Magellan’s Pacific Crossing: New Discoveries In One Of The World’s Greatest Voyages

Magellan’s Pacific Crossing: New Discoveries In One Of The World’s Greatest Voyages

AIA Society: Salem
Lecturer: Scott M. Fitzpatrick

On 28 November 1520, Ferdinand Magellan and his depleted fleet sailed around the tip of South America. After a tumultuous 38-day attempt to pass through the straits that now bear his name, Magellan gazed out into the vast sea and called it Mare Pacifico or ‘calm sea’ which was appropriate (although misleading) considering what they had just endured. The passage through the Straits was notable for a number of reasons, not the least because it was the first time Europeans had sailed to the other side of the Americas through a westerly route, ultimately leading to what would become the first successful circumnavigation of the globe. But why did he encounter such benign weather conditions when leaving the Straits and entering the Pacific? Most who followed him either through the Straits or via Cape Horn encountered inclement weather off the southern coast of Chile. Second, why did he travel considerably north of the equator — when his goal, the Moluccas, was known by him to lie along the equator — and cross the doldrums in a crippled ship with a starving crew? Third, why did he only see two uninhabited islands after crossing such a vast distance of ocean?

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