Pros Of Columbus

In 1492 columbus sailed the ocean blue, we’ve all heard it. However, Columbus faced many hardships through his voyage. Columbus sailed from eastern Europe through the Atlantic, and landed off the coast of Florida in Hispanolia. However, Columbus’s voyage could have been more successful using present day technology. Today sailors can sail faster, know where obstacles in the ocean are, and know exact locations of the ships; if Columbus were to have this technology mistakes could have been prevented. Therefore, todays technology would have greatly benefited Columbus in many ways such as: sailing faster, knowing exact locations of ships and location of other obstacles in the ocean, and the ability for his ships to withstand harsh weather and
obstacles. One of the main struggles columbus faced was the speed of the voyage, it took him 2 months and 9 days to reach the coast of the island of hispanolia.
Today this voyage would have taken 2 weeks, which is much faster. This time would have saved people’s lives, many people died during this voyage for many reasons such as disease. Columbus used sails and rowes to travel, today we have engines, propelers, also a distance and speed log device which enables sailers to see the speed at which they are traveling. In columbus time they used a technique called dead reconing. They would throw a piece of floatsam over the side of the ship. The pilot would chant to time the movement of the flotsam past two marks on the ship’s side. However long it took to pass the marks is how fast the ship was moving. Speed was measured about every hour. This was not very accurate, but good enough for most people of this day. If columbus were to have a boat with a motor, propeller, and a speed log device this would have increased his speed of travel and cut the time in half, also it would have made the trip much less expensive, because they had to invest in many months worth of supplies, instead it would have only been weeks worth of supplies with todays
technology. Another drawback of columbus voyage was knowing the location of the ship and other obstacles in the ocean.
Columbus used maps, charts, magnetic compasses, dead reckoning, and celestial navigation to find his location, none of these techniques were quite as effective as what sailors use today. One of the main tools columbus used was celestial navigation, celestial navigation is the use of navigation by using the sun, moon, stars, and planets. The most vital tool Columbus used for celestial navigation was a quadrant. This was a metal tool that was flat and shaped like a quarter circle. This enabled columbus to measure the altitude of a star, or any other figure in space, and find the altidude of that object. By doing this it allowed columbus to measure his latitude on earth. This was not a very effective method of knowing your location, it just gives an idea of your location. Today navigators have a much easier way to determine their location, they use tools such as a GPS( global positioning system), a radar , and an automatic tracking aid . A GPS tells your exact location by using satalites in space, a radar system uses electromagnetic waves to capture any objects in the path of the signal, this tells navigators the location of other objects in the ocean or other land masses close by. Columbus would have benefited greatly by having this technology, because if he would have had today’s technology he would have known about the great land mass standing in his way of India by
the use of a GPS , but not only that it would have made his path of travel much less dangerous by the use of an automatic tracking aid because this would have told him the safest path of travel including weather patterns and land obstructions in the way. The radar also would have enabled columbus to see incoming ships and land masses, by using these three devices columbus would have had a much easier voyage to america. One of columbus main struggles was the vulnerability of his ships to weather, harsh waves, and rocks. His ships were made of wood which did not hold up in the harsh weather and sharp rocks around these islands. In fact the santa maria sunk when they made thier voyage to hispnollia. Today most ships are made of steel which is a very stong metal very capable of withstanding harsh weather and sharp rocks around the islands. If columbus had the privalage of using steel ships instead of wooden he would have easily been able to make this voyage with all three ships staying afloat the entire way. This also would have kept his voyage much safer in making sure none of his crew died due to sinking ships. If columbus were to have all the technology navigators have today, this would have changed the way he planned and carried out his voyages greatly. He could have known exactly where he was going and exactly how he was going to get there and how much time it would have taken him to get there. The most benefial tools columbus could have used on his voyage would be a motor, GPS, radar, automatic tracking aid, and steel. These items would have made columbus voyage much quicker, safer,and easier. As you can see today’s technology would have greatly benefited columbus in ways such as sailing faster, knowing the location of his ships and other objects in the ocean, and the ability for his ships to withstand the harsh environment and other obstacels.