The man who made his second trip around the world. The history of travel around the world: from Magellan to Picard. Thomas Stevens's trip around the world by bicycle
The discoveries of Russian travelers are amazing. Let's bring to chronological order brief descriptions seven most significant trips around the world of our compatriots.
The first Russian trip around the world - Around the World Expedition of Kruzenshtern and Lisyansky
Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern and Yuri Fedorovich Lisyansky were combat Russian sailors: both in 1788–1790. participated in four battles against the Swedes. The voyage of Krusenstern and Lisyansky is the beginning new era in the history of Russian navigation. 
The expedition started from Kronstadt on July 26 (August 7), 1803, under the leadership of Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern, who was 32 years old. The expedition included:
- Three-masted sloop "Nadezhda". The total number of the team is 65 people. Commander - Ivan Fedorovich Krusenstern.
- Three-masted sloop "Neva". The total number of the ship's crew is 54 people. Commander - Lisyansky Yuri Fedorovich.
Every single one of the sailors were Russian - this was Kruzenshtern’s condition
In July 1806, with a difference of two weeks, the Neva and Nadezhda returned to the Kronstadt roadstead, completing the entire journey in 3 years 12 days. Both of these sailing ships, like their captains, became famous throughout the world. The first Russian round-the-world expedition had a huge scientific significance on a global scale.
As a result of the expedition, many books were published, about two dozen geographical points were named after famous captains.
On the left is Ivan Fedorovich Krusenstern. On the right is Yuri Fedorovich Lisyansky The description of the expedition was published under the title “Journey around the world in 1803, 1804, 1805 and 1806 on the ships “Nadezhda” and “Neva”, under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Kruzenshtern,” in 3 volumes, with an atlas of 104 maps and engraved paintings, and has been translated into English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Italian and Danish.
And now, to answer the question: “Which Russian was the first to travel around the world?”, You can answer without difficulty.
Discovery of Antarctica - round-the-world expedition of Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev
Aivazovsky’s work “Ice Mountains in Antarctica”, written based on the memoirs of Admiral Lazarev In 1819, after long and very careful preparation, a south polar expedition set off from Kronstadt on a long voyage, consisting of two military sloops - “Vostok” and “Mirny”. The first was commanded by Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen, the second by Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev. The crew of the ships consisted of experienced, experienced sailors. There was a long journey ahead to unknown countries. The expedition was given the task of how to penetrate further to the south in order to finally resolve the question of the existence of the Southern Continent.
The expedition members spent 751 days at sea and covered more than 92 thousand kilometers. 29 islands and one coral reef were discovered. The scientific materials she collected made it possible to form the first idea of Antarctica.
Russian sailors not only discovered a huge continent located around the South Pole, but also conducted important research in the field of oceanography. This branch of spiders was just emerging at that time. F. F. Bellingshausen was the first to correctly explain the causes of sea currents (for example, the Canary), the origin of algae in the Sargasso Sea, as well as coral islands in tropical areas.
The discoveries of the expedition turned out to be a major achievement of Russian and world geographical science of that time.
And so January 16 (28), 1820 is considered - opening day of Antarctica. Bellingshausen and Lazarev, despite dense ice and fogs, passed around Antarctica at latitudes from 60° to 70° and irrefutably proved the existence of land in the region of the south pole.
Amazingly, the proof of the existence of Antarctica was immediately recognized as an outstanding geographical discovery. However, then scientists argued for more than a hundred years about what had been discovered. Was it a mainland, or just a group of islands covered by a common cap of ice? Bellingshausen himself never spoke about the discovery of the mainland. The continental nature of Antarctica was finally confirmed only in the middle of the 20th century as a result of lengthy research using complex technical means.
World trip on a bicycle
On August 10, 1913, the finish line of a round-the-world bicycle race took place in Harbin, which was ridden by a 25-year-old Russian athlete, Onisim Petrovich Pankratov.
This journey lasted 2 years 18 days. Pankratov chose a rather difficult route. Countries from almost all of Europe were included in it. Having left Harbin in July 1911, the courageous cyclist arrived in St. Petersburg at the end of autumn. Then his path ran through Konigsberg, Switzerland, Italy, Serbia, Turkey, Greece and again through Turkey, Italy, France, Southern Spain, Portugal, Northern Spain and again through France.
The Swiss authorities considered Pankratov crazy. No one would dare to ride a bicycle through snow-covered rocky passes that are accessible only to experienced climbers. It took a lot of effort for the cyclist to overcome the mountains. He crossed Italy, passed through Austria, Serbia, Greece and Turkey. He simply had to sleep under the starry sky; often he only had water and bread for food, but he still did not stop traveling.
After crossing the Pas de Calais by boat, the athlete crossed England on a bicycle. Then, having also arrived in America on a ship, he again got on a bicycle and rode the entire American continent, following the route New York ─ Chicago ─ San Francisco. And from there by ship to Japan. Then he crossed Japan and China on a bicycle, after which Pankratov reached the initial point of his grandiose route - Harbin.
A distance of more than 50 thousand kilometers was covered on a bicycle. His father suggested that Onesimus make such a journey around the earth
Pankratov's trip around the world was called great by his contemporaries. The Gritzner bicycle helped him travel around the world; during the trip, Onisim had to change 11 chains, 2 steering wheels, 53 tires, 750 spokes, etc.
Around the Earth - the first space flight
At 9 o'clock 7 min. Moscow time, the Vostok spacecraft took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Having flown around the globe, he returned safely to Earth 108 minutes later. There was a pilot-cosmonaut, Major, on board the ship.
The weight of the spacecraft-satellite is 4725 kilograms (excluding the last stage of the launch vehicle), the total power of the rocket engines is 20 million horsepower.
The first flight took place in automatic mode, in which the astronaut was, as it were, a passenger on the ship. However, at any moment he could switch the ship to manual control. Throughout the entire flight, two-way radio communication was maintained with the astronaut.
