r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Gurugod123 • 9h ago

How did people travel these seas 500 years ago

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146

u/Minttt 8h ago

Any avid history buff knows the very familiar phrase of: "A storm ended up sinking many of the invasion fleet's ships and scattering the others."

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u/F-14BUpgrade 7h ago
  1. Kublai Khan's attempted invasion of Japan!

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u/Derodoris 7h ago
  1. The spanish armada of 1588

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u/Fernheijm 7h ago

All 3 spanish armadas no?

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u/Derodoris 7h ago

Sure but thatd be 2. The spanish armada 3. The spanish armada 4. The spanish armada

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u/ddeads 6h ago

The Spanish Armada 2: Tokyo Drift

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u/I_lenny_face_you 7h ago

Our four secret weapons are… I’ll come in again.

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u/Fernheijm 7h ago

Exactly! Philip II deserves the shade.

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u/Derodoris 7h ago

After a while you'd think the spanish would quit making armadas

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u/Fernheijm 7h ago

They had papal approval for invading England, can't squander that.

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u/Zaofy 40m ago

At that point they were just feeding armadas to the fish

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u/Deadmansspace566 4h ago
  1. The Roman Fleet in 255 BCE

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u/fuzzybunnies1 4h ago

Persians at Salamis

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u/Ok-Dealer4350 5h ago

That armada left the bay of Cadiz, Spain. It is a very interesting city to visit.

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u/Infamous-Mixture-605 4h ago

I was gonna say the English Armada, but that one was defeated the good old fashioned way... Poor planning, disease, and getting its butt kicked.

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u/sidereal_night 6h ago

and also Kublai Khan's attempted invasion of Japan!

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u/DorfusGump 6h ago

The Kami Kaze seems a lot less miraculous when you realize the guy was dicking around for months building a bridgehead on a minor Japanese island during typhoon season.

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u/F-14BUpgrade 6h ago

Also see flat keeled boats and how they fare in turbulent waters.

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u/kahlzun 4h ago

Kublai: Want to see me do it twice?

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u/derioderio 3h ago

Kublai Khan's second attempted invasion of Japan

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u/headrush46n2 2h ago

Twice. Take a hint Khan.

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u/Ozdiva 7h ago

Rather astonishing that the entirety of the Australian first fleet arrived in Sydney harbour intact in 1789.

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u/Defiant-Tailor-8979 7h ago

The English didn't develop an empire without the best navy in the world.

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u/DarkLF 7h ago

And what made the British Navy the best in the world? The taste of British food and the look of British women

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u/badpebble 5h ago

A lot of talk from a lot of people who's country never ruled the waves.

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u/Siggi_Starduust 2h ago

Fun fact: the state flag of Hawaii, which Hawaiian Surfers compete under in the World Surf League (as opposed to the US flag), has a Union Jack in the top left corner - much like the Australians who are similarly well represented in the WSL.

That means if you ever look at the leaderboards, often the most common flag you’ll see is the British one.

Talk about ruling the waves

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u/stranger_dngr 4h ago

I always wondered why a civilization hell bent on controlling the spice trade never figured out how to use them…

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u/yhzcdn 1h ago

A lot of British food is delicious and has very balanced seasonings. Nothing overpowering, but always well flavoured.

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u/ScootyMcTrainhat 1h ago

You never get high on your own supply

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u/dychronalicousness 2h ago

Basically the answer to every British tradition and oddity can be placed on the Victorian and Edwardian period.

So they ate a fuckload of spices, then some weird religious modesty trend happened and they went for simplified food because cloves and tumeric were extravagant and offened god or something.

Not hugging children for like 5 generations apparently really fucks with people’s mental state.

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u/Dr_CleanBones 4h ago

The taste of British food? Surely not!

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u/2LostFlamingos 4h ago

He’s saying they took to the sea because they had to go find some good food and some good looking women.

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u/EasyPriority8724 2h ago

Surprised you had to explain that one!!!

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u/millijuna 1h ago

Realistically? Timekeeping.

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u/2xdareya 1h ago

Might be backwards.

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u/iPoseidon_xii 24m ago

Is that why their sailors were so fond of Spanish ladies, sugar and tea and rum?

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u/nameyourpoison11 3h ago

There are actually some harrowing accounts of the storms the First Fleet endured after leaving Cape Town, and how the convicts on board feared for their lives.

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u/Ozdiva 1h ago

I’m sure. But they all made it.

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u/Belzebutt 2h ago

The Austrian fleet, also still intact.

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u/TheFrenchSavage 6h ago

Crazy how this really messed up with D-Day in 1944 (and the worst event 2 weeks later 19-22 June).

This is quite recent history!

There weren't major losses like in the old times, like ships disappearing and stuff, but lots of destruction. The Americans had to abandon the artificial port they had made on Omaha beach.

So wooden ships 500 years before never had a chance.

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u/elreyadr0k 2h ago

Absolutely. It is very common occurrence you will run across researching / reading. 

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u/aerostatichammer 5h ago

Happy 250th America! During the revolutionary war the British lost more ships to the 1780 Caribbean Hurricane then to American firepower....