The São João Baptista commonly known as the Botafogo, was a Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 galleon

Galleon

A galleon was a large, multi-decked sailing ship used primarily by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries. Whether used for war or commerce, they were generally armed with the demi-culverin type of cannon.-Etymology:...

 warship

Warship

A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...

 built in the 16th century, around 1534, considered the biggest and most powerful warship in the world at the time.

This ship could carry 366 bronze cannon

Cannon

A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...

s, and had an artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

 power of 1,000 tons. For this reason, it became known as Botafogo, meaning literally fire maker or spitfire in popular Portuguese.

History

The Botafogo was used both in the Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 and in the Mediterranean

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

, where it became famous during the conquest of Tunis

Conquest of Tunis

The Conquest of Tunis in 1535 was an attack on Tunis, then under the control of the Ottoman Empire, by the Spanish Empire.-Background:In 1533, Suleiman ordered Hayreddin Barbarossa, whom he had summoned from Algiers, to build a large war fleet in the arsenal of Constantinople...

. In that battle, the Botafogo was commanded by Infante Luís, Duke of Beja

Infante Luís, Duke of Beja

The Infante Louis, 5th Duke of Beja was the second son of King Manuel I of Portugal and his second wife Maria of Aragon , and therefore a Portuguese infante .Louis succeeded his father as the 5th Duke of Beja and was also made 9th Constable of the Kingdom...

, brother of John III

John III of Portugal

John III , nicknamed o Piedoso , was the fifteenth King of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the third daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile...

 and brother-in-law of Charles V

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

.

According to historians, it was the Botafogo spur ram that broke up the chains at La Goletta, which defended the port entrance of Tunis

Tunis

Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....

, allowing the Christian allied fleet to reach and conquer the city.

One member of the crew named João de Sousa Pereira, a noble from the city of Elvas, became famous because he was responsible for the ship's artillery, and he also got the nickname of Botafogo, which he later included in his family name

Family name

A family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...

. Later, he went to live in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, fighting against the French and the local Tupi Indians. As a reward, the Portuguese Crown granted him some lands known today as the Botafogo

Botafogo

Botafogo is a beachfront neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of Mundo Novo, Dona Marta and São João .- History :Botafogo was named after João Pereira de Sousa Botafogo, who was responsible for the...

area.

External links

• Foundations of the Portuguese empire, 1415-1580
• http://www.causamerita.com/descob_emb_embl.htm#Carraca (in Portuguese)