Round caravel from sixteenth century

The round caravel or the "Armada caravels" were support ships, ussually armed. They featured three or four masts, and rigged round cloth sails at the foremast and lateen in the rest. The round cloth enabled them to have a perfomance similar to the other ships of the fleet when they sailed on continuous route, taking advantage of the prevailing winds, while the lateens allowed them to maintain the characteristics of the latin caravels, with the possibility to navigate closed hauled and therefore with more maneuverability.