In orbit, Gagarin carried out simple experiments: he drank, ate, and made notes in pencil. “Putting” the pencil next to him, he accidentally discovered that it instantly began to float away. From this, Gagarin concluded that it is better to tie pencils and other objects in space. He recorded all his sensations and observations on the on-board tape recorder.
After successfully carrying out the planned research and completing the flight program at 10 o'clock. 55 min. Moscow time, the satellite ship "Vostok" made a safe landing in a given area of the Soviet Union - near the village of Smelovka, Ternovsky district, Saratov region.
The first people who met the astronaut after the flight were the wife of a local forester, Anna (Anikhayat) Takhtarova, and her six-year-old granddaughter Rita. Soon, military personnel from the division and local collective farmers arrived at the scene of events. One group of military men took guard over the descent module, and the other took Gagarin to the unit’s location. From there, Gagarin reported by telephone to the commander of the air defense division:
Please convey to the Air Force Commander-in-Chief: I completed the task, landed in the given area, I feel good, there are no bruises or breakdowns. Gagarin
Immediately after Gagarin’s landing, the burnt descent module of Vostok-1 was covered with a cloth and taken to Podlipki, near Moscow, to the sensitive territory of the royal OKB-1. Later it became the main exhibit in the museum of the rocket and space corporation Energia, which grew out of OKB-1. Museum for a long time was closed (it was possible to get into it, but quite difficult - only as part of a group, with a preliminary letter), in May 2016 Gagarin's ship became publicly accessible, as part of the exhibition.
First circumnavigation of a submarine without surfacing
February 12, 1966 - a successful round-the-world voyage of two nuclear submarines of the Northern Fleet began. Moreover, our boats passed the entire route, the length of which exceeded the length of the equator, underwater, without surfacing even in little-studied areas of the Southern Hemisphere. The heroism and courage of Soviet submariners had outstanding national significance and became a continuation of the combat traditions of submariners of the Great Patriotic War.
25 thousand miles were covered and the highest degree of secrecy was demonstrated; the voyage took 1.5 months
Two serial production submarines without any modifications were allocated to participate in the campaign. The K-116 missile boat of Project 675 and the second K-133 boat of Project 627A, which has torpedo armament.
In addition to its enormous political significance, it was an impressive demonstration of the scientific and technological achievements and military power of the state. The campaign showed that the entire oceans have become a global launching pad for our nuclear submarines armed with both cruise and ballistic missiles. At the same time, it opened up new opportunities for maneuvering forces between the Northern and Pacific fleets. In a broader sense, we can say that at the height of the Cold War, the historical role of our fleet was to change the strategic situation in the World Ocean, and Soviet submariners were the first to do this.
The first and only voyage in the history of solo circumnavigations on a 5.5 meter long dinghy
On July 7, 1992, Evgeniy Aleksandrovich Gvozdev set off from Makhachkala on his first solo circumnavigation of the world on the yacht “Lena” (micro class, length only 5.5 meters). On July 19, 1996, the journey was successfully completed (it took 4 years and two weeks). This set a world record - the first and only voyage in the history of solo circumnavigations made on a regular pleasure dinghy. Evgeny Gvozdev went on a long-awaited trip around the world when he was 58 years old.
Surprisingly, the ship did not have an auxiliary engine, radio, autopilot or cooker. But there was a treasured “sailor’s passport”, which the new Russian authorities issued to the yachtsman after a year of struggle. This document not only helped Evgeny Gvozdev cross the border in the direction he needed: subsequently Gvozdev traveled without money and without visas.
On his journey, our hero experienced a severe psychological shock after a collision with treacherous Somali “guerrillas” who, at Cape Ras Hafun, robbed him completely and almost shot him.
His entire first trip around the world can be described in one word: “in spite of.” The chance of survival was too slim. Evgeny Gvozdev himself sees the world differently: this is a world similar to a single brotherhood of good people, a world of complete selflessness, a world without obstacles to global circulation...
In a hot air balloon around the Earth - Fedor Konyukhov
Fyodor Konyukhov was the first in the world to fly around the Earth in a hot air balloon (on his first attempt). A total of 29 attempts were made, and only three of them were successful. During the trip, Fedor Konyukhov set several world records, the main one of which was the duration of the flight. The traveler managed to fly around the Earth in about 11 days, 5 hours and 31 minutes.
The ball was two-level design, combining the use of helium and solar energy. Its height is 60 meters. A gondola equipped with the best technical instruments was attached below, from where Konyukhov piloted the ship.
I thought that I had committed so many sins that I would burn not in hell, but here
The journey took place at extreme conditions: the temperature dropped to -40 degrees, the balloon entered a zone of severe turbulence with zero visibility, and a cyclone with hail and strong winds also passed through. Due to difficult weather conditions, the equipment failed several times and Fedor had to manually fix the problems.
During the 11 days of the flight, Fedor hardly slept. According to him, even a moment of relaxation could lead to irreversible consequences. At moments when it was no longer possible to fight sleep, he took an adjustable wrench and sat down over an iron plate. As soon as the eyes were closed, the hand released the key, it fell onto the plate, making a noise, causing the aeronaut to instantly wake up. At the end of the journey, he performed this procedure regularly. It nearly exploded at a great height when different types of gas mistakenly began to mix. It’s good that I managed to cut off the flammable cylinder.
Along the entire route, air traffic controllers at various airports around the world helped Konyukhov as best they could, clearing the airspace for him. So he flew across the Pacific Ocean in 92 hours, crossed through Chile and Argentina, rounded a thunderstorm front over the Atlantic, passed the Cape of Good Hope and returned safely to Australia, where he began his journey.
