CARRACK

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aukepalmhof
Posts: 7771
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:28 am

CARRACK

Post by aukepalmhof » Thu Nov 04, 2010 7:41 pm

The inscription on this stamp gives that an Iberian Caravel is depicted, but in my opinion, it is a carrack.
At that time the caravel carried lateen sails on all the masts, while the carrack carried a square sail on the foremast and a lateen sail on the mizzenmast. The carrack was distinguished by her overhanging forecastle as seen on the stamp.

The carrack was a merchantman used in the Mediterranean and Western Europe and reported from the 14th till the 17th century.
Mostly the carrack was armed against attacks from pirates.
First a low sided vessel with a poop deck the later types high-sided carried high fore and aft castles. The forecastle could be higher than after castle.
Originally two-masted with a square mainsail and on the mizzen mast a lateen sail as seen on the stamp.
In the Mediterranean mostly clinker-built while in northern Europe carvel-built.
The later types were larger and carried three masts.
Reported length 30 x 10m., with a tonnage of 200 tons a rating based on the tuns of wine carried.

Togo 2000 425f sg?, scott?
San Marino 1963 10li sg695, scott?
Sierra Leone 2008 2800Le sg?, scott?
Gambia 1980 100D sg444, scott416. By the stamp is given:

This stamp issued by Gambia in 1980 shows a Spanish carrack; a larger type of trading vessel used around Europe at about the same time as the caravel. It was rigged similarly to the three-masted version of the caravel, although it was larger and more robust. The carrack was the predecessor of the larger three-masted type of ship which survived until the advent of steam. During the 16th and 17th centuries, all Spanish trading voyages to India, China, and America employed carracks. They were eventually superseded by the galleon, first conceived by Sir John Hawkins, a more seaworthy vessel without a high-forward castle.

Source: Crown Agent info leaflet.

Stanley Gibbons gives that a galleon is depicted on the Yugoslavian stamp, Navicula gives a carrack and I believe she looks more like a carrack than a galleon.


Source: Sailing Ships and Sailing Craft by George Goldsmith-Carter. Zeilvaart Lexicon. Aak to Zumbra, a Dictionary of the World’s Watercraft.

Yugoslavia 1950 2d sg665, scott? 1994 0.50 Din sg 2950, Scott?
St Christopher-Nevis_Anguilla 1970 6c sg 212, scott 212.
Poland 1974 1zl sg2304, scott 2038 viewtopic.php?f=2&t=17090
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1994 karaak (2).jpg (105.91 KiB) Viewed 222 times
Last edited by aukepalmhof on Thu Mar 09, 2023 7:39 pm, edited 4 times in total.

Anatol
Posts: 1037
Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2009 2:13 pm

Re: CARRACK

Post by Anatol » Thu Apr 12, 2018 6:43 pm

Guinea Ecuatorial 1975;130ptas.
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