Replica ships from Columbus' fleet visit Panhandle

2 replica ships from Columbus' 1492 fleet pull into Pensacola as part a national tour

Published On: Dec 20 2012 09:10:13 AM EST
PENSACOLA, Fla. -

Two replica ships from Christopher Columbus' 1492 fleet are on display in downtown Pensacola.

The replicas of the Nina and the Pinta arrived Wednesday afternoon with dozens of onlookers gathered to watch them pull into port. The ships are captained by the father and son team of Morgan and Stephen Sanger from the British Virgin Islands.

Morgan Sanger started the project of reproducing the ships in 1992 as part of the 500th anniversary commemoration of Columbus' voyage, but Sanger says he no longer has plans to reproduce the third ship in the fleet — the Santa Maria. The ships have been traveling to various ports in the United States as part of an educational tour.

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