Fedor Konyukhov:
I circled the Earth in 11 days, it is very small, it must be protected. We don’t even think about it, we people only fight. The world is so beautiful - explore it, get to know it
About his stay on one of the Coraline Islands, Litke wrote: “...Our three-week stay on Yualan not only did not cost a single drop of human blood, but... we could leave the good islanders with the same incomplete information about the action of our firearms, which they consider intended only for killing birds... I don’t know if there is similar example in the chronicles of early voyages to the South Sea" (F. P. Litke. Voyage around the world on the sloop of war "Senyavin" in 1826-1829).
In the first half of the 19th century. Russian navigators made more than 20 trips around the world, which significantly exceeded the number of such expeditions undertaken by the British and French combined. And some Russian sailors circumnavigated the world twice or thrice. In the first Russian circumnavigation of the world, the midshipman on Kruzenshtern’s sloop “Nadezhda” was Bellingshausen, who after some time would be the first to approach the shores of Antarctica. O. Kotzebue made his first voyage on the same ship, who subsequently led two round-the-world voyages: in 1815-1818 and in 1823-1826.
In 1817, Vasily Mikhailovich Golovnin, who had already completed a circumnavigation of the world on the sloop “Diana”, which had become legendary, set out on his second circumnavigation. To be included in the team of the famous navigator was considered a great honor. On the recommendation of Captain 2nd Rank I. S. Sulmenev, later an admiral, Golovnin took his pupil, 19-year-old midshipman Fyodor Litke, on board the ship as the head of the hydrographic service, 19-year-old midshipman Fyodor Litke, who had already managed to take part in naval battles with the French and earn an order.
On the sloop "Kamchatka", which was preparing to sail around the world, a wonderful company gathered - the future of the Russian fleet. Litke met here with volunteer Fyodor Matyushkin, a former lyceum student and classmate of Pushkin, a future admiral and senator, and junior watch officer Ferdinand Wrangel, later a famous Arctic explorer and admiral. The team also included a very young midshipman, Theopempt Lutkovsky, who would first become interested in the ideas of the Decembrists, and then become a rear admiral and naval writer. During the two-year voyage, "Kamchatka" crossed the Atlantic from north to south, rounded Cape Horn, reached Kamchatka through the Pacific Ocean, visited Russian America, Hawaii, the Marianas and the Moluccas, then crossed the Indian Ocean and, having gone around Africa, on September 5, 1819. returned to Kronstadt.
In 1821, on the recommendation of Golovnin, Litke, who had already become a lieutenant, was appointed head of the Arctic expedition on the brig Novaya Zemlya. The expedition explored the Murmansk coast, the western coast of Novaya Zemlya, the Matochkin Shar Strait, and the northern coast of Kolguev Island. Astronomical observations were carried out. Having processed the expedition materials, Litke published the book “Four-time voyages to the Arctic Ocean on the military brig “Novaya Zemlya” in 1821-1824.” This work was translated into several languages and brought the author well-deserved recognition in scientific world. The maps compiled by the expedition served sailors for a century.
In 1826, Lieutenant-Commander Litke, who at that time was not yet 29 years old, took command of the Senyavin sloop, built specifically for the new circumnavigation of the world. In August of the same year, the ship left Kronstadt, accompanied by the second sloop "Moller", commanded by M. N. Stanyukovich (father of the famous writer). According to the instructions, the expedition was to make an inventory of the shores of the Okhotsk and Bering Seas, as well as the Shantar Islands and carry out research in Russian America. In winter, she had to conduct scientific research in the tropics.
Stanyukovich's sloop turned out to be much faster than the Senyavin (for some reason, in most Russian round-the-world expeditions, pairs were made up of ships with significantly different performance characteristics), and the second had to constantly catch up with the first, mainly at anchorages in ports. Almost immediately the ships separated and then sailed mostly separately.
After stops in Copenhagen, Portsmouth and Tenerife, the Senyavin crossed the Atlantic and at the end of December arrived in Rio de Janeiro, where the Moller was already docked. In January 1827, the sloops headed together to Cape Horn. Having rounded it, they fell into a fierce storm - one of those that, it seems, specially awaits ships entering the Pacific Ocean - and again lost each other. In search of the Moller, Litke went to Concepcion Bay and then to Valparaiso. Here the ships met, but Stanyukovich was already leaving for Kamchatka, in transit through the Hawaiian Islands.
Litke stayed in Valparaiso. There he carried out magnetic and astronomical observations, and the expedition's naturalists made excursions around the area and collected collections. At the beginning of April, "Senyavin" set off for Alaska. We reached Novoarkhangelsk on June 11 and stayed there for more than a month, repairing the sloop, collecting collections, and doing ethnographic research. The expedition then explored the Pribilof Islands and took photographs of St. Matthew Island. In mid-September, the Senyavin arrived in Kamchatka, where the expedition remained until October 29, awaiting mail, exploring the surrounding area.
Moving south, Litke reached the Caroline Islands at the end of November. At the very beginning of 1828, the expedition discovered a hitherto unknown part of this huge archipelago, naming it the Senyavin Islands in honor of its ship. The sloop then visited Guam and the other Mariana Islands. Hydrographic work was constantly carried out; Litke, in addition, carried out astronomical, magnetic and gravimetric measurements. On the islands, naturalists continued to expand their collections. At the end of March, the sloop sailed north to the Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands. The sailors examined them and picked up two Englishmen who had been shipwrecked. At the beginning of May, Litke headed for Kamchatka.
They stayed in Petropavlovsk for three weeks, and in mid-June Litke’s second northern campaign began. "Senyavin" carried out hydrographic research in the Bering Sea. Moving north, the expedition determined the coordinates of points on the Kamchatka coast, described Karaginsky Island, then headed to the Bering Strait and determined the coordinates of Cape Vostochny (now Cape Dezhnev). Work on the inventory of the southern coast of Chukotka had to be interrupted due to unfavorable weather. At the end of September, Senyavin returned to Kamchatka, and a month later, together with Moller, he entered the Pacific Ocean.
