Using small ships would get there faster? Right? Pretty wrong in that time of age, not only were they small, they were crowded. And without motors your see now, there was no point in using something that the ocean could toss like a boomerang
Answer: Christopher Columbus too knew that the Earth was round, when he proposed to reach India by sailing west from Spain, he too knew that the Earth was round. India was the source of precious spices and other rare goods, but reaching it by sailing east was difficult, because Africa blocked the way.
Shortly after arriving in Europe American troops were able to push to the south and east for the first time while Russian forces moved in from the East.