India''. Laurier Books Ltd. /AES 2000.