The first trip around the world, or rather, swimming, was made by the expedition of the Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan in the period from 1519 to 1522. During the expedition, he died and one of the captains of Magellan's squadron named Juan Sebastian de Elcano completed the voyage.
During the first trip around the world, the spherical shape of the Earth was proved in practice. Magellan discovered the eastern coast of South America, the strait connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as the island of Guam and the Philippine archipelago.
The second voyage around the world (and the first English voyage around the world) was made in 1577-1580 by Admiral Francis Drake. He discovered the strait between South America and Antarctica and explored the West Coast of South America.
The third and fourth voyages around the world were made in 1586-1588 and 1598-1601 by Thomas Cavendish and Olivier de Noort, respectively. They did not make serious geographical discoveries.
The first round-the-world trip made by the French took place in 1766-1769. An expedition led by Louis Antoine de Bougainville discovered islands in the Tuamotu and Louisiade archipelagos.
Three round-the-world voyages of James Cook, made by him in 1768-1771, 1772-1775 and 1776-1779, opened for Europeans the island status of New Zealand, the existence of the Great Barrier Reef, the mainland of Australia, the Hawaiian Islands and Alaska.
The first Russian round-the-world trip was made by an expedition under the command of Ivan Krusenstern in 1803-1806.
The second Russian circumnavigation of the world was made in 1815-1818 by an expedition under the command of Otto Evstafievich Kotzebue. The expedition discovered a number of unknown Pacific islands and explored the North coast of Alaska.
During the Russian round-the-world trip of 1819-1821, the expedition under the command of Thaddeus Bellingshausen discovered Antarctica and several islands in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Another Russian circumnavigation under the leadership of Otto Kotzebue was made in 1823-1826. This time, islands were discovered in South Polynesia, Micronesia and other areas of the Pacific Ocean.
The round-the-world expedition of the Englishman Robert Fitzroy, made in 1831-1836, is famous for the fact that Charles Darwin took part in it and collected data for the future theory of the evolution of the organic world.
The first solo trip around the world dates back to 1895-1898. For 3 years, 2 months and 2 days, Joshua Slocum circumnavigated the world on a sailing yacht.
The first round-the-world trip by air, on an airship, was made in 1929 by the German aeronaut Hugo Eckener.
The first non-stop flight around the world was made in 1957 by three US Air Force B-52 aircraft.
1961 - Yuri Gagarin's flight around the Earth in a spaceship.
The first round-the-world trip under water in autonomous mode without ascents for the entire time of the voyage was made in 1966 by a detachment of nuclear submarines of the USSR Navy under the command of Rear Admiral A. Sorokin.
The first autonomous circumnavigation of the world on a sailing yacht without calling at ports and any outside support was made in 1968-69 in 313 days by Robert Knox-Johnston.
Any educated person can easily remember the name of the one who made the first trip around the world and crossed the Pacific Ocean. This was done by the Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan about 500 years ago.
But it should be noted that this formulation is not entirely correct. Magellan thought out and planned the route of the voyage, organized it and led it, but he was destined to die many months before it was completed. So Juan Sebastian del Cano (Elcano), a Spanish navigator, with whom Magellan had, to put it mildly, not friendly relations, continued and completed the first round-the-world trip. It was del Cano who eventually became the captain of the Victoria (the only ship to return to his native harbor) and received fame and fortune. However, Magellan made great discoveries during a dramatic voyage, which will be discussed below, and therefore he is considered the first traveler around the world.
First trip around the world: background
In the 16th century, Portuguese and Spanish seafarers and merchants vied with each other for control of the spice-rich East Indies. The latter made it possible to preserve food, and it was difficult to do without them. There was already a proven path to the Moluccas, where the largest markets with the cheapest goods were located, but this path was not short and unsafe. Due to the limited knowledge of the world, America, discovered not so long ago, seemed to sailors an obstacle on the way to rich Asia. No one knew if there was a strait between South America and the hypothetical Unknown Southern Land, but the Europeans wanted it to be. They did not yet know that America and East Asia were separated by a huge ocean, and they thought that the opening of the strait would provide quick access to Asian markets. Therefore, the first navigator to circumnavigate the world would certainly have been awarded royal honors.
Career of Ferdinand Magellan
The impoverished Portuguese nobleman Magellan (Magallans), by the age of 39, managed to repeatedly visit Asia and Africa, was wounded in battles with the natives and collected a lot of information about travels to the shores of America.
With his idea to get to the Moluccas by the western route and return by the usual one (that is, to make the first trip around the world), he turned to the Portuguese king Manuel. He was not at all interested in the proposal of Magellan, whom he also disliked for his lack of loyalty. But he allowed Fernand to change citizenship, which he immediately took advantage of. The navigator settled in Spain (that is, in a country hostile to the Portuguese!), got a family and associates. In 1518, he obtained an audience with the young king Charles I. The king and his advisers became interested in finding a shortcut for spices and "gave the go-ahead" to organize an expedition.
Along the coast. Riot
Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world, which was never completed for most of the team, began in 1519. Five ships left the Spanish harbor of San Lucar, carrying 265 people from different European countries. Despite the storm, the flotilla relatively safely reached the coast of Brazil and began to "go down" along it to the south. Fernand hoped to find a strait into the South Sea, which, according to his information, should have been located in the region of 40 degrees south latitude. But in the indicated place it was not the strait, but the mouth of the La Plata River. Magellan ordered to continue moving south, and when the weather turned bad, the ships anchored in the bay of St. Julian (San Julian) to spend the winter there. The captains of three ships (Spaniards by nationality) mutinied, seized the ships and decided not to continue the first round-the-world trip, but to head for the Cape of Good Hope and from it to their homeland. People loyal to the admiral managed to do the impossible - to recapture the ships and cut off the rebels' escape route.