In early November, the ships were again separated by a storm. The agreed meeting place was in Manila. Before moving to the Philippines, Litke decided to once again visit the Caroline Islands. And again successfully: he managed to discover several coral atolls. After this, he headed west and approached Manila on December 31st. "Moller" was already there. In mid-January 1829, the sloops moved home, passed through the Sunda Strait and on February 11 ended up in the Indian Ocean. Then their paths diverged again: "Moller" went to South Africa, and "Senyavin" to St. Helena Island. There, at the end of April, the sloops were reunited, and on June 30 they reached Le Havre together. From here Stanyukovich headed straight for Kronstadt, and Litke also went to England to check the instruments at the Greenwich Observatory.
Finally, on August 25, 1829, the Senyavin arrived at the Kronstadt roadstead. He was greeted with a cannon salute. Immediately after his return, Litke was promoted to captain of the 1st rank.
This expedition, which lasted three years, became one of the most fruitful in the history of navigation, and not only Russian. 12 islands were discovered, the Asian coast of the Bering Sea and a number of islands were explored over a considerable distance, a wealth of materials on oceanography, biology, and ethnography were collected, and an atlas of several dozen maps and plans was compiled. Litke's experiments with a constant pendulum aroused great interest among physicists, as a result of which the magnitude of the Earth's polar compression was determined, and measurements of the magnetic declination at various points in the world's oceans. In 1835-1836 Litke published the three-volume Voyage Around the World on the Sloop of War Senyavin in 1826-1829, translated into several languages. It was awarded the academic Demidov Prize, and Litke was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences.
However, Litke's trip on the Senyavin was his last - against his own will. In 1832, Emperor Nicholas I appointed an officer and scientist as the tutor of his second son, Constantine. Litke remained at court as a teacher for 16 years. He was not happy about this highest mercy, but he did not dare to disobey. It was during these years that Fyodor Petrovich Litke became one of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society (along with the sailor Wrangel and academicians Arsenyev and Baer) and was elected its vice-chairman, while Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, a student of Litke, became the honorary chairman. By the way, he was a smart naval officer and rose to the rank of admiral, played a prominent role in carrying out liberal reforms in Russia, and in 1861 became chairman of the State Council. Not a bad upbringing.
In 1850-1857 There was a break in Litke's geographical activities. At this time he was the commander of the port of Revel, and then of Kronstadt. The organization of the defense of the Gulf of Finland from the British and French during the Crimean War (1854-1855) fell on his shoulders. For the brilliant performance of this task, Litke received the rank of admiral and was appointed a member of the State Council, and in 1866 received the title of count. In 1857, Litke was again elected vice-chairman of the Society; his deputy was Pyotr Petrovich Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky. The achievements of domestic geography are largely related to the activities of the Society and, not least, to the ability of Litke and his successors to attract talented young people to their enterprises. In 1864, Litke took over as president of the Academy of Sciences and, at the same time, continued to lead the Geographical Society until 1873.
FIGURES AND FACTS
Main character
Fyodor Petrovich Litke, Russian navigator, geographer
Other characters
Sailors V. M. Golovnin, M. N. Stanyukovich, F. P. Wrangel; Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich; geographers K. I. Arsenyev, K. M. Behr, P. P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky
Action time
Route
Around the world from east to west
Goals
Description of the Far Eastern coast of Russia, research in Russian America and in the tropical region of the Pacific Ocean
Meaning
The Asian coast of the Bering Sea was explored, a wealth of scientific materials were collected, the magnitude of the Earth's polar compression was determined, 12 islands were discovered
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In fact, why don’t we, my friends, unwind? And then somehow we stayed too long.
The first trip around the world was made by Ferdinand Magellan. It was on the border of optics, scary to say, in 1519-1521. At such a distance, the context and scale of the event is completely lost: what was it like then - to go around globe. Here is the route map:
First stage long way logical and already mastered. The boats sail to the Caribbean (according to the official version) for about thirty years. Then Magellan (he has five ships with a crew of 250 people) turns south. Logical decision. The main goal of the journey is to go around “Non-India” and open a direct route to the West. BUT. In 1520, the configuration of South America is COMPLETELY UNKNOWN. Even the coast of modern Brazil is Terra Incognita. The mouth of the Amazon has just been discovered. Nobody knows where the New World ends. Let's take Magellan's point of view. It descends to the mouth of La Plata. This is a grandiose hydrographic junction, a base for internal colonization and for the construction of first-class seaports. JACK POTE. True, it is believed that the mouth of La Plata was discovered by the Spanish conquistador Juan Diaz de Solis in 1516. I won't argue. It is important that the Indians killed him along with the entire crew and the discovery remained “a thing in itself.” La Plata was rediscovered by Cabot in 1527. However, he had not heard anything about Magellan (why, more on that below).
So, carramba, America stretches and stretches. SHE'S HUGE. But on the other hand, THIS is good. Very good. Why rush the hell out of India when breathtaking panoramas of new lands open up right under your nose? Every day Magellan's declared goal becomes more and more ephemeral, but real result expeditions are becoming more and more significant. What would happen if Magellan's expedition actually took place? The scales would gradually tip, and somewhere in the La Plata area the moment of truth would come. ENOUGH. We turn back - for honors and awards. They discovered new lands for the crown and received unique materials about the configuration of the new continent. Cabot did just that. But the stubborn Magellan goes further and further. Down.
