The ship used by Hernando Cortez was the "Caravel." Cortez is best known as the Spanish explorer responsible for overthrowing the Aztec Empire and taking control of the territory that comprises most of modern-day Mexico for the Spanish monarch.
In addition to the Caravel, 10 other ships set sail from Spain to the coast of Mexico. Over 500 soldiers and 100 sailors accompanied Cortez on the voyage with the intent to claim the land mass for the Spanish crown. In addition, the caravan included 16 horses, animals never before seen by the Aztec people. In part because of the horses, Montezuma, the Aztec ruler, believed Cortez to be the god Quetzalcoatl.