Strait of All Saints
One captain was killed, another was executed, and a third was put ashore. Magellan pardoned ordinary rebels, which once again proved his foresight. Only at the end of the summer of 1520 the ships left the bay and continued to search for the strait. During a storm, the ship "Santiago" sank. And on October 21, the sailors finally discovered the strait, more reminiscent of a narrow crevice between the rocks. The ships of Magellan sailed along it for 38 days.
The admiral called the shore, which remained on the left hand, Tierra del Fuego, since the bonfires of the Indians burned on it around the clock. It was thanks to the discovery of the Strait of All Saints that Ferdinand Magellan began to be considered the one who made the first trip around the world. Subsequently, the strait was renamed Magellan.
Pacific Ocean
Only three ships left the strait into the so-called "South Sea": "San Antonio" disappeared (simply deserted). The sailors liked the new waters, especially after the troubled Atlantic. The ocean was named the Pacific.
The expedition headed northwest, then west. For several months, the sailors sailed without seeing any signs of land. Starvation and scurvy caused the death of almost half of the team. Only at the beginning of March 1521 did the ships approach two yet undiscovered inhabited islands from the Mariana group. From here it was not far to the Philippines.
Philippines. Death of Magellan
The discovery of the islands of Samar, Siargao and Homonkhon greatly pleased the Europeans. Here they recuperated and communicated with local residents, who willingly shared food and information.
Magellan's servant, a Malay, spoke freely with the natives in the same language, and the admiral realized that the Moluccas were very close. By the way, this servant, Enrique, eventually became one of those who made the first trip around the world, unlike his master, who was not destined to land on the Moluccas. Magellan and his people intervened in the internecine war of two local princes, and the navigator was killed (either with a poisoned arrow, or with a cutlass). Moreover, after some time, as a result of a treacherous attack by savages, his closest associates, experienced Spanish sailors, died. The team became so thin that one of the ships, the Concepción, was decided to be destroyed.
Moluccas. Return to Spain
Who led the first round-the-world trip after Magellan's death? Juan Sebastian del Cano, Basque sailor. He was among the conspirators who presented Magellan with an ultimatum in San Julian Bay, but the admiral forgave him. Del Cano commanded one of the two remaining ships, the Victoria.
He made sure the ship returned to Spain loaded with spices. It was not easy to do this: off the coast of Africa, the Portuguese were waiting for the Spaniards, who from the very beginning of the expedition did everything to upset the plans of their competitors. The second ship, the flagship Trinidad, was boarded by them; sailors were enslaved. Thus, in 1522, 18 members of the expedition returned to San Lucar. The cargo delivered by them paid off all the expenses for the expensive expedition. Del Cano was awarded a personal coat of arms. If in those days someone had said that Magellan made the first trip around the world, he would have been ridiculed. The Portuguese had only accusations of violating royal instructions.
The results of Magellan's journey
Magellan explored the eastern coast of South America and opened the strait from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Thanks to his expedition, people received weighty proof that the Earth is really round, they were convinced that the Pacific Ocean is much larger than expected, and that it is unprofitable to swim on it to the Moluccas. Also, the Europeans realized that the World Ocean is one and washes all the continents. Spain satisfied its ambitions by announcing the discovery of the Mariana and Philippine Islands, and laid claim to the Moluccas.
All the great discoveries made during this voyage belong to Ferdinand Magellan. So the answer to the question of who made the first trip around the world is not so obvious. In fact, this person was del Cano, but nevertheless, the main achievement of the Spaniard was that the world generally learned about the history and results of this voyage.
The first round-the-world voyage of Russian sailors
In 1803-1806, Russian sailors Ivan Kruzenshtern and Yuri Lisyansky made a large-scale journey through the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. Their goals were: exploration of the Far Eastern outskirts of the Russian Empire, finding a convenient trade route to China and Japan by sea, providing the Russian population of Alaska with everything they needed. The navigators (set off on two ships) explored and described Easter Island, the Marquesas, the coast of Japan and Korea, the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin and the island of Iesso, visited Sitka and Kodiak, where Russian settlers lived, and in addition, delivered an ambassador from the emperor to Japan. During this voyage, domestic ships visited high latitudes for the first time. The first round-the-world trip of Russian explorers had a huge public outcry and helped to increase the prestige of the country. Its scientific significance is no less great.
The man under whose leadership the first round-the-world trip took place was Ferdinand Magellan. Even from the very beginning, when, before sailing, part of the command staff (primarily the sailors) refused to serve the Portuguese, it became obvious that this circumnavigation will prove to be extremely difficult.
The beginning of a world tour. Way of Magellan
On August 10, 1519, 5 ships left the port in Seville and set sail, the goals of which were based only on Magellan's intuition. In those days, no one believed that the Earth was round, and naturally, this caused great concern to the sailors, because moving farther and farther away from the port, their fear grew stronger and they would never return home.
The expedition included ships: the Trinidad (under the command of Magellan, the expedition leader), the Santo Antonio, the Concepsion, the Sant Yago, and the caracca Victoria (later one of the two ships that returned back).
