The Loaísa expedition was an early 16th-century Spanish voyage of discovery to the Pacific Ocean, commanded by (1490 – 20 July 1526) and ordered by King

Charles I of Spain Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) fr ...

to colonize the

Spice Islands In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for ...

in the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...

. The seven-ship fleet sailed from

La Coruña LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

, Spain in July 1525 and became the second naval expedition in history to cross the Pacific Ocean, after the Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation. The expedition resulted in the discovery of the Sea of Hoces south of Cape Horn, and the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

in the Pacific. One ship ultimately arrived in the

in September 1526.

Origins

De Loaísa's expedition was conceived both as a rescue mission and a voyage of discovery. The ''Victoria'', a vessel from Magellan's expedition to the Pacific, had returned to Spain in 1522 with word that her sister ship the ''Trinidad'' had last been seen attempting to return home by sailing east from the Spice Islands to South America. De Loaísa was ordered to seek ''Trinidad'', or news of her fate, by voyaging along her expected return route to Spain.Kelsey 1986, p.151 Failing this he was to locate and colonise Magellan's Spice Islands, and also to bring back news of

Tarshish Tarshish (; ; ) occurs in the Hebrew Bible with several uncertain meanings, most frequently as a place (probably a large city or region) far across the sea from Phoenicia (now Lebanon) and the Land of Israel. Tarshish was said to have exported v ...

and

Ophir Ophir (; ) is a port or region mentioned in the Bible, famous for its wealth. Its existence is attested to by an inscribed pottery shard found at Tell Qasile (in modern-day Tel Aviv) in 1946, dating to the eighth century BC, which reads "''go ...

, where, according to the Bible,

King Solomon King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by f ...

, exploited precious metals and gems (Spanish scholars believed that those biblical islands might be somewhere near China). For this purpose, de Loaísa was assigned seven vessels and a total of 450 men, including tradesmen and administrators for the Spice Islands settlement.

Atlantic voyage

The expedition set sail from Corunna on 24 July 1525. It consisted of seven ships, ''Santa María de la Victoria'', ''Sancti Spiritus'', ''Anunciada'', ''San Gabriel'', ''Santa María del Parral'' and ''San Lesmes'' and a patache, ''Santiago''. De Loaísa was named captain along with

Juan Sebastián Elcano Juan Sebastián Elcano (Elkano in modern Basque language, Basque; also known as ''del Cano''; 1486/1487 – 4 August 1526) was a Spaniards, Spanish navigator, ship-owner and explorer of Basques, Basque origin, ship-owner and explorer from Getaria ...

, who had reached the Spice Islands in 1521 during the Magellan expedition. The fleet headed southwest to the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

and then south along the

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n coastline.Nowell 1936, p.329 In November 1525 de Loaísa moved west across the Atlantic to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, reaching the Patagonian shore in January 1526. There was no sign of ''Trinidad'', and de Loaísa decided to abandon the search for her and continue instead to the Spice Islands. However the weather was poor, and over the next several weeks, in high winds while trying to enter the

Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natura ...

, the ships alternately gathered and dispersed. Two ships, ''Sancti Spiritus'' and ''Anunciada'' were wrecked, and one, ''San Gabriel'' tacked into the Atlantic and deserted the expedition. The ''San Lesmes'' under the captaincy of Francisco de Hoces was driven south along the coast, possibly to a latitude of 57°, where the crew noted "an end of land" which could have been the first European sighting of

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

.Bergúno 1990, p. 25 After some difficulty Hoces was able to steer his galleon northward once more, rejoining the other three vessels that remained with the expedition. On 26 May 1526, this diminished fleet of four ships (three galleons and the patache), passed through the Strait and entered the Pacific.

Pacific voyage

The bad weather which had originally scattered de Loaísa's fleet continued in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

. The four remaining vessels quickly lost sight of each other in the heavy rain and were unable to regroup when the storm finally passed on 1 June. The ''Santiago'' sailed north, and in a 10,000-kilometre voyage, reached the Pacific coast of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in July 1526, achieving the first navigation from Europe to the western coast of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. 50 people survived and some of them took part in the expedition commanded by Álvaro de Saavedra which would also cross the Pacific between 1527 and 1529. The ''San Lesmes'' disappeared entirely. Twentieth century speculation suggests she ran aground in the

Tuamotus The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extending (from northwest to ...

, either on the island of

Anaa Anaa, Nganaa-nui (or Ara-ura) is an atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago, in French Polynesia. It is located in the north-west of the archipelago, 350 km to the east of Tahiti. It is oval in shape, 29.5 km in length and 6.5 km wide, ...

where a 1774 expedition found a cross erected on the beach, or off the Amanu atoll where an old Spanish cannon was later found. The third ship, ''Santa María del Parral'', sailed the Pacific to Sangir off the northern coast of

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

, where the ship was beached and its crew were variously killed or enslaved by the natives. Four survivors were rescued in 1528 by

Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón Álvaro de Saavedra (d. 1529), fully Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón, was one of the Spanish Empire, Spanish Spanish explorers, explorers of the Pacific Ocean. Life Early life The exact date and place of his birth are unknown, but he was born in the l ...

's Spanish expedition coming from Mexico. The last galleon, ''Santa Maria de la Victoria'', was the only ship to reach the Spice Islands, landing in September 1526.

Survivors

Loaísa himself died on 30 July 1526 and Elcano a few days later, and Alonso de Salazar three weeks after that. Yñiguez reached the islands of

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; Filipino language, Filipino: ''Kabisayaan'' ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, a ...

and

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and the

Moluccas The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West Melanesi ...

, but died of food poisoning. Only

Andrés de Urdaneta Andres or Andrés may refer to: * Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US * Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) Andres or Andrés is a male given name. It can also be a ...

and 24 other men survived to land in the Spice Islands. They returned to Spain in 1536 in the Portuguese India Armada and under Portuguese guard to complete the second world

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnaviga ...

in history. One of the survivors was Maestre Anes (Hans von Aachen), who previously served as gunner on the under Magellan and Elcano, becoming the first man to circumnavigate twice. He subsequently joined the disastrous Villalobos Expedition whose survivors composed the third group of circumnavigators.

Theories of the wreck of the ''San Lesmes''

Australian researcher Robert Adrian Langdon hypothesised that the ''San Lesmes'', after being lost in a storm off the coast of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, deviated through the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, stopping in

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

, before being wrecked on the coast of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. French historian Roger Hervé claimed that the Spanish

caravel The caravel (Portuguese language, Portuguese: , ) is a small sailing ship developed by the Portuguese that may be rigged with just lateen sails, or with a combination of lateen and Square rig, square sails. It was known for its agility and s ...

was diverted to

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

also, until it went up the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n eastern coast and was captured by the Portuguese near what is now Cape York. New Zealand

film maker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screenwritin ...

Winston Cowie assesses the ''San Lesmes'' theory in his books ''Nueva Zelanda, un puzzle histórico: tras la pista de los conquistadores españoles'' and ''Conquistador Puzzle Trail'', the Spanish version of which was completed with the support of the Embassy of Spain to New Zealand, adding the oral tradition of the Pouto Peninsula to Langdon's work. Cowie concludes that there is a possibility that the ''San Lesmes'' was wrecked on the Pouto Peninsula, with more research required to take the theory from possibility to probability. Contemporary of Cowie's, Noel Hilliam found a wreck on Aranga about north of the Pouto Peninsular which he claimed was the ''San Lesmes'' but the find was neither verified nor conclusive.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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