"A Nau,heavily modified versions of the early carrack was firstly implemented by the Portuguese and used extensively in the Age of Discovery was a three- or four-masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th and 15th centuries. Developed from the single-masted cog, the Nau/carrack was first used for European trade from the Mediterranean to the Baltic and quickly found use with the newly found wealth and status of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In its most advanced forms, it was used by the Portuguese for trade along the African coast and finally with Asia and America from the 15th century before evolving into the galleon of the 16th and 17th centuries.

The success of the India nau depended on 15th-century innovations in Portuguese shipbuilding that greatly improved the seaworthiness and longevity of the ship. Notable among these were the use of iron nails (rather than wooden pegs) to hold planks, the mixing of lead in the seams, and a caulking technique that improved upon traditional oakum with 'galagala' paste (a mixture of oakum, lime and olive oil, producing a kind of putty that could be pressed between the planks). Hulls were amply coated in pitch and pine tar (imported in bulk amounts from northern Germany), giving the India naus their famous (and, to some observers, sinister) dark tone.

As for Artillery ,specifically Naval artillery,it was the single greatest advantage the Portuguese held over their rivals in the Indian Ocean – indeed over most other navies – in the entire span of ocean and the Portuguese crown spared no expense in procuring and producing the best naval guns European technology permitted.

King John II of Portugal, while still a prince in 1474, is often credited for pioneering the introduction of a reinforced deck on the old Henry-era caravel to allow the mounting of heavy guns.[20] In 1489, he introduced the first standardized teams of trained naval gunners (bombardeiros) on every ship, and development of naval tactics that maximized broadside cannonades rather than the rush-and-grapple of Medieval galleys.


In this respect, the Portuguese spearheaded the evolution of modern naval warfare, moving away from the Medieval warship, a carrier of armed men, aiming for the grapple, towards the modern idea of a floating artillery piece dedicated to resolving battles by gunnery alone. Portuguese Implemented the Line of battle in naval warfare and spearheaded most of the naval areas way before any other nation did.

According to one Gaspar Correia, the typical fighting caravel of Gama's 4th Armada (1502) carried 30 men, four heavy guns below, six falconets (falconete) above (two fixed astern) and ten swivel-guns (canhão de berço) on the quarter-deck and bow.

An armed carrack, by contrast, had six heavy guns below, eight falconets above and several swivel-guns, and two fixed forward-firing guns before the mast. Although an armed carrack carried more firepower than a caravel, it was much less swift and less manoeuvrable, especially when loaded with cargo. A carrack's guns were primarily defensive, or for shore bombardments, whenever their heavier firepower was necessary. But by and large, fighting at sea was usually left to the armed caravels. The development of the heavy galleon removed even the necessity of bringing carrack firepower to bear in most circumstances.

Ships that expected more military encounters might also carry homens d'armas (men-at-arms), espingardeiros (arquebusiers/musketeers) and besteiros (crossbowmen). But, except for the gunners, soldiers aboard ship were not regarded as an integral part of the naval crew, but rather just as passengers.

The following is a sample composition of a typical 16th-century Portuguese Nau/Carrack:
-1 Captain -Major(Capitão-Mor);(Dependant on the Number of ships in the Fleet and it it was or not a major armada)
-1Vice-Admiral(Soto-Capitão);(Dependant on the above circumstances)
-1 captain (capitão)
-1 clerk (escrivão)
-1 chaplain (capelão)
-2 pilots (piloto, soto-piloto)
-1 master (mestre)
-1 boatswain (contramestre)
-1 boatswain's mate (guardião)
-2 windlass operators (estrinqueiros)
-45 seamen (marinheiros)
-48 ship-boys (grumetes)
-4 pages (pagems)
-2 carpenters (carpinteiro and carpinteiro sobressalente)
-2 caulkers (calafate and calafate sobressalente)
-1 cooper (tanoeiro)
-1 steward (despenseiro)
-1 bailiff (meirinho)
-1 barber-surgeon (barbeiro)
-1 constable (condestável)
-11 gunners (bombardeiros)

Total = 127 crew

Plus any soldiers and passengers that might be taken aboard.


In addition to the cash salaries paid by the Casa da Índia, captains and crew members were allowed to engage in trade on their own account (up to a certain amount). That is, they were authorized to import into Portugal a pre-specified volume of pepper and a certain number of boxes of assorted goods (caixas forras de fretes e direitos, or caixas de liberdades, "liberty chests"). These were to be purchased in India out of their own pockets, of course, but the crown would allow these cargoes to be brought back on crown ships free of freight charge and duties, and sold in Lisbon markets (at pre-set prices), for their own personal profit.


In the early armadas, the captain-major and captains of the carracks were obliged, by King Manuel I of Portugal, to pay the vintena de Belém, a 5% duty of the earnings from the private sales of imported goods for the construction and maintenance of the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém. This rule was introduced in 1502 and continued until about 1522.

The following compensation schedule is taken from the Second India Armada of 1500

-captain-major: 10,000 cruzados for entire journey, 500 quintals of pepper, 10 liberty chests
-captain: 1,000 cruzados for each 100-tonne ship size they command, 50 quintals, 6 chests
-pilot, master: 500 cruzados, 30 quintals, 4 chests
-constable: 200 cruzados, 10 quintals, 2 chests
-gunners: 10 cruzados per month, 10 quintals, 1 chest
-soldiers: 5 cruzados per month, 3 quintals, 1 chest
-sailors: 10 cruzados per month, 10 quintals, 1 chest
-boatswain & boatswain's mate: 1 and a 1/3 times the sailor's salary.
-specialized crew (chaplain, steward, barber-surgeon, carpenter, caulker, windlass-operator): 2/3 of the sailor's salary
-ship-boys: 1/2 of the sailor's salary
-pages: 1/4 of the sailor's salary

The Casa da Índia allowed the captain-major to draw as much as 5,000 cruzados of his salary in advance, a captain 1,000. Any married crewman could draw up to one year in salary in advance, while a single man could draw up to six months.


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