The most interesting for you!
The first clash of interests took place near the Canary Islands, when Magellan, without warning and coordination with other captains, changed course a little. Juan de Cartagena (the captain of the Santo Antonio) severely criticized Magellan, and after Fernand refused to go back to his previous course, he began to persuade officers and sailors. Upon learning of this, the head of the expedition summoned the rebel to him, and in the presence of other officers ordered him to be shackled and thrown into the hold.
One of the passengers of the first trip around the world was Antonio Pifaghetta, a man who described all the adventures in his diary. It is thanks to him that we know such accurate facts of the expedition. It should be noted that riots have always been a great danger, so the Bounty sailboat became famous thanks to the rebellion against its captain William Bligh.
However, fate decreed otherwise for Bly, he still managed to become a hero in the service of Horatio Nelson. Magellan's circumnavigation of the world was about 200 years earlier than the birth year of Admiral Nelson.
Hardships of circumnavigation for sailors and officers
Meanwhile, some officers and sailors began to express open dissatisfaction with the voyage, they called a riot demanding to return back to Spain. Ferdinand Magellan was determined and put an end to the uprising by force. The captain of the Victoria (one of the instigators) was killed. Seeing the determination of Magellan, no one else argued with him, but the next night, 2 ships arbitrarily tried to sail home. The plan failed and both captains, once on the deck of the Trinidad, were put on trial and shot.
Having stopped the winter, the ships set off back on the same course, the round-the-world trip continued - Magellan was sure that the strait in South America existed. And he was not wrong. On October 21, the squadron reached the cape (now called Cape Virgenes), which turned out to be a strait. The fleet sailed through the strait for 22 days. This time was enough to disappear from sight and go back to Spain to the captain of the ship "Santo Antonio". Coming out of the strait, sailboats first entered the Pacific Ocean. By the way, the name of the ocean was invented by Magellan, since for 4 months of a difficult passage through it, the ships never got into a storm. However, in fact, the ocean is not so quiet, James Cook, who visited these waters more than once after 250 years, was not enthusiastic about him.
Having left the strait, the squadron of discoverers moved into the unknown, where the round-the-world trip stretched for 4 months of uninterrupted wanderings across the ocean, without meeting a single piece of land (not counting 2 islands that turned out to be deserted). 4 months is a very good indicator for those times, but the fastest Thermopylae clipper ship could cover this distance in less than a month, Cutty Sark, by the way, too. At the beginning of March 1521, on the horizon, the pioneers saw inhabited islands, which Magellan later named Landrones and Vorovsky.
Circumnavigation: half way done
So, for the first time in history, sailors crossed the Pacific Ocean and ended up on inhabited islands. In this regard, the round-the-world trip began to bear fruit. Not only fresh water supplies were replenished there, but also food supplies, for which the sailors exchanged all sorts of trifles with the natives. But the behavior of the inhabitants of the tribe forced them to quickly leave these islands. After 7 days of sailing, Magellan found new islands, which today are known to us as the Philippine.
On the San Lazaro Archipelago (as the Philippine Islands were first called), travelers met natives with whom they began to establish trade relations. Magellan became friends with the Raja of the tribe so well that he decided to help this new vassal of Spain in solving one problem. As the rajah explained, on the neighboring islands another rajah of the tribe refused to pay tribute and he did not know what to do.
Fernando Magellan ordered to prepare for hostilities on a neighboring piece of land. It is this battle that will be the last for the expedition leader, the world tour will end without him ... On Mactan Island (the island of the enemy), he built his soldiers in 2 columns and began to fire on the natives. However, nothing came of it: the bullets pierced only the shields of the natives and sometimes affected the limbs. Seeing this situation, the local population began to defend themselves even more vigorously and began to throw spears at the captain.
Then Magellan ordered to burn their houses in order to put pressure on fear, but this maneuver only angered the natives more and they took up their goal more tightly. For about an hour, with all their might, the Spaniards fought off the spears, until the strongest onslaught on the captain bore fruit: when they saw the position of Magellan, the natives attacked him and instantly threw stones and spears at him. Until his last breath, he watched his people and waited until they all left the island in boats. The Portuguese was killed on April 27, 1521, when he was 41 years old, Magellan, with his round-the-world trip, proved the great hypothesis and changed the world with this.
The Spaniards failed to get the body. In addition, on the island, a friendly raja sailors were also in for a surprise. One of the natives lied to his master and reported about the impending attack on the island. The Raja called the officers from the ship to his home and brutally massacred the 26 crew members there. Having learned about the massacre, the acting captain of the ships ordered to come closer to the village and shoot it with cannons.
Even from the lessons of school geography, we remember that the first round-the-world trip in the history of mankind was made by the flotilla of the outstanding navigator Ferdinand Magellan. This fact is so well known that the question, posed briefly and clearly: who made the first circumnavigation of the world? - surely the answer will follow, not without a share of surprise: how - who? Magellan!
But, despite the certainty of such an answer, it is nevertheless not true! If you look at a world map or a globe, you can easily find the Philippine Islands stretched out in a chain in the South Pacific. And, again, without difficulty, make sure that this archipelago lies almost exactly halfway through any ship that set off from Europe to circumnavigate the world: after crossing the Atlantic Ocean and passing through the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of the American mainland, the ship will enter the vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean and after some time will come to the Philippine Islands. This is exactly the path that the flotilla under the command of Admiral Magellan made. But in order to complete the voyage around the world, it is still necessary to cross the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean, go around Africa from the south, re-enter the Atlantic Ocean and, having traveled thousands of miles, finally reach the European shores, from where the voyage began.
