Juan Sebastián Elcano

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Juan Sebastián Elcano (Guetaria, Guipuzcoa, Kingdom of Castille, 1476 – Pacific Ocean, August 4, 1526) was a Spanish explorer.

He commanded back to Seville the first successful expedition to circumnavigate the globe on September 8, 1522, after a journey of 3 years and a month. He was a awarded a coat of arms with the words Primus circumdedisti me - 'Thou who first circumnavigated me', and an annual pension. ^[1]

An adventurer, he fought under orders of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba in Italy and, in 1509, he joined the expedition organised by Cardinal Cisneros against Algiers. Later, he settled himself in Seville and became a merchant ship captain.

After violating Spanish law by surrendering a ship of his to Genoan bankers in repayment of a debt, he sought a pardon from the Spanish King Charles I, by signing on, as a subordinate officer, to Ferdinand Magellan's expedition to open a trans-Pacific route to the Spice Islands. He was spared from execution by Magellan after taking part in a failed mutiny in Patagonia and, after five months of hard labour in chains in Patagonia, Elcano was made captain of Concepción, one of five vessels.

Elcano went on to take command of the fleet when Magellan was killed in the battle of Mactan, the Philippines, on April 27, 1521. Only three ships of the original fleet survived by then, but there were insufficient hands to man them, so Elcano set the Concepción on fire and continued voyage with the Trinidad and the Victoria.

After arriving in the Molucca islands November 8, 1521, and loading the ships with spices, he divided the fleet: the Trinidad was to sail back through the Pacific Ocean, while the Victoria, captained by Elcano himself, would risk the passage of the Indian Ocean, a Portuguese controlled area. The Trinidad was left behind for repairs and was later stripped by the Portuguese and destroyed in a squall.

While Magellan did not intend to circumnavigate the World and died half way, he is much more famous than Elcano

Route of Magellan and Elcano through the Spice Islands

On March 18, 1522, Elcano discovered Île Amsterdam in the southern Indian Ocean (now Southern Ocean), but did not name the island.

On July, 1522, the Victoria, without enough water or other necessary supplies, arrived to the Cape Verde islands, a Portuguese base in the Atlantic coast of Africa. Elcano lied to the Portuguese authorities by telling them he was sailing from the Spanish territories in America. By the time his fabrication had been discovered, the Victoria had departed Cabo Verde sailing towards the Caribbean, and them back, with favourable winds, towards Cadiz.

On September 6, 1522, Elcano sailed into Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain, aboard the Victoria, after a 78.000 km trip around the world, along with 17 other European survivors of the 265 man expedition, and 4 (survivors out of 13) Tidorese Asians aboard. The profits resulting from the spices they carried made them rich. The king conceded him a coat of arms picturing a globe with the motto: Primus circumdedisti me (in Latin, "You went around me first"). It may in fact have been a Southeast Asian native and servant of Magellan, who became the first man to circumnavigate the world when the fleet arrived to his home country.

In 1525, Elcano was a member of the Loaísa Expedition. He was appointed along with García Jofre de Loaísa as sea captains, who commanded 7 ships and sent to claim the Spice Islands for King Charles I of Spain. Both Elcano and Loaísa died of malnutrition in the Pacific Ocean while attempting a second circumnavigation of the world, which was achieved by a few of their sea-fellows.

1 European survivors of the the expedition
2 References
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] European survivors of the the expedition

18 Europeans returned to Seville with *Victoria* in 1522
Name	Rating
Juan Sebastian Elcano, from Getaria	Master
Francisco Albo, from Axio	Pilot
Miguel de Rodas	Pilot
Juan de Acurio, from Bermeo	Pilot
Antonio Lombardo (Pigafetta), from Vicenza	Supernumerary
Martín de Judicibus, from Genoa	Chief Steward
Hernándo de Bustamante, from Alcántara	Mariner
Nicholas the Greek, from Naples	Mariner
Miguel Sánchez, from Rhodes	Mariner
Antonio Hernández Colmenero, from Huelva	Mariner
Francisco Rodrigues, Portuguese from Seville	Mariner
Juan Rodríguez, from Huelva	Mariner
Diego Carmena	Mariner
Hans of Aachen	Gunner
Juan de Arratia, from Bilbao	Able Seaman
Vasco Gomez Gallego, from Bayona	Able Seaman
Juan de Santandrés, from Cueto	Apprentice Seaman
Juan de Zubileta, from Barakaldo	Page