On Columbus' first expedition, the Niña carried 24 men, captained by Vicente Yáñez Pinzón. They left Palos de la Frontera on August 3, 1492, stopping at the Canary Islands on August 12, 1492, and continued westward. Landfall was made in the Bahamas at dawn on October 12, 1492. After one of his men accidentally ran the Santa Maria aground, Columbus returned on the Niña in early 1493. On 14 February, in the east of the Azores, a storm threatened to capsize the Niña, and, at Columbus's instigation, he and the crew took a series of vows to perform certain acts, including pilgrimages, upon their return to Spain.[2] The Niña reached Lisbon, Portugal on March 4[3] and arrived in Palos de la Frontera on March 15. On the first voyage to America the crew of the Niña slept on the deck, but adopted the use of hammocks after seeing Native Americans sleeping in hammocks.[1]
The Niña joined a grand fleet of 17 ships for the second voyage to Hispaniola, becoming the flagship for an exploration of Cuba. She was the only ship to survive the 1495 hurricane, returning quickly to Spain in 1496.
The Niña was then chartered for an unauthorized voyage to Rome. She was captured by a pirate corsair when leaving the port of Cagliari and brought to Cape Pula, Sardinia. The Captain, Alonso Medel, escaped with a few men. He stole a boat, rowed back to Niña, and made sail, returning to Cadiz.
In 1498 she returned to Hispaniola as advance guard of Columbus' Third Voyage. She was lying in wait at Santo Domingo in 1500. In 1501 she made a trading voyage to the Pearl Coast and there is no further log of her.
The Niña logged at least 25,000 nautical miles (46,000 km) under Columbus' command.
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