Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain with five ships on September 20, 1519.
His ships were named Concepcion, San Antonio, Victoria, Trinidad and Santiago. The first four were Carracks, and the Santiago was a Caravel. Around 250 men sailed with Magellan, but only 18 would return to Spain alive. Magellan himself would meet his death at the hands of native warriors on a beach in what is now the Philippines.
They took the normal route to Brazil, sailing west from the Canary Islands until they reached Rio de Janeiro. Here they rested for almost five months, but eventually sailed south losing the Santiago to a storm, and the San Antonio in a mutinous return to Spain. Nonetheless, Magellan was determined to go on with his remaining three ships. He discovered a straight which he named the Straight of All Saints, having discovered it on All Saint's Day. It would later come to be called the Straight of Magellan. The waters and winds of the straight are very contrary to sailing, and it took Magellan 38 days to pass through to calmer waters which he named Mare Pacifica or the calm sea. We know those waters today as the Pacific Ocean.
From there Magellan estimated three days sailing to the spice islands, but his men would nearly starve, and be reduced to eating sawdust and leather before sighting what is now Guam three and a half months later. From Guam he made his way north and made land at the Philippine Island of Cebu. Here he tarried long, and became involved in a local war which would lead to his death. The company had lost many men to war, starvation, and disease. Without sufficient crew to sail her they burned the Concepcion to keep it from falling into the hands of potential enemies.
The Victoria and the Trinidad finally made the Spice islands and took on a rich cargo of cloves and cinnamon. The Victoria was leaking and needed a long time for repairs, so the two ships separated. The Trinidad set off to try to make the Isthmus of Panama, but was lost in a storm. A few weeks after the Trinidad, the Victoria set off to Cross the Indian Ocean, round Africa, and return to Spain. They suffered great hardships, but 18 men led by Jaun Sebastion del Cano finished the journey and made landfall in Spain on September 6, 1522 having circumnavigated the globe in a little under three years at sea. Surprisingly, the value of the spice cargo on the Victoria was sufficient that the voyage turned a profit despite having lost its commander, four ships, and about 232 men.
see also Ferdinand Magellan and Magellan's Death