Why do we mention this in such detail? Just to remind you of one more fact - sad but indisputable: Ferdinand Magellan could not make a round-the-world trip, because he was killed halfway - precisely in the Philippines, on one of the islands in a skirmish with the inhabitants.
However, there is nothing unfair in the fact that the first round-the-world trip in our memory is firmly associated with the name of Magellan: this unprecedented expedition was organized and carried out according to his plan. Another thing is unfair - the fact that for almost four hundred years the name of the person who completed the work conceived by Magellan was consigned to complete oblivion - the name of the person who first flew his ship around the globe and thereby, in particular, proved in practice the sphericity of the Earth. Well, really, try to remember: does the name Elcano tell you anything? Meanwhile, it is he - Juan Sebastian Elcano - who is the first navigator in the history of mankind to circumnavigate the world.
And it was like this...
A hereditary fisherman and sailor, a Basque from Gipuzkoa in the Spanish province, the owner and captain of a large ship, a participant in the sea campaigns of the generals Gonzalo de Cordoba and Cisneros - you must agree that from this cursory listing the image of a courageous and gray-haired sea wolf arises. And yet, this "sea wolf" was barely twenty when he brought his ship from the last campaign to Algeria, where the Spaniards inflicted a crushing defeat on the Moors. Led to ... disappear for almost ten years. Why? For one simple reason: at all times, royal persons made the most tempting promises with extraordinary ease, and when the time came to fulfill them, they forgot about them with the same ease. So it happened this time: the Spanish king Ferdinand, who promised to generously reward the participants in the Algerian campaign, as you might guess, was not going to remember his promises. If we were talking about him alone, the young captain Juan Sebastian Elcano, perhaps, would have come to terms with this blow - in any case, after a decade and a half, he did so, having again experienced the "generosity" of the monarch. But this time it was about the whole team, which had to be paid honestly earned money. And Captain Elcano did an act that was not only fair, but also extremely courageous: he sold the ship and, having bailed out the required amount, paid the crew the due salary. Wait, you might say, of course, this is a fair deed, but what does courage have to do with it?
The fact is that by royal decree it was strictly forbidden to sell ships to the Portuguese - Spain's successful rivals at sea. Such a punishment awaited the violator that Elcano, having sold his own ship and paid off the crew, was forced, as we have already said, to disappear for almost ten years, and not only from the field of view of alguacils (policemen), but also historians: about this period in Unfortunately, we know little about the life of the future great navigator. More precisely - nothing specific. But nevertheless, we can confidently assume the main thing: he remained a sailor, and ten years did not pass in vain - by the age of thirty he was already an experienced and well-known sailor in his circle.
Such an accurate and significant fact allows us to assume this: when in 1518 Magellan began to recruit people for his ships, which had an unparalleled voyage, Elcano was among the team of one of the caravels. The seriousness of the offense of ten years ago has not diminished at all, for the royal decree knew no leniency. And the fact that King Ferdinand died long ago, and that King Charles, who simultaneously became the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, sat on the Spanish throne, did not change matters, because no one canceled the long-standing royal decree and Elcano still remained a criminal in the eyes of the law. And yet, he was taken by Magellan. And this means only one thing: Elcano was a real sailor, and the admiral was ready to look through his fingers at a long-standing misdeed. Moreover, Juan Sebastian was taken not by a simple sailor, but by a boatswain; that is, a person in those days obliged to take an active part in the preparation of the expedition. And just a few months later, even before sailing, Elcano was appointed navigator of one of the ships of the Magellan flotilla. Of course, only a person whose qualities - nautical talent, experience and fearlessness - were indisputable could make such a rapid rise.
And the fact that these qualities were indisputable is evidenced, albeit indirectly so far, by another fact. It is known that the voyage from the very beginning was overshadowed by constant conflicts between the Spanish captains and the Portuguese flotilla commander. These conflicts escalated into an open rebellion, the purpose of which was to remove Magellan. The admiral managed to suppress the rebellion and deal with the rebels in full accordance with the harsh laws of that time: one of the captains was executed, the other landed on the deserted coast of Patagonia, which also meant death, only slow.
Dozens of rebellious sailors were put in chains. Among them was the former navigator of the caravel "Concepcion" Juan Sebastian Elcano ... But barely six months had passed, and the ship's blacksmith removed the chains from the rebellious navigator, because Admiral Magellan, to use a modern expression, "reinstated him in his position." It is impossible to suspect Magellan of kindness - according to contemporaries, he was a man of such severity that it often reached cruelty, he was a true son of his time, when a person's life was valued no more than one maravedi, or, in our words, a broken penny. And at the same time, it was the time of the Great Geographical Discoveries, when the qualities with which the Basque sailor Elcano was so generously endowed began to acquire true value.
The wisdom of Magellan's decision can hardly be overestimated: we do not know if he would have been able to complete this unprecedented voyage around the world if he had not died ridiculously halfway, but we know for sure that it would have ended ingloriously after his death, if not for Elcano.
