Magellan expedition

Magellan Expedition

Nao Victoria, the only ship in the fleet to complete the circumnavigation. Detail from a map by Abraham Ortelius, 1590.
Country	Spain
Leader	Ferdinand Magellan (succeeded by Juan Sebastián Elcano)
Start	Sanlúcar de Barrameda September 20, 1519; 504 years ago (1519-09-20)
End	Sanlúcar de Barrameda September 6, 1522; 501 years ago (1522-09-06)
Goal	Find a western maritime route to the Spice Islands
Ships	Trinidad San Antonio Concepción Victoria Santiago
Crew	Approx. 270
Survivors	18 returned with Elcano 12 were captured by the Portuguese in Cape Verde, 55 returned with the San Antonio in 1521, and 4 (or 5) from Trinidad returned after hard labor in the East Indies
Achievements	First circumnavigation of Earth (completed by Elcano after Magellan's death) First Pacific crossing First to navigate from the Atlantic to the Pacific (Discovery of the Strait of Magellan)
Route
Route taken by the expedition, with milestones marked

The Magellan expedition, also known as the Magellan-Elcano expedition,^[1] was a 16th-century Spanish expedition planned and led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. One of the most important voyages in the Age of Discovery—and in the history of exploration—its purpose was to cross the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to open a trade route with the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, in present-day Indonesia.^[2][3][4] The expedition departed Spain in 1519 and returned there in 1522 led by Spanish navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano, who crossed the Indian Ocean after Magellan's death in the Philippines.^[5][4] Totaling 60,440 km, or 37,560 mi,^[6] the nearly three-year voyage achieved the first circumnavigation of Earth in history.^[3] It also revealed the vast scale of the Pacific Ocean and proved that ships could sail around the world on a western sea route.^[4]

The expedition accomplished its primary goal—to find a western route to the Spice Islands. The five-ship fleet left Spain on 20 September 1519,^[3] sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, and continued south along the eastern coast of South America, eventually discovering the Strait of Magellan, allowing the ships to pass through to the Pacific Ocean, which Magellan himself named Mar Pacifico.^[4][3][7] The fleet completed the first Pacific crossing, stopped in the Philippines, and eventually reached the Moluccas after two years. A much-depleted crew led by Elcano finally returned to Spain on 6 September 1522,^[3] having sailed west across the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope through waters controlled by the Portuguese, and north along the west African coast to finally arrive in Spain.^[4]

The fleet initially comprised five ships and about 270 men. The expedition endured many hardships, including sabotage and mutinies by the mostly Spanish crew (and Elcano himself), starvation, scurvy, storms, and hostile encounters with indigenous people. Only 18 men and one ship (the Victoria) completed the return trip to Spain.^{[n 1]} Magellan himself died in battle in the Philippines and was succeeded as captain-general by a series of officers, with Elcano eventually leading the Victoria's return trip.

The expedition was funded mostly by King Charles I of Spain, with the hope that it would discover a profitable western route to the Spice Islands, as the eastern route was controlled by Portugal under the Treaty of Tordesillas. Though the expedition did find a route, it was much longer and more arduous than expected and was therefore not commercially useful. Nevertheless, the expedition is regarded as one of the greatest achievements in seamanship and had a significant impact on the European understanding of the world.^[8][9][4]

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