I admit that in case of exceptional obstinacy, Magellan could have reached Tierra del Fuego or Cape Horn. Where it’s cold (very cold for a southerner), and a squally wind constantly roars. It is simply dangerous to go further. On fragile little boats, with a tired crew, AFTER A MUTUAL AND THE WRECK OF ONE OF THE SHIPS, Magellan turns into the future Strait of Magellan. The Strait of Magellan is the moment when Stanislavsky must shout from the audience his “I don’t believe it.” But this is just the beginning. The expedition passes through an incredibly difficult strait (a gigantic month-long surf between rocks with strong currents and constant fog), turns along the coastline to the north, sails for some time and - this is fantastic - leaves the rich and unknown shore to nowhere. Into the open ocean.
Next. People who believe that the world's oceans are teeming with fish are very naive. The ocean is a biological desert. Fish are found only near the shores, in shallow waters. As a last resort - on seasonal migration routes. The area through which Magellan sailed after turning from South America to the West is the DEATH ZONE. North American whalers (that is, PROS) ended up in one of these zones at the beginning of the 19th century. The result is mass cannibalism. At first they ate the corpses of the dead, then switched to fresh meat. The narrative of Magellan's journey describes how people ate dry dust mixed with worms for four months, drank rotten water, ate cowhide, sawdust and ship rats. At the same time, on the three remaining ships, very small, by the end of the voyage across the Pacific Ocean (this is half a planet, and they also sailed DIAGONALLY) there were 140 people left. These are not only sailors, but also passenger-soldiers.
And that's not all. After the death of Magellan and 24 crew members in the open Philippines (for some reason named by the Spaniards in honor of the king who ascended the throne much later), the expedition sets a route in the southern, desert and completely unexplored areas of the Indian Ocean. And nothing. WE HAVE REACHED.
In this regard, it is reasonable to ask the question: when was the SECOND trip around the world? It turns out that in 1577-1580, that is, half a century later. This is the scale of the fantastic nature of Magellan's journey.
And that's not entirely true. Who made the second trip around the world? Character from English state mythology Francis Drake. Anyone reading Drake's biography with cotton wool in their ears (so as not to hear the cries of the British commissioners) will quickly become convinced that this is a literary character, like Baron Munchausen. Just look at the story of Drake's sinking of the Great Armada. In reality, Drake was a small piece, one of the first English pirates who hunted not in the north of Europe, but in the Atlantic. Drake got the Spaniards, Spain declared war on England. The British grimaced for a while, then cried out on their knees for forgiveness from Great Spain, reimbursing all losses. The scale of the then Spain and the then England is the scale of the modern USA and modern Mexico. It is believed that Drake plundered the coastal cities of Latin America and, in order to avoid the Spanish fleet, crossed the Pacific and Indian oceans, around Africa and returned to England. In fact, not just circumnavigation, but even sailing from America to Asia across the Pacific Ocean was considered certain death. In reality, the Spaniards slowly probed the Pacific Ocean, relying on their ports on the west coast of America. The sounding was very unsuccessful, with a lot of losses. Information about open lands in the Pacific Ocean were classified. The British received them only in the mid-18th century, after the capture of Manila as part of the Seven Years' War. The Spaniards classified them because... It was feared that the coordinates of the islands would be used by pirates, as well as the French and British. Apart from the Philippines, the Spaniards did not colonize anything - all the islands were small things.
The actual exploration of the Pacific Ocean by the British and French dates back to the 18th century. It was then that the first trips around the world took place. Formally, several trips around the world by the Englishman William Dampier can be considered somewhat plausible. This is the end of the 17th century. The travels happened spontaneously, were described in a “do the math for yourself” style and, to a certain extent, were the fruit of the author’s extraordinary literary abilities. THE CONCEPT of traveling around the world arose during the era of the Anglo-French state horse riding of Bougainville and Cook. This is the second half of the 18th century. Subsequently, Austria, Russia (since 1803), etc. joined the state sport.
Now let's return to Magellan. WHERE? It's very simple. In the second half of the 18th century, the concept of “around the world” was invented, and in the second half of the 18th century one should look for the origins of Magellamania. It turns out that Magellan’s entire journey was described in great detail by a member of the expedition, Pigafetta. BUT. Pigafetta's notes remained in manuscript. And they forgot about Magellan, with his amazing, even incredible journey. Finally, a manuscript about one copy was found in Italy and published. In... 1800. In the 19th century, Pigafetta’s work became a European bestseller, and in the 20th century, Stefan Zweig’s work became a success.
An interesting man found Pigafetta's manuscript. Serious. Carlo Amoretti. Remember the manuscripts of the supergenial degenerate, the Great Master Leonardo da Vinci? Drawings of airplanes, submarines, tanks? Everything is at the level of engineering fantasies of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. HE. Published after Pigafetta in Milan in 1804.
In fact, the historian of the “Magellans” should be drowned at the very beginning, like blind kittens. Otherwise for the rest of my life real story you won't get there. I traveled here for fun, and the puncture of the legend is at the very beginning. The Spanish expedition, having crossed the Atlantic, was supposed to enter a Spanish port. Refuel with provisions, repair gear. And the main thing is to register with the local official.
February 12, 1908 The first in the world started in New York round the world motor rally– a very bold and risky event in the spirit of that era of great technical discoveries and achievements. But adventurers have always existed - they lived before 1908, they were there after it, they feel great in our time. And today we will talk about history of travel around the world, starting from Magellan and ending with modern brave knights of the compass and map.
Magellan's circumnavigation of the world (1519-1522)
Already at the very beginning of the sixteenth century, it became clear that the lands discovered by Christopher Columbus were neither India nor China. But it was assumed that Asia, with all its many riches, was not so far from America. All that’s left to do is to find a strait, sail across the “South Sea” (as the body of water that became known as the Pacific Ocean was called in those days) and get to the desired lands, full of spices and silks. The Portuguese and Spanish navigator Ferdinand Magellan took up this matter.
On October 20, 1519, five ships under his command left the Spanish port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda. There was a crew of more than two hundred people on board the ships. The expedition led by Magellan actually managed to circumnavigate the American continent from the south, cross the Pacific Ocean, reach the Moluccas (Spice Islands) and return to Seville on September 6, 1522.