After the death of the admiral, captain-generals Espinosa and Carvalho, who successively replaced him, took the last two surviving ships to the shores of Borneo, where they embarked on a real robbery. Only six months later the ships reached the Moluccas. And here one of the caravels of the flotilla - "Trinidad" - had to be put in for repairs, without which she could not continue her journey. Thus, from the entire flotilla of Magellan there was one single ship - the caravel "Victoria", and the captain on it was none other than Juan Sebastian Elcano.
The meaning of this fact is this: it was at this moment that the ... round-the-world trip began! Let me ask you, how can this be? After all, swimming began a year and a half ago!
True, and yet ... But in order for everything to become clear, let's return to Magellan. And let's start with the fact that the goal of the expedition was not to circumnavigate the world at all.
Her goal was cloves, black pepper and other spices, so valued in the aristocratic circles of Europe and valued literally worth their weight in gold. The whole trouble was that these spices grew very, very far away, on the islands of the Indian Ocean. Rather, it was half the trouble, because the sailors of that time managed to get on their wretched boats even to the Moluccas - the main region of spices. The trouble - for the Spaniards - was that on the sea route from Europe to southeast Asia, the primordial opponents and rivals were completely in charge - the Portuguese, who drowned, without hesitation, any alien ship that dared to set sail for the Moluccas.
Thus, for the Spanish spice hunters, the route from Europe to the south along Africa and further, from its southern tip to the east, was booked. Magellan came up with the idea to try to reach the Moluccas not from the east, but from the west. This idea was rejected by the Portuguese king, under whom Magellan served - why look for some other western path if the Portuguese completely own the beaten eastern path? It was then that Magellan offered his idea and his services to the Spanish king Charles. And, as we would say today, there was nowhere to go: spices were needed, but the road to them was inaccessible. And Magellan got the opportunity to equip the flotilla and set sail, the main and only purpose of which was to find a western route to the Moluccas. This path, as we know, was found at the cost of incredible suffering and hardship. Magellan himself did not sail to the Moluccas, having died, as you remember, a little earlier. But if this did not happen and if he himself reached the main goal of the voyage, what would happen next? In other words, would he have taken his ships further, to the west, so that, having circled Africa by the already known eastern route, to return to Europe, or would he have turned back?
It is difficult to say, but the following can be assumed with a high degree of probability. So, the main goal of the voyage - the opening of the western route to the Moluccas - was achieved. This path existed, the Portuguese had no idea about it, so that it was possible to return home safely without any risk of meeting them through the already newly discovered path. That is why we have the right to assume that Magellan, having loaded the ships with the spices so desired by His Majesty Charles, would have turned back - across the Pacific Ocean.
But if we cannot know exactly what decision Magellan would have made, we know Elcano's decision: he did not turn back, but moved his ship further. The second stage of the voyage began, namely the circumnavigation. Avoiding meetings with the ships of the Portuguese, Elcano led the Victoria much south of the well-known eastern route. In other words, he led and brought his ship to Europe in a way that no one had traveled before!
On September 7, 1522, the ship Victoria, which was dilapidated in a three-year voyage, somehow kept afloat, anchored off the coast of Spain. On one ship that survived from the entire flotilla, only eighteen surviving sailors returned. These eighteen people circled the globe for the first time, and proved the sphericity of the planet and the fact that there is a single World Ocean.
How were these people met at home, having accomplished a feat unprecedented in the history of navigation? It’s hard to believe, but it was like this: Elcano and his comrades were subjected to weeks of interrogation, the purpose of which was to find out: was the entire cargo of spices taken in the Moluccas surrendered to royal officials or did the sailors conceal part of this cargo? Can you imagine, this was the most important thing for the king of Spain, the emperor of the "Holy Roman Empire" Charles V and his officials! And the fact that for the first time in history a round-the-world voyage was completed, that nine-tenths of the flotilla crew died during this three-year trip across four oceans, unprecedented in terms of difficulties and trials, - all this absolutely did not matter!
When the authorities were finally convinced, not without surprise, that the precious cargo from the Moluccas had been delivered and handed over in perfect integrity, the king-emperor decided to generously reward Elcano. And do you know what that reward was? Charles V forgave the great navigator for that offense of thirteen years ago, to which the previous king forced the young captain with his “generosity”! In addition, in a fit of the same generosity, Charles V had appointed Juan Sebastian a pension of 500 escudos, but he immediately came to his senses and delayed its payment until Elcano returned from the second voyage to the Moluccas. It is unlikely that Juan Sebastian was surprised by this decision, which testified to the “generosity” of the emperor, because any Spanish sailor knew the bitter words of Columbus, spoken by him shortly before his death: “After twenty years of hard work and dangers, I don’t even have my own shelter in Spain” . Such was the fate of many outstanding navigators, and not only navigators, and Elcano was no exception ...
On July 24, 1525, a flotilla of seven ships under the command of Captain-General Loaysa and the great helmsman Elcano set off on a new voyage to the Moluccas - a voyage from which Juan Sebastian was not destined to return. Emperor Charles retained his five hundred escudos ... Elcano's health was undermined by the most severe trials, and on August 6, 1526, the courageous captain, who was not yet forty, died on his flagship ship Santa Maria de la Victoria ... The grave of him, the great navigator, who circumnavigated the globe for the first time in the history of mankind, is located in the middle of the great Pacific Ocean ...
For many years the name and feat of the world's first circumnavigator were consigned to oblivion and remained unknown to posterity for more than four centuries.
