From Cook to Columbus: Explorers and their famous ships

This is a replica of the famous "Endeavour" — and now Australian researchers claim to have discovered the wreck. Captain Cook sailed from England to Tahiti and New Zealand on the ship before reaching Australia in 1770, where he charted the east coast. He in effect paved the way for British colonialism. In 1778, the ship sank in Newport Harbor. Cook was then already in command of another ship.

He set out to sail to India by the shortest sea route — instead, Columbus landed in America in 1492. His discovery led to a brutal history of conquest in which colonial rulers murdered or oppressed the indigenous people. The photo shows replicas of Columbus' historic caravels, the "Pinta," "Nina" and "Santa Maria."

Portuguese King John II commissioned him to find the southern tip of Africa. So Dias set sail with the Sao Cristovao and the Sao Pantaleao. In 1488, Dias was the first to sail around the Cape of Good Hope — the southern tip of Africa. He made it as far as the Indian Ocean, which helped Vasco da Gama reach India by sea 10 years later.

Arab and Indian merchants regarded the appearance of the Portuguese explorer's fleet, including the "Esmeralda," as an attack on their trade monopoly, which led to skirmishes. The Phoenicians had already sailed around the southern tip of Africa for the first time around 600 BC, commissioned by the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II.

Ferdinand Magellan set sail on the "Victoria" for the Spanish crown to find a western route to the Indonesian Spice Islands in 1519. Although he is often said to be the first person to circumnavigate the globe, he was killed by the locals when he landed in the Philippines in 1521. His surviving crew members however managed to complete the history-making voyage.

The "Mayflower" set sail on September 6, 1620 with Captain Christopher Jones at the helm and settlers onboard headed for America, including an arch-conservative group that called themselves the Pilgrims. For the British Puritans, Europe was not God-fearing enough. The colonists brought with them their ideology under the Christian cross.

Vikings crossed the Atlantic about 1,000 years ago. Leif Eriksson must have set sail on a ship similar to the one pictured above. Sailing a so-called knarr boat, about 20 meters long and six meters wide, he discovered America about 500 years before Columbus.

There is no famous captain in this case. In fact this Luf boat was looted when Germany took over the German New Guinea Protectorate from 1884-1914. It is an example of sophisticated craftsmanship because it was built without nails. The outrigger boat is one of many objects in German museums criticized because of their colonial provenance.

Marco Polo sailed from China to the Strait of Hormuz on a junk in 1294 (above illustration). In his "Il Milone" notes, he writes: "The largest ships have a crew of three hundred, others of two hundred (...) people. One can load the ships with five to six thousand baskets of pepper."

In 1885, the Cutty Sark set several speed records under Richard Woodget, her 7th captain. These days, the clipper is a museum ship on the Thames in Greenwich, a London suburb. The merchant ship transported tea and perishable goods in the British Empire. Best performance: 73 days from Australia to London. It is a UNESCO cultural heritage site.