But during the circumnavigation of the world, the expedition lost four ships, and out of 235 personnel, only thirty-six returned to Spain (18 on the last remaining ship and the same number in different ways over the following months and even years). Magellan himself and most of his commanders died in skirmishes with the natives. And the expedition was completed by Captain Juan Sebastian Elcano, the only surviving officer.
Circumnavigation of the world by bicycle (1884-1886)
Thomas Stevens became the first person to travel around the world by bicycle. And it is worth understanding that this was not a bike in the modern sense - light, sporty, ergonomic, but a standard “penny and farthing” bike for those times (when the front wheel is eight times larger than the rear). And the situation with the roads was much more complicated.
Starting his journey in San Francisco, Stevens crossed all of America from west to east to New York. Then he traveled quite a bit around his native England, traveled through Europe, Ottoman Empire, spent the winter in Tehran as the personal guest of the Shah, visited Afghanistan, returned to Istanbul, sailed by sea to India, checked in in China and Japan, and then returned to the starting point of the journey, spending more than two and a half years on the trip.
Round the world voyage on a yacht (1895-1898)
Joshua Slocum's legendary trip around the world started on April 25, 1895 in Boston. The 10-meter Sprey yacht, on which the Canadian-American traveler and adventurer sailed alone, first crossed Atlantic Ocean, approaching the Iberian Peninsula, then walked along the western coast of Africa, again crossed the Atlantic, passed through the Strait of Magellan, reached Australia, visited New Guinea, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and on June 27, 1898, finished in the city of Newport in Rhode Island.
But the traveler did not receive any magnificent honors upon his return to the USA. The American-Spanish War, which was raging at that time, attracted all the attention of the press and public. So they started talking about Slocum’s achievement only after peace was concluded. And in 1900 he published the book “Sailing Alone Around the World,” which became a worldwide bestseller and is still in print.
Joshua Slocum went missing while sailing on a yacht in 1909 in the Bermuda Islands, which became one of the reasons for the emergence of the legend of the Bermuda Triangle.
First round-the-world motor rally (1908)
On February 12, 1908, the first round-the-world motor rally started, organized by the American newspaper New York Times and the French Matin. This event was timed to coincide with the 99th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. It was planned that 13 crews would take part in it, but seven of them withdrew at the very last moment, before the start of the trip.
The main problem in the first weeks of the run was the cold. Cars of those times were not equipped with heaters, and some had no roof at all. At the same time, it was initially planned that the crews would move from the United States to Russia through the frozen Bering Strait. But terrible weather conditions in the North forced them to change the route - the cars were loaded onto a ship in Seattle and transported to Vladivostok.
The rally participants crossed all of Eurasia. The German crew in a Protos car was the first to reach the finish line in Paris. This happened on July 11, 169 days after the start. But it turned out that the Germans violated the terms of the competition, for which they received a fine of 15 days. So the winners were the Americans in the Thomas Flyer, who arrived at the last point exactly on July 26th. For the American participants, the race became a round-the-world race - after the triumph in Paris, they returned to New York, thereby closing the circle.
Round the World Airplane (1924, 1957)
It is now possible to fly around the globe on an airliner in just over a day. And in 1924, four Douglas World Cruiser aircraft took almost six months. More precisely, four aircraft took off from Seattle on April 6, and only two returned back on September 28 - the rest crashed on the road.
And the first non-stop flight around the world was made in January 1957, spending 45 hours and 19 minutes on it. Along the way, they were replenished with fuel three times from a refueling aircraft.
Around the world on foot (1970-1974)
On June 20, 1970, brothers David and John Kunst left their home in Waseca, Minnesota, and set off on a walking trip around the world. They reached New York, where they boarded a ship to Lisbon. Then they crossed the whole of Europe on foot and reached Afghanistan. But there they were attacked by bandits, John was killed, and David was hospitalized for four months.
Having recovered, Kunst continued his campaign exactly from the place where his relative died. But now their third brother, Peter, has joined him. However, he traveled for “only” a year - he had to return home to work.
David Kunst returned to his native Minnesota on October 5, 1974, having traveled about 25 thousand kilometers on the way, becoming a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, wearing 21 pairs of shoes and meeting the Australian teacher Jenny Samuel, who first became his travel companion, and then in life. .
Non-stop flight around the world in a hot air balloon (1999)
At the end of the twentieth century balloons practically ceased to exist. Only those that were used for advertising, tourism, sports and scientific purposes (strata balloons) remained. But balloons also appeared, created specifically for setting records. For example, Breitling Orbiter 3, on which in March 1999 Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones made a non-stop flight around the world, 45,755 kilometers long and lasting 19 days 21 hours and 47 minutes.
But this record is not enough for Picard! Worthy of his grandfather, father and uncle, the adventurer is going to make the first ever flight around the world in 2015 on an aircraft that receives energy exclusively from solar panels installed on it.
June 1st, 2018
Ask anyone, and he will tell you that the first person to circumnavigate the world was the Portuguese navigator and explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who died on the island of Mactan (Philippines) during an armed skirmish with the natives (1521). The same is written in history books. In fact, this is a myth. After all, it turns out that one excludes the other.
Magellan managed to go only half of the way.
Primus circumdedisti me (you were the first to circumvent me)- reads the Latin inscription on the coat of arms of Juan Sebastian Elcano crowned with a globe. Indeed, Elcano was the first person to commit circumnavigation.
The San Telmo Museum in San Sebastian houses Salaverria's painting "The Return of Victoria". Eighteen emaciated people in white shrouds, with lit candles in their hands, staggering down the ramp from the ship onto the Seville embankment. These are sailors from the only ship that returned to Spain from Magellan's entire flotilla. In front is their captain, Juan Sebastian Elcano.
