2023-04-30 02:42:45
Ancient sailing has played a crucial role in making the world so vast and complete. The continents known as the New World were discovered by ancient seafarers.
The first step to discover the American mainland was made by the 4 voyages of the Italian sailor Christopher Columbus. Columbus’ voyages to discover a westward sea route from Europe to Asia ended in the Caribbean Islands, but a new era in seafaring history was born.
Bartholomew Diaz, who discovered the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, Vasco da Gama, who set sail from Kozhikode in 1498. The number of adventurers in world maritime history is very high.
Magellan’s Voyage
The first round-the-world voyage took place between 1519 and 1522. Known as the Magellan–Elcano expedition, it is a pivotal moment in world history. Ferdinand Magellan started this journey and Ivan Elcano completed it.
In 1519, a group of 5 ships started their journey from Seville, Spain. Those ships were Trinidad, San Antonio, Victoria, Concepcion and Santiago. There were a total of 270 people in that group, including Magellan and Elcano.
Passing by Cape Verde and Sierra Leone on the African coast, the group soon entered the Atlantic Ocean. On November 29, 1519, they reached Santa Lucia on the coast of Brazil (present-day Rio de Janeiro).
Continuing south, the group’s ship, the Santiago, was wrecked. San Antonio fell apart. The remaining 3 ships entered the Pacific through a strait in South America. Here the sailors were forced to eat rats as they ran out of food and drink sewage as they ran out of water. 19 sailors died.
Magellan was killed by an arrow in a clash with tribes on the island of Mactan in the Philippines. The group’s ship Conception was destroyed by fire. After reaching the destination Maluku Islands, the group’s ship Trinidad broke down. After 9 weeks of sailing in the Indian Ocean, the members of the Victoria ship rounded the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.
The first round-the-world voyage was completed when the ship Victoria returned to Seville, Spain, in 1522, 3 years following the voyage. Out of the 270 people who started the journey, only 18 people were able to return.
English Summary : Golden globe race history
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