Loaísa Expedition's Pacific Voyage

Timeline

1. 1525–1526Strait of Magellan · PatagoniaAfter months of sailing, the surviving fleet passed through the Strait of Magellan and entered the ocean Magellan had named fifteen years earlier. Storms ravaged the strait, and another ship struck rocks and sank, further reducing the fleet's size.
2. 1526Eastern Pacific · Eastern PacificAfter sailing north along South America's west coast and turning west, the fleet encountered persistent headwinds and huge waves. Loaísa died of illness; the San Julián and other ships disappeared or were forced back to South America, leaving only the Santa María de Victoria under Juan de Elcano to continue westward alone.
3. 1527Tidore Island · MoluccasAfter nearly two years of hardship at sea, the Santa María de Victoria reached Tidore in the Moluccas, joining survivors of Magellan's expedition stranded there. Though the fleet failed to achieve its trade monopoly objective, it proved Spanish ships could repeatedly cross the Pacific to reach the spice-producing regions.