Much in Elcano’s biography is still unclear. Oddly enough, the man who first circumnavigated the globe did not attract the attention of artists and historians of his time. There is not even a reliable portrait of him, and of the documents he wrote, only letters to the king, petitions and a will have survived.
Juan Sebastian Elcano was born in 1486 in Getaria, a small port town in the Basque Country, near San Sebastian. He early connected his own destiny with the sea, making a “career” that was not uncommon for an enterprising person of that time - first changing the job of a fisherman to being a smuggler, and later enlisting in the navy to avoid punishment for his too free attitude towards laws and trade duties. Elcano managed to take part in the Italian Wars and the Spanish military campaign in Algeria in 1509. Basque mastered maritime affairs well in practice when he was a smuggler, but it was in the navy that Elcano received the “correct” education in the field of navigation and astronomy.
In 1510, Elcano, the owner and captain of a ship, took part in the siege of Tripoli. But the Spanish Treasury refused to pay Elcano the amount due for settlements with the crew. Having left military service, which never seriously attracted the young adventurer with low wages and the need to maintain discipline, Elcano decides to start new life in Seville. It seems to Basque that a brilliant future awaits him - in his new city, no one knows about his not entirely impeccable past, the navigator atoned for his guilt before the law in battles with the enemies of Spain, he has official papers allowing him to work as a captain on a merchant ship ... But the trading enterprises in which Elcano becomes a participant turn out to be unprofitable.
In 1517, to pay off debts, he sold the ship under his command to Genoese bankers - and this trading operation determined his entire fate. The fact is that the owner of the sold ship was not Elcano himself, but the Spanish crown, and the Basque, as expected, again had difficulties with the law, this time threatening him with the death penalty. At that time it was considered a serious crime. Knowing that the court would not take into account any excuses, Elcano fled to Seville, where it was easy to get lost and then hide on any ship: in those days, captains were least interested in the biographies of their people. In addition, there were many of Elcano’s fellow countrymen in Seville, and one of them, Ibarolla, was well acquainted with Magellan. He helped Elcano enlist in Magellan's flotilla. Having passed the exams and received beans as a sign of a good grade (those who failed received peas from the examination committee), Elcano became a helmsman on the third largest ship in the flotilla, the Concepcion.
Ships of Magellan's flotilla
On September 20, 1519, Magellan's flotilla left the mouth of the Guadalquivir and headed for the shores of Brazil. In April 1520, when the ships settled for the winter in the frosty and deserted Bay of San Julian, the captains dissatisfied with Magellan mutinied. Elcano found himself drawn into it, not daring to disobey his commander, captain of the Concepcion Quesada.
Magellan energetically and brutally suppressed the rebellion: Quesada and another of the leaders of the conspiracy had their heads cut off, the corpses were quartered and the mutilated remains were stuck on poles. Magellan ordered Captain Cartagena and one priest, also the instigator of the rebellion, to be landed on the deserted shore of the bay, where they subsequently died. Magellan spared the remaining forty rebels, including Elcano.
1. The first circumnavigation in history
On November 28, 1520, the remaining three ships left the strait and in March 1521, after an unprecedentedly difficult passage across the Pacific Ocean, they approached the islands, which later became known as the Marianas. In the same month, Magellan discovered the Philippine Islands, and on April 27, 1521, he died in a skirmish with local residents on the island of Matan. Elcano, stricken with scurvy, did not take part in this skirmish. After the death of Magellan, Duarte Barbosa and Juan Serrano were elected captains of the flotilla. At the head of a small detachment, they went ashore to the Rajah of Sebu and were treacherously killed. Fate again - for the umpteenth time - spared Elcano. Karvalyo became the head of the flotilla. But there were only 115 people left on the three ships; There are many sick people among them. Therefore, the Concepcion was burned in the strait between the islands of Cebu and Bohol; and his team moved to the other two ships - Victoria and Trinidad. Both ships wandered between the islands for a long time, until finally, on November 8, 1521, they dropped anchor off the island of Tidore, one of the “Spice Islands” - the Moluccas. Then it was generally decided to continue sailing on one ship - the Victoria, of which Elcano had recently become captain, and leave the Trinidad in the Moluccas. And Elcano managed to navigate his worm-eaten ship with a starving crew across the Indian Ocean and along the coast of Africa. A third of the team died, about a third were detained by the Portuguese, but still “Victoria” entered the mouth of the Guadalquivir on September 8, 1522.
It was an unprecedented transition, unheard of in the history of navigation. Contemporaries wrote that Elcano surpassed King Solomon, the Argonauts and the cunning Odysseus. The first circumnavigation in history has been completed! The king granted the navigator an annual pension of 500 gold ducats and knighted Elcano. The coat of arms assigned to Elcano (since then del Cano) immortalized his voyage. The coat of arms depicted two cinnamon sticks framed with nutmeg and cloves, and a golden castle topped with a helmet. Above the helmet is a globe with the Latin inscription: “You were the first to circle me.” And finally, by a special decree, the king granted Elcano a pardon for selling the ship to a foreigner. But if it was quite simple to reward and forgive the brave captain, then resolving all the controversial issues related to the fate of the Moluccas turned out to be more difficult. The Spanish-Portuguese Congress met for a long time, but was never able to “divide” the islands located on the other side of the “apple of the earth” between the two powerful powers. And the Spanish government decided not to delay the departure of the second expedition to the Moluccas.