Agree, reader, that you did not know everything that was said before. Many did not even hear the name Elcano, and the question of who made the first round-the-world trip was answered with complete confidence; Magellan!
First circumnavigation- Spanish naval expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan, began on September 20, 1519 and ended on September 6, 1522. The expedition was staffed by a large team (according to various estimates, 265-280 people) on 5 ships. As a result of the mutinies, the most difficult crossing of the Pacific Ocean and skirmishes with the population of the Philippines and the Spice Islands, the team was greatly reduced. Only one ship, the Victoria, managed to return to Spain with 18 people on board. Another 18 people who were captured by the Portuguese returned to Europe later. The expedition also turned out to be very successful commercially, bringing the organizers a lot of profit.
In August 1519, the first round-the-world expedition of five ships set off from the harbor of Seville. The Spanish king Charles I approved and equipped her on her way (at home, in Portugal, Magellan's plan was rejected). With luck, Spain could lay claim to the discovered new lands. The path of the expedition lay southwest across America in the direction of the Moluccas.
The journey was not easy. More than once, Magellan's subordinates tried to stage a rebellion in order to return to Spain.
The flotilla moved along the eastern coast of the South American continent for a long time in search of an exit to the "South Sea". Having reached the southern tip of the mainland, the flotilla discovered a deep bay. The ships moved cautiously forward, cutting their way through the labyrinth of winding channels. The shores seemed completely deserted, but in the darkness of the night on the southern shore of the strait, fires suddenly lit up. That is why Magellan called this country Tierra del Fuego, becoming its discoverer.
Passing between Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego along the Strait, which is now called Magellanic, the sailors entered the Pacific Ocean.
For three months, travelers did not see the land, food supplies and drinking water ran out. Famine and scurvy began on the ships. Sailors had to eat ship rats and chew on the ox skin that was used to cover the sails in order to somehow satisfy their hunger. The crew lost 21 men who died of exhaustion. The expedition was plagued by misfortune. When, finally, the travelers reached land (these were the Philippine Islands) and were able to stock up on food and water, Magellan, to his misfortune, got involved in the internecine strife of local rulers and was killed in battle by the natives on April 27, 1521.
Only one ship returned from sailing three years later - the Victoria. Under the command of J. S. Elcano, he completed the voyage in 1522. The surviving members of the crew were greeted with honors and triumph as participants in the world's first circumnavigation.
The importance of Magellan's voyage cannot be overestimated.
First, with his circumnavigation, he proved the sphericity of the Earth.
Secondly, Magellan's expedition gave an idea of the relative sizes of land and sea on the globe.
Thirdly, Magellan proved that the greatest ocean stretches between America and Asia. It was he who gave this ocean the name Pacific, which we still use today. And he chose such a name, because in the course of four months of sailing on the ocean he was fortunate enough not to meet a storm.
In addition, he proved the existence of a single World Ocean on our planet.
Fernan (Fernando) Magellan (Magalhaes)(Port. Fernão de Magalhães, Spanish. Fernando (Hernando) de Magallanes[(f)eɾ'nando ðe maɣa'ʎanes], lat. Ferdinandus Magellanus; 1480, Sabrosa, Traz-os-Montes region, Kingdom of Portugal - April 27, 1521, Mactan Island, Philippines) - Portuguese and Spanish navigator with the title of adelantado. He commanded the expedition that made the first known circumnavigation of the world. He opened the strait, later named after him, becoming the first European to travel by sea from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.
Around the world
Conquerors of the high seas - the first man to sail around the earth
Age of discovery
The age of discovery was full of sea travel and the desire to find a way to the spices of the Far East, while the eastern Mediterranean was blocked by powerful competitors. When Vasco da Gama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to reach India in 1488, the Portuguese concentrated their efforts in the south and east. The Spaniards, who agreed to share the world with the Portuguese in the Treaty of Tordesillas of June 7, 1494, sailed west. They did not have the slightest idea about the American continent and no one knew that there was a Pacific Ocean.
Christopher Columbus(1451-1506), an Italian who moved to Spain, on the basis of the theory that the earth is round, decided that it was possible to reach the Far East from the other side. He persuaded the monarchs to finance his expedition and sailed in 1492. After 10 weeks of sailing, he reached an island in the Bahamas, which he named San Salvador. Thinking he had found islands near Japan, he continued swimming until he reached Cuba (which he thought was China) and Haiti. He met black people there, whom he called "Indians" as he was sure he was sailing across the Indian Ocean.
Columbus made 3 more voyages to the New World, which he believed was the East, in 1493, 1497 and 1502, exploring Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Jamaica and Trinidad. He never sailed to North America, and while he was alive he thought he had reached Asia.
North America has already been discovered
Viking ships reached North America almost 500 years before Columbus set sail. Sailed off Iceland in the mid 990s Biarni Heriolfsson veered off course and arrived on an unknown land. He did not investigate or name her. AT 1002, Leifr Eiriksson followed the course of Biarni and arrived on the coast of modern Canada. He then traveled further south and discovered an island which he named Vinland (today's Newfoundland), where he established a colony and traded with the local population known as the Scraelings for 3 years. Ultimately, the Skraelings forced them to leave, but the Vikings continued to sail to Canada for the forest.
