Timeline of the Magellan–Elcano circumnavigation


The Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation was the first voyage around the world in human history. It was a Spanish expedition that sailed from Seville in 1519 under the command of Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer, in search of a maritime path to East Asia through the Americas and across the Pacific Ocean, and was concluded by Spanish navigator Juan Sebastian Elcano in 1522. Elcano and the 18 survivors of the expedition were the first men to circumnavigate the globe in a single expedition.
The Spanish fleet, the Armada de Molucca, that left Spain on 20 September 1519 consisted of five ships with 270 men: Trinidad under Magellan, Captain General; San Antonio under Juan de Cartagena; Concepcion under Gaspar de Quesada; Santiago under João Serrão; and Victoria under Luiz Mendoza.
After crossing the Atlantic and wintering in South America the expedition navigated the Straits of Magellan, then crossed the Pacific to the Philippines.
Following Magellan's death in Mactan in 1521, Juan Sebastián Elcano took command of the ship Victoria, sailing back to Spain across the Indian Ocean, round the Cape of Good Hope and north along the west coast of Africa.
The circumnavigation was completed by Elcano and a crew of 18 men in Victoria, returning to Spain nearly three years after they left on 6 September 1522.

Timeline

1519

1519: Departure from Seville.
September 20: Departure from Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
September 26 - October 3: Stopping in the Canary Islands to take in provisions.
November 29: Fleet reaches the vicinity of Cape St. Augustine.
December 13: Entering the bay of Rio de Janeiro.
December 27: Departure from Rio de Janeiro.

1520

January 10: Entering the Río de la Plata.
February 27: Entering Bahia de los Patos.
March 31: Beginning of the overwintering stay at Puerto San Julián.
April 1 and 2: Mutiny on Victoria, Concepcion and San Antonio; death of Louis de Mendoza. Later execution of de Quesada, marooning of de Cartagena. Alvaro de Mesquita becomes captain of San Antonio, Duarte Barbosa of Victoria.
End of April: Santiago is sent on a mission to find the passage. The ship is caught in a storm and wrecked. Survivors return to Puerto San Julián. Serrano becomes captain of the Concepcion.
July: Encounters with the “Patagonian giants”.
August 23 or 24: Fleet departs Puerto San Julián for Río Santa Cruz.
October 18: Fleet leaves Santa Cruz.
October 21: Arriving at the Cape of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, entry to what would be known as Strait of Magellan.
End of October: San Antonio, charged to explore Magdalen Sound, fails to return to the fleet, instead sails back to Spain under Estêvão Gomes who imprisoned captain de Mesquita. The ship arrives in Spain on May 21, 1521.
November 28: The fleet leaves the strait and enters the Pacific Ocean.
When out in the Pacific some of the crew get scurvy.

1521

January 24/25-28: Landfall on an uninhabited island, which Magellan names St Paul's. They stay for a few days before continuing on.
March 6: Arrival at Guam and encounters with the Chamorro people.
March 16: Arrival of Magellan's expedition to one of the Philippine Islands. They headed to Suluan and dropped anchor for a few hours of respite. Suluan is a small island in the province of Eastern Samar. They next dropped anchor at Homonhon, another small island in the province of Eastern Samar. They were detected by the boats of Rajah Kolambu who was visiting Mazaua, who later guided them to Cebu, on April 7.
March 31: First Mass in the Philippines, held in Mazaua, which is not determined whether it was held in Mazaua, Southern Leyte or Masao, Caraga, Mindanao or in Butuan, Agusan del Norte.
April 7: Arrival at the Rajahnate of Cebu.
April 27: Death of Magellan in the Battle of Mactan. Serrano and Barbosa are voted co-commanders.
May 1: At a local banquet Barbosa and 27 sailors are murdered and Serrano captured, later killed. The three remaining ships escape.
May 2: There are not enough men to handle three ships, thus the worm-infested Concepcion is burned down. Two ships remain: Victoria and Trinidad. Gonzalo Gomez de Espinosa becomes captain of Victoria. Joao Lopez Carvalho is made as the Captain General. The ships sail to Mindanao and Brunei.
September 21: Carvalho is replaced by Espinosa as Captain-General. Juan Sebastian Elcano becomes captain of Victoria.
November 8: Arriving at Tidore in the Moluccas.
December 21: Victoria under the command of Elcano leaves the Moluccas to return home, sailing west towards the Cape of Good Hope. Trinidad remains at Tidore for repairs.

1522

January 25: Victoria reaches Timor and starts to cross the Indian Ocean.
April 6: Trinidad under the command of Espinosa leaves the Moluccas heading home sailing east. After five weeks, Espinosa decides to return to the Moluccas where he and his ship are captured by a Portuguese fleet under Antonio de Brito. However, the ship was wrecked during a storm.
May 22: Victoria passes the Cape of Good Hope and enters the Atlantic Ocean.
July 9: Victoria reaches Santiago, Cape Verde.
September 6: Victoria returns to Sanlúcar de Barrameda under the command of Elcano, two weeks shy of three years after setting sail.
September 8: Victoria arrives at Seville, technically completing the circumnavigation.