FAMOUS SEAFARERS AND EXPLORERS
Fernăo de Magalhăes
Nationality: He was Portuguese, born 1480, but he worked for both Portugal and Spain. In English his name is Ferdinand Magellan and he is Hernando de Magallanes in Spanish. King Charles I of Spain approved of Magellan's idea that some of the Spice Islands were in the Spanish half of the New World and so he gave him the money to explore.
Years of exploration: Between 1509 and 1512, Magellan was in a fleet of Portuguese ships that sailed eastwards to the Spice Islands (Philippines) and back.
In September 1519, he set sail with 5 ships and 270 men to find a route westwards to the Spice Islands. Most of what we know about the voyage came from the diary of an Italian crew member, Antonio Pigafetta. On September 9, 1522, almost three years from the day it set sail, the Vittoria and only 18 crew members, Pigafetta among them, arrived back in Spain after sailing right around the world.
Countries discovered: Tierra del Fuego, south of Cape Horn and the Magellan Straits. (Magellan named it the Strait of All Saints, but it later was named after him). He also discovered and named the Pacific Ocean. "Pacific" means "calm" and when Magellan first saw it, it was calm.
Names of ships: TheVittoria (the only ship to complete the voyage), the Concepción (burned in the Philippines), the Trinidad (captured by the Portuguese), the San Antonio (the captain of the San Antonio mutinied on the outward voyage and sailed his ship back towards Spain) and the Santiago (wrecked in rough seas off Tierra del Fuego ).
Portrait of Magellan and a map of his voyage:
Any other information: He is supposed to have been the first captain to sail right round the world but this is only true if you allow him two voyages to do it. Magellan died in the Phillipines in 1521 so he didn't complete the 1519-22 circumnavigation. However he had previously sailed to the Phillipines and back between 1509 and 1512 so, in two goes, he sailed right round the world.
The first man to do it in one voyage would have been the captain of the Concepción, Juan Sebastian del Cano who sailed Magellan's flagship, the Vittoria, back to Spain.
The first captain to lead an expedition right round the world in one voyage was England's own Sir Francis Drake.