Built in Galicia, Spain, in 1492, the Santa Maria became immortalized as she joined the Nina and the Pinta in carrying Christopher Columbus on his first voyage to the America's in 1492.The Santa Maria had the nickname La Gallega, which meant The Galician, it was a nao, which simply means "ship" in old Spanish. Though the Santa Maria was not especially a large ship for her day, she was chosen by Columbus to be the flagship. She set sail on August 3, 1492 and landed in the Bahamas on October 13 of that same year. This Santa Maria ship model is for sale $8,000 contact us for details.

Columbus took possession of Haiti on December 5, 1492. While making their way Eastward on Christmas Eve, tragedy struck the Santa Maria as she became grounded on a coral reef. She was ruined, and the crew spend Christmas Day salvaging whatever they could. Since it was no longer possible to carry the whole crew, Santa Maria's timbers were used to construct a fort (La Navidad) in Haiti, the first European colony in the New World. The Pinta and Nina returned home in January, leaving thirty-nine crew members behind. As fate would have it, none of the men survived to greet Columbus on his return in November 1493.

The Santa Maria had three masts (fore, main, and mizzen), each of which carried one large sail. The foresail and mainsail were square; the sail on the mizzen, or rear, mast was a triangular sail known as a lateen. In addition, the ship carried a small square sail on the bowsprit, and small topsail on the mainmast above the mainsail. The main mast was 65' long carved from a single Douglas Fir, from the keel to the top of the main mast she was 89' tall. The overall length of the ship was 98' long.