Loaísa expedition facts for kids
| Sponsor |  Spain |
|---|---|
| Leader | García Jofre de Loaísa |
| Start | July 24, 1525 |
| End |
|
| Goal | Colonize Spice Islands, rescue Trinidad |
| Ships | 7 |
| Crew | 450 |
| Survivors | 25 |
| Route | |
 |
|
The Loaísa expedition was an amazing journey by sea in the early 1500s. It was led by a Spanish captain named García Jofre de Loaísa. King Charles I of Spain ordered this trip. The main goal was to claim the Spice Islands for Spain. These islands, also called the East Indies, were famous for valuable spices.
The expedition started in July 1525 from La Coruña, Spain. Seven ships set sail into the unknown. This journey became the second time in history that ships crossed the Pacific Ocean. The first was the Magellan-Elcano trip. During the Loaísa expedition, explorers found new places. They discovered the Sea of Hoces near Cape Horn and the Marshall Islands in the Pacific. Only one ship from the fleet reached the Spice Islands in September 1526.
Contents
Why the Expedition Sailed
The Loaísa expedition had two main purposes. It was a rescue mission and a journey of discovery. A ship from Magellan's earlier trip, the Victoria, had returned to Spain in 1522. It brought news that its sister ship, the Trinidad, was lost. The Trinidad had tried to sail east from the Spice Islands to South America.
De Loaísa was told to look for the Trinidad or find out what happened to it. He was to follow the route the Trinidad might have taken. If he couldn't find the ship, his next job was to find and claim the Spice Islands. He also had to look for a legendary land called Ophir. Spanish scholars thought Ophir might be somewhere near China. To help with these big goals, de Loaísa had seven ships and about 450 men. This group included skilled workers and people to help set up a new settlement.
Journey Across the Atlantic
The expedition began its voyage from Corunna on July 24, 1525. The fleet had seven ships. Their names were Santa María de la Victoria, Sancti Spiritus, Anunciada, San Gabriel, Santa María del Parral, and San Lesmes. There was also a smaller ship called a patache, the Santiago. García Jofre de Loaísa was the main captain. Juan Sebastián Elcano was also a captain. Elcano was famous for reaching the Spice Islands in 1521 with the Magellan expedition.
The ships first sailed southwest to the Canary Islands. Then they went south along the coast of Africa. In November 1525, de Loaísa turned west across the Atlantic Ocean. They reached the Patagonian coast in South America by January 1526. There was no sign of the Trinidad. So, de Loaísa decided to stop looking for it. He chose to continue towards the Spice Islands instead.
Challenges in the Strait
The weather became very bad. For several weeks, strong winds made it hard to enter the Strait of Magellan. The ships kept getting separated and then finding each other again. Two ships, Sancti Spiritus and Anunciada, were wrecked. Another ship, San Gabriel, turned back into the Atlantic and left the expedition.
The San Lesmes, led by Francisco de Hoces, was pushed far south by the storms. It might have gone as far as 57° south. There, the crew saw "an end of land." This could have been the first time Europeans saw Cape Horn. After a lot of effort, Hoces managed to steer his ship north again. He rejoined the three other vessels that were still with the expedition. On May 26, 1526, this smaller fleet of four ships finally passed through the Strait. They entered the vast Pacific.
Crossing the Pacific Ocean
The bad weather that had troubled de Loaísa's fleet continued in the Pacific. The four remaining ships quickly lost sight of each other. Heavy rain and strong winds caused them to separate. They could not regroup even when the storm finally ended on June 1.
Fates of the Ships
The Santiago sailed north. It traveled about 10,000 kilometers. In July 1526, it reached the Pacific coast of Mexico. This was the first time a ship had sailed from Europe to the western coast of North America.
The San Lesmes disappeared completely. Some people in the 1900s thought it might have crashed in the Tuamotus. Perhaps it landed on Anaa island, where a cross was found in 1774. Or maybe it was off the Amanu atoll, where an old Spanish cannon was later discovered.
The third ship, Santa María del Parral, also sailed across the Pacific. It reached Sangir, an island near northern Sulawesi. The ship was beached there. Its crew members were either killed or enslaved by the local people. Four survivors were later rescued in 1528. They were found by another Spanish expedition led by Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón, which came from Mexico.
The last ship, the Santa Maria de la Victoria, was the only one to reach the Spice Islands. It landed there in September 1526.
The Survivors' Return
Sadly, Loaísa himself died of scurvy on July 30, 1526. Juan Sebastián Elcano died just a few days later. Alonso de Salazar passed away three weeks after that. Another captain, Yñiguez, reached the islands of Visayas and Mindanao in the Philippines. He also reached the Moluccas, but he died from food poisoning.
Only Andrés de Urdaneta and 24 other men survived to reach the Spice Islands. They finally returned to Spain in 1536. They traveled with the Portuguese India Armada and were under Portuguese guard. Their return completed the second world circumnavigation in history. One of these survivors was Hans von Aachen. He had previously been a gunner on the Victoria during Magellan's trip. This made him the first person to sail around the world twice!
Images for kids
-
The route of the Loaísa expedition.
See also
In Spanish: Expedición de García Jofre de Loaísa para niños
