Magellan's Circumnavigation

Timeline

1. c. 1519Sanlúcar de Barrameda · SpainMagellan set out from Sanlúcar with five ships and about 270 men, aiming to find the Spice Islands westward and to test whether the earth is spherical. The fleet first reached the coast of South America in search of a passage to the Pacific.
2. c. 1520Strait of Magellan · PatagoniaAfter a South American winter and a mutiny, the fleet passed through the strait at the southern tip of South America in November 1520 and entered the Pacific. Magellan named the sea he encountered the "Pacific" and began the long eastward crossing.
3. 1520–1521Pacific · Southeast AsiaThe fleet crossed the Pacific for about 98 days with almost no supplies, reaching Guam and the Philippine archipelago. This leg revealed the vast scale of the Pacific and provided experiential reference for Spain's later eastward return voyages via this sea route.
4. 1521Mactan Island · PhilippinesMagellan was killed in a clash with the local chieftain Lapu-Lapu on Mactan Island. The survivors continued westward under Juan Carvalho, Elcano, and others, with only a few ships such as the Victoria completing the rest of the voyage.
5. 1522Sanlúcar de Barrameda · SpainThe Victoria returned via the Moluccas, the Indian Ocean, and the Cape of Good Hope, reaching Sanlúcar on September 6, 1522. Only 18 survivors completed humanity's first circumnavigation, bringing back samples of cloves and other spices and proving that a westward circumnavigation was feasible.