On this day in 1520, Captain-General Ferdinand Magellan and his fleet of three ship made their way through the Straight of Magellan and arrived in the Pacific Ocean. The fleet had left Spain with five ships on September 20, 1519. That's fourteen months! Had they known where they were going, the trip should have taken around three months. But the expedition had a very unrealistic idea of geography.
They did make it to the coast of Brazil in three months, but it was here their troubles began. Magellan was Portuguese. When his own king refused to support his expedition he had applied to the Spanish king who said yes. The Spanish captains, jealous of Magellan, staged a half-hearted mutiny in the middle of the Atlantic. Magellan had been warned this was coming and was able to suppress it.
Once the fleet got to Brazil they started sailing south looking for the straight or passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. There was a lot of wishful thinking in this search. When they reached the broad estuary of the Rio de la Plata which leads to Buenos Aires, Magellan was sure this was the route to the Pacific and sent one of the ships to explore.
The ship returned three days later with the bad news. Magellan didn't believe it and headed up the river himself. It was only three days later while sipping on a cup of unsalty water from the river that Magellan was convinced. They turned around and continued south towards Antarctica and the southern winter.
They should have made better progress, but they had to hug the shore looking for the opening to the staight. This also put them at risk of running aground in the frequent squalls and storms. Finally, after eight weeks of this, Magellan decided to wait out the winter in a protected harbor.
On April 1, Easter Sunday, Magellan faced a more serious mutiny by three of the Spanish captains. Through luck and courage, Magellan and his supporters were able to put down the mutiny. Two of the captains were beheaded, the rest of the mutineers were put to hard labor on the ships.
Magellan was impatient just sitting at anchor. During a break in the weather he sent a ship south to explore. This ship didn't find the straight, but they did find a better harbor. As they headed back to Magellan a sudden squall drove their ship onto the shore. The entire crew got ashore and two volunteers hiked eleven days to let Magellan know what had happened. Magellan decided to move the other four ships south to the better harbor.
Finally, on October 18th, with the southern spring coming, the fleet continued its search. Just three days later, they found the entry to the straight. After his previous disappointments, Magellan proceeded cautiously. He was happy that the water stayed salty. One of the ships became separated from the others and the captain decided he had had enough and returned to Spain.
While Magellan waited for the missing ship to rejoin them, he sent one ahead to reconnoiter. Six days later the ship returned with news of the Pacific. Magellan was a hard man, but his secretary reported he wept tears of joy. The Spice Islands were just three or four days away in Magellan's geography. It would be almost four months before they saw land again, by which time they were eating rat mixed with sawdust with a side of boiled cowhide.
Magellan himself never reached the Spice Islands. He started meddling in politics in the Philippines and was killed by natives in a battle there. Only one of the original five ships made it back to Spain after a voyage of three years, with just 18 of the original 270 crew members. The ship had picked up enough cargo to pay expenses, but the king decided to let Portugal have the business and kept the Philippines for his troubles
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| Straight of Magellan for Dummies |
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