"New Found Earth"
In 1497, King Henry VII granted John Cabot(1450-1498) the right to explore. On May 2nd, Cabot and a crew of 18 others gathered on a small ship called Matthew in Bristol, England. He sailed further north than Columbus to get out of the Spanish territories. On June 24, the team spotted land. Cabot believed he had found an island off the coast of Asia and called it "new found land". This was the first documented landing in Newfoundland since the Vikings. Cabot returned to England on August 6, 1497, and although he brought no treasures or spices, he was the first to mark the North American coast on a map.
Name "America"
The line by which the Portuguese and Spaniards divided the world between them passed through the Atlantic, as a result of which Spain acquired the western lands, including the Americas. Brazil went to the Portuguese, who also had East Africa and India. But, since it was not possible to determine the exact location of the line, the question arose about the exact location of the line. In 1501, the Portuguese king Manuel I sent his fleet to Brazil. One of the members of the flotilla was an Italian Amerigo Vespucci. He was one of those first explorers who said that South America was not an island at all, but a whole continent, calling it the "New World". Vespucci is an excellent cartographer, he sold copies of his maps to the German cartographer Martin Waldsemüller, who, by redrawing them in 1507, honored Vespucci and wrote his name on the South American continent. And so the southern continent began to be called "America".
Amerigo Vespucci, after whom the American continent was named in 1507.
First trip around the world
First to circle the globe Ferdinand Magellan. He was born in Oporto, Portugal in 1480. In 1505, he was enrolled in the fleet, where he learned all the intricacies of ship management and military affairs during a battle in India from the Portuguese royal governor. In 1509 he took part in the Battle of Death, which gave the Portuguese a huge advantage in the Indian Ocean.
For 7 years he traded Cochin, porcelain and canes.
Like Columbus, Megellanus believed that the Far East was reachable through the west. After being snubbed by the Portuguese king, he convinced King Charles I of Spain that at least half of all the "spicy" islands were in the Spanish part of the unexplored world. In September 1519, Magellan set off on 5 ships ("San Antonio", "Santiago", "Trinidad", "Victoria" and "Concept"), consisting of 280 crew members, full of desire to travel, despite adversity and mutinies that arose on the ship.
An Italian nobleman, Antonio Pigafetta, kept a diary during the entire journey.
November 20, 1519 they crossed the equator, and saw Brazil on December 6. Magellan thought it would be unwise to sail near Portuguese territory, as he sailed under the Spanish flag, and on December 13 he anchored near today's Rio de Janeiro. They were met by the Guarani Indians, who believed that white people were gods and gave them gifts. After they replenished their supplies, they headed south, reaching Patagonia (Argentina) in March 1520. Santiago was sent to explore further south, but was lost in a storm.
In August, Magellan decided it was time to sail south to find his way to the east. In October they saw the strait. During their voyage, the captain of San Antonia turned back to Spain, taking most of the provisions.
Into the Pacific
By the end of November, 3 ships left the bay for the Pacific Ocean. Magellan thought that the "spicy" islands were already close, but they sailed for another 96 days without seeing the ends of the earth. The condition of the crew on the ships was terrible. They survived on sawdust, leather strips and rats. Finally, in January 1521, they saw the island and stopped to celebrate. In March, they sailed to the island of Guam. They continued their voyage and sailed to the Philippines, arriving there on March 28.
After being supported by the island king, Magellan was foolishly embroiled in a tribal war and died in battle on April 27, 1521. Sebastian del Cano took command of the ships and 115 survivors. Due to the lack of crew for the third ship, the ship "Concept" was burned.
They sailed to the Moluccas ("spicy" islands) in November and loaded up with valuable spices. To ensure that at least one ship arrived in Spain, the Trinidad sailed back east across the Pacific while the Victoria continued west. The Trinidad was captured by the Portuguese and most of the crew were killed. "Victoria" managed to avoid the attack of the Portuguese in the waters of the Indian Ocean, and they bypassed the Cape of Good Hope. September 6, 1522, almost three years after the start of the historic journey, "Victoria" and 18 team members (among whom was Pigafetta) arrived in Spain. They were first, who circumnavigated the globe.
Reproduction of the ship on which Ferdinand Magellan led the first circumnavigation of the world.
Second trip around the world
The second circumnavigation was completely explorer-a former pirate Englishman Francis Drake(1540-1596). Seeing the Spanish assembling a great new empire, Queen Elizabeth I secretly sent Drake west, with the added purpose of harassing the Spanish. On December 13, 1577, Drake set sail from Plymouth in England, with 6 ships under his command.
In September 1578, 5 ships returned to the Strait of Magellan, but Drake sailed on in his Golden Lane. By June 1579, he had reached the shores of today's California and continued northward to the current border of Canada and the United States. Then, he turned to the southwest and crossed the Pacific Ocean in 2 months. He sailed across the Indian Ocean and around the Cape of Good Hope. He returned in the Golden Lana, loaded with gold and spices, back to Plymouth on September 26, 1580. He became first captain who circumnavigated the world.
Captain Cook
Another famous circumnavigation was the James Cook. He sailed from England on August 25, 1768 on the ship Indive with 94 crew and scientists on board. April 11, 1769 they reached the island of Tahiti. On government orders, they moved south, arriving in New Zealand on 6 October. By April 1770, Cook had studied and recorded notes on Australia. Then, "Indeva" went to Java, by the end of sailing through the Cape of Good Hope. On July 13, 1771, Cook landed at Dover. For his historic 3-year voyage, he was appointed captain of a sea vessel by King George III.
