First to sail around the world

The Age of Discovery was led by the the great sea adventurers in their search for a route to spice markets of the Far East when the eastern Mediterranean were blocked by powerful rivals.

When Vasco da Gama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to reach India in 1498, the Portuguese concentrated their efforts to the south and east. The Spanish, who agreed to divide the world in two with the Portuguese in the Treaty of Tordesillas on 7 June 1494, sailed west. They were not aware of the American continents and no one knew there was a Pacific Ocean.

The New World

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), an Italian who had moved to Spain, theorized that since the earth was a sphere, a ship could reach the Far East from the opposite direction. He convinced the monarchs to sponsor his search, setting sail in August 1492 with a fleet of three ships, the Niña, the Pinta, and the flagship Santa Maria.

After 10 weeks, he sighted an island in the Bahamas, which he named San Salvador. Thinking he had found islands near Japan, he sailed on until he reached Cuba (which he thought was China) and Haiti. He encountered dark-skinned peoples whom he called “Indians” because he assumed he had been sailing in the Indian Ocean.

Columbus made 3 more voyages to the New World which he thought was the East, in 1493, 1497 and 1502, exploring Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Jamaica, and Trinidad. He never reached North America, and until he died, thought he had reached Asia.

North America already discovered

Columbus did not know but Viking ships reached North America almost 500 year before he had set sail.

Sailing from Iceland in mid-990, Biarni Heriolfsson was blown off course and located an unknown land. He did not explore or name it. In 1002 Leifr Eiriksson backtracked Biarni’s course and reached the coast of present-day Canada.

Eiriksson then sailed south and discovered an island he called Vinland (present-day Newfoundland) where he established a colony and traded for 3 years with the native population known as Skraelings. The Skraelings eventually forced them to leave, but the Vikings continued to sail to Canada for timber.

“New Found Land”

In 1497, King Henry VII granted John Cabot (1450-1498) a charter to explore. On 2 May Cabot and a crew of 18 left Bristol, England in a small ship called The Matthew.

Cabot sailed farther north than Columbus did, out of the way of the Spanish territories. On 24 June the crew sighted land. Cabot was convinced he had found an island off the coast of Asia and named it “new found land.” It was the first documented landing in Newfoundland since the Viking voyages.

Cabot returned to England on 6 August 1497, and although he brought no spices or treasure back with him, he was the first to map out the North American coast.

The first circumnavigation

The first circumnavigation of the globe was led by Ferdinand Magellan, who was born in Oporto, Portugal in 1480.

In 1505, Magellan enlisted in the navy where he learned seamanship and naval warfare under Portuguese viceroys in India. In 1509, he took part in the Battle of Die, which gave Portugal supremacy over the Indian Ocean. For 7 years he traded from Cochin, China and Malacca.

Like Columbus before him, Magellan believed he would reach the Far East by sailing west. Snubbed by the Portuguese king, Magellan convinced the Spanish king, Charles I that at least some of the Spice Islands lay in the Spanish half of the undiscovered world.

In September 1519 Magellan set sail with 280 men on 5 ships (San Antonio, Santiago, Trinidad, Victoria, and Concepcion) on a voyage fraught with hardship and mutiny.

An Italian nobleman on the ship, Antonio Pigafetta, kept a diary of the voyage. They crossed the equator on 20 November 1519 and sighted Brazil on 6 December. Magellan thought it unwise to go near the Portuguese territory since he was sailing under the Spanish flag and anchored near present-day Rio de Janiero on 13th December. They were greeted by Guarani Indians who believed the white men to be gods and showered them with goods.

After stocking up, they sailed south, reaching Patagonia (Argentina) in March 1520. The Santiago was sent to explore further south and was lost in a gale.

In August, Magellan decided it was time to move further south to look for a passage through to the east. By October they sighted a strait. During the passage, the captain of San Antonia turned his ship back toward Spain, taking most of the fleet’s provisions.

Into the vast Pacific

The remaining 3 ships emerged from the strait to the Pacific by end-November. Magellan thought the Spice Islands were a short voyage away but they sailed for 96 days without sighting land. Conditions aboard the ships were abominable. The crew survived on sawdust, leather strips, and rats. Finally, in January 1521, they stopped off at an island to feast.

In March, they reached Guam. The Armada de Maluco reached the Philippines (which Magellan named San Lazaro) on 15 March 1521. He anchored at Suluan on 16 March and went to Homonhon on 17 March.

On 28 March 1521 Magellan and his fleet made landfall at Mazaua. After befriending an island king, Magellan foolishly got involved in a tribal war and was killed in battle on 27 April 1521.

Sebastian del Cano took command of the ships and 115 survivors. Because there were not enough men to crew 3 ships, he burned the Concepcion.

They sailed to the Moluccas (Spice Islands) in November, loading valuable spices. To guarantee that at least one ship would make it back to Spain, the Trinidad went east across the Pacific, while the Victoria continued west.

The Trinidad was seized by the Portuguese and most of her crew were killed.

The Victoria managed to elude the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean and rounded the Cape of Good Hope. On 6 September 1522, almost three years from the day it began its historic journey, the Victoria and 18 crew members (Pigafetta among them) arrived in Spain. They were the first to circumnavigate the globe.

When the Victoria’s spices were auctioned, the income was high enough to cover all the expenses of the voyage and even produce profit.

Source: https://didyouknow.org/sailing/