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Magellan–Elcano voyage
First circumnavigation of the Earth, 1519 to 1522
Five ships and about 270 men set out. One ship, the Victoria, led by Juan Sebastián Elcano, returned to Spain on 6 September 1522 with 18 survivors. Magellan died in the Philippines in 1521.
The expedition left Spain in September 1519 under the Portuguese-born captain Ferdinand Magellan, who was sailing for the Spanish crown to find a western route to the Spice Islands. Of the five ships, one was abandoned, one deserted, one was wrecked and one was left behind in the Pacific, so only the Victoria completed the circuit.
Magellan found the strait that now bears his name and led the first European crossing of the Pacific, where many crew members suffered from hunger and scurvy. He was killed in a battle on Mactan in the Philippines in April 1521. Juan Sebastián Elcano then took command of the Victoria and sailed home via the Indian Ocean and around Africa.
The Victoria reached Spain on 6 September 1522. The figure of 18 refers to those on board; a few more men eventually reached Spain by other routes. Total crew numbers are estimates, because records are incomplete, and the voyage is credited as the first circumnavigation in the sense that one expedition's ship completed it, even though Magellan himself did not.