Admiral Cheng Ho, Admiral of the Western Seas

[The Archivist]

From The Drive

The links may need the Internet Archive treatment

The Chinese Columbus (perhaps more of a Francis Drake) Admiral Cheng Ho a Chinese explorer who made 7 lengthy voyages of exploration 87 years before Columbus. Reportedly his ships did not have a rudder, although other sources say that the Chinese did have rudders at this time. Also the Santa Maria was 85 feet long and some of the Chinese ship (~1405AD) were up to 400 feet in length. Some sources I have found report lengths of up to 600 feet. I am still researching to see how accurate some of this information is. We do know that the Chinese did have the compass. I am also posting some links for this.

planet.time.net.my/CentralMarket/melaka101/chengho.htm

geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa020201a.htm

www.encyclopedia.com/html/C/ChengH1o.asp

www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b3chengho.htm

www.iseas.edu.sg/weblinks/chengho.html

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2349929.stm