First solo circumnavigation of the world
Joshua Slocum. Born in Nova Scotia in 1844, he became an American citizen and Captain Slocum at the age of 25. On April 24, 1895, the 51-year-old Slocum set sail from Boston in his 11 meter sloop the Spray, a dilapidated oyster boat he rebuilt himself.
Slocum crossed the Atlantic Ocean and approached the Suez Canal. At Gibraltar, he met Mediterranean pirates, and sailed back across the Atlantic and down the Brazilian coast through the dreaded Straits of Magellan. He faced deadly currents, rocky coasts and rough seas as he sailed near Australia, through the Cape of Good Hope and the Atlantic.
On June 27, 1898, after more than 3 years and 74,000 km, Joshua Slocum entered Newport, Rhode Island, as first person to complete the first solo circumnavigation of the world. He describes his remarkable sea voyage in his book Sailing Around the World.
Joshua Slocum - the first person to sail alone around the world (1895-1898). Planning to start his voyage from the Amazon, Slocum set off from Wynyard Haven on November 14, 1909, but he and his ship disappeared.
Joshua Slocum became the first person to circumnavigate the world on his sloop the Spray.
First around the world with one stop
The honor of sailing around the world with just one stop went to Francis Chichester(1902-1972). In 1966, 64-year-old Chichester set sail on his 16m ketch "Gypsy Mot IV" from England. The steering mechanism broke at a distance of 3,700 km from Australia. Soon, after sailing from Sydney, the Gypsy tipped over, but leveled off on its own. Near Cape Horn, Chichester encountered 15m waves. But he is not a man who deviates from his plans. In 1960 he was the winner of the first transatlantic race for one. He also made the longest solo seaplane flight (from England to Australia). On May 28, 1967, after 226 days at sea, he was greeted by half a million people in Plymouth, England.
Francis Chichester completed the first one-stop circumnavigation of the world on the Gypsy Moth IV.
Around the world alone
Today's solo non-stop sailing around the world still captures the imagination. Chay Blyth, nicknamed "Man of Steel", was one of the few who traveled against the wind around the world from east to west on a British Steel ketch in 1971. He completed his voyage in 302 days. Two years later, French Alain Cola on his trimaran "Manureva" sailed around the world through three great capes, which took him only 129 days of navigation.
First woman who sailed around the world became an Englishwoman Lisa Clayton. She sailed on the 11m tinplate Spirit of Birmingham from Dartmouth, England on September 17, 1994, ending her rigorous voyage after 285 days.
Jonathan Sanders Traveled around the world alone 5 times. He also managed an outstanding non-stop circumnavigation of the world between May 1986 and March 1988, covering 128,000 km.
Circumnavigation has become a passion, as did the Whitbread race. Then the French Philip Janto proposed the idea of a round-the-world race without stopping.
Competitions
In 1982, the British company proposed the BOC competition - around the world alone. It has now been renamed to AroundAlone, whose main goal, as it says: "One man, One boat, Around the world." This is the longest distance in an individual sport. The difficult path, which is 43,000 km long, consists mainly of distant oceans. The finish line is literally beyond the edge of the world. (The next race will take place on September 26).
And there is The Race- a non-stop race around the world without rules and without borders, which starts from the Strait of Gibltar at midnight on December 31, 2000. No rules only means that the only limit is imagination and technology.
In 120 AD The Egyptian mathematician Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemyus) invented several planes by means of which, areas on uneven surfaces of the Earth can be displayed on flat surfaces.
His geography appeared in Europe in 1406, and with the invention of the printing press in 1450, his plans were published and universally accepted.
The Cunard Laconia Ship Company offered the first round-the-world cruise on Laconia in 1922.
Black Henry.
A name that almost no one knows. Enrique de Malaca was a slave and translator of Ferdinand Magellan.
Magellan himself never completed his round-the-world trip. In 1521, he was killed in the Philippines, when he was only halfway to his goal.
Magellan first visited East Asia in 1511, sailing there from Portugal across the Indian Ocean. It was there that he found Black Henry. Magellan bought it in Malaysia at the slave market, and then took it with him to Lisbon, returning back the same way.
On all subsequent travels, Henry invariably accompanied his master - including an attempt to circumnavigate the world, on which Magellan set off in 1519. This time the caravels went in the opposite direction - across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans - so that when the expedition reached East Asia in 1521, Henry became the first person in history to completely circumnavigate the globe.
No one knows where Black Henry comes from - he was probably captured and sold into slavery as a child by pirates from Sumatra - but when he arrived in the Philippines, he was surprised to find that the locals speak his native language.
After the death of the commander, the expedition continued its journey, successfully completing a round-the-world trip under the command of Magellan's deputy, Juan Sebastian Elcano, a Basque by birth.
True, Black Henry was no longer on the ship. Elcano refused to honor his patron's last will promise to free Henry from slavery, so Henry decided to flee and was never seen again.
Thus, Juan Sebastian Elcano became the first man in history to circumnavigate the globe in one voyage.
He returned to Seville in September 1522. Four years earlier, five caravels set off to sea, but only one Victoria was able to get home. The ship was bursting with spices, but of the 264 people who initially went on a round-the-world trip with Ferdinand Magellan, only eighteen survived: scurvy, malnutrition and skirmishes with the natives dealt with the rest.
The Spanish king granted Elcano a coat of arms with the image of the globe and the motto: "You were the first to sail around me."
In modern times, Black Henry is considered a national hero by several southeastern nations.