2. Goodbye La Coruña
La Coruña was considered the safest port in Spain, which “could accommodate all the fleets of the world.” The importance of the city increased even more when the Chamber of Indian Affairs was temporarily transferred here from Seville. This chamber developed plans for a new expedition to the Moluccas in order to finally establish Spanish dominance on these islands. Elcano arrived in La Coruña full of bright hopes - he already saw himself as an admiral of the armada - and began equipping the flotilla. However, Charles I appointed as commander not Elcano, but a certain Jofre de Loais, a participant in many naval battles, but completely unfamiliar with navigation. Elcano's pride was deeply wounded. In addition, from the royal chancellery came the “highest refusal” to Elcano’s request for payment of the annual pension granted to him of 500 gold ducats: the king ordered that this amount be paid only after returning from the expedition. Thus, Elcano experienced the traditional ingratitude of the Spanish crown towards famous navigators.
Before sailing, Elcano visited his native Getaria, where he, a famous sailor, easily managed to recruit many volunteers onto his ships: with a man who has walked around the “apple of the earth,” you will not be lost in the devil’s mouth, the port brethren reasoned. In the early summer of 1525, Elcano brought his four ships to A Coruña and was appointed helmsman and deputy commander of the flotilla. In total, the flotilla consisted of seven ships and 450 crew members. There were no Portuguese on this expedition. The last night before the flotilla sailed in La Coruña it was very lively and solemn. At midnight, a huge fire was lit on Mount Hercules, on the site of the ruins of a Roman lighthouse. The city said goodbye to the sailors. The cries of the townspeople who treated the sailors with wine from leather bottles, the sobs of women and the hymns of pilgrims mixed with the sounds of the cheerful dance “La Muneira”. The sailors of the flotilla remembered this night for a long time. They were sent to another hemisphere, and they now faced a life full of dangers and hardships. IN last time Elcano walked under the narrow arch of Puerto de San Miguel and descended the sixteen pink steps to the shore. These steps, already completely erased, have survived to this day.
Death of Magellan
3. The misfortunes of the chief helmsman
Loaiza's powerful, well-armed flotilla set sail on July 24, 1525. According to the royal instructions, and Loaysa had fifty-three in total, the flotilla was to follow the path of Magellan, but avoid his mistakes. But neither Elcano, the king's chief adviser, nor the king himself foresaw that this would be the last expedition sent through the Strait of Magellan. It was Loaisa's expedition that was destined to prove that this was not the most profitable path. And all subsequent expeditions to Asia departed from the Pacific ports of New Spain (Mexico).
On July 26, the ships rounded Cape Finisterre. On August 18, the ships were caught in a strong storm. The main mast on the admiral's ship was broken, but two carpenters sent by Elcano, risking their lives, still got there in a small boat. While the mast was being repaired, the flagship collided with the Parral, breaking its mizzenmast. The swimming was very difficult. There was not enough fresh water and provisions. Who knows what the fate of the expedition would have been if on October 20 the lookout had not seen the island of Annobon in the Gulf of Guinea on the horizon. The island was deserted - only a few skeletons lay under a tree on which a strange inscription was carved: “Here lies the unfortunate Juan Ruiz, killed because he deserved it.” Superstitious sailors saw this as a terrible omen. The ships hastily filled with water and stocked up on provisions. On this occasion, the captains and officers of the flotilla were convened for a festive dinner with the admiral, which almost ended tragically.
A huge, unknown breed of fish was served on the table. According to Urdaneta, Elcano’s page and chronicler of the expedition, some sailors who “tasted the meat of this fish, whose teeth were like big dog, their stomachs hurt so much that they thought they wouldn’t survive.” Soon the entire flotilla left the shores of inhospitable Annobon. From here Loaisa decided to sail to the shores of Brazil. And from that moment on, a streak of misfortune began for the Sancti Espiritus, Elcano’s ship. Without having time to set sail, the Sancti Espiritus almost collided with the admiral's ship, and then fell behind the flotilla for some time. At latitude 31º, after a strong storm, the admiral's ship disappeared from sight. Elcano took command of the remaining ships. Then the San Gabriel separated from the flotilla. The remaining five ships searched for the admiral's ship for three days. The search was unsuccessful, and Elcano ordered to move on to the Strait of Magellan.
On January 12, the ships stood at the mouth of the Santa Cruz River, and since neither the admiral's ship nor the San Gabriel approached here, Elcano convened a council. Knowing from the experience of a previous voyage that there was an excellent anchorage here, he suggested waiting for both ships, as was provided for in the instructions. However, the officers, who were eager to enter the strait as quickly as possible, advised leaving only the Santiago pinnace at the mouth of the river, burying a message in a jar under the cross on the island that the ships were heading to the Strait of Magellan. On the morning of January 14, the flotilla weighed anchor. But what Elcano took for a strait turned out to be the mouth of the Gallegos River, five or six miles from the strait. Urdaneta, who, despite his admiration for Elcano. retained the ability to be critical of his decisions, writes that Elcano’s mistake really amazed him. That same day they approached the present entrance to the strait and anchored off the Cape of the Eleven Thousand Holy Virgins.
An exact copy of the ship "Victoria"
At night a terrible storm hit the flotilla. The raging waves flooded the ship up to the middle of the masts, and it could barely stay on four anchors. Elcano realized that everything was lost. His only thought now was to save the team. He ordered the ship to be grounded. Panic began on the Sancti Espiritus. Several soldiers and sailors rushed into the water in horror; everyone drowned except one, who managed to reach the shore. Then the rest crossed to the shore. We managed to save some of the provisions. However, at night the storm broke out with the same force and finally destroyed the Sancti Espiritus. For Elcano - the captain, the first circumnavigator and chief helmsman of the expedition - the crash, especially through his fault, was a big blow. Elcano had never been in such a difficult situation. When the storm finally subsided, the captains of other ships sent a boat for Elcano, inviting him to lead them through the Strait of Magellan, since he had been here before. Elcano agreed, but took only Urdaneta with him. He left the rest of the sailors on the shore...
But failures did not leave the exhausted flotilla. From the very beginning, one of the ships almost ran into rocks, and only Elcano's determination saved the ship. After some time, Elcano sent Urdaneta with a group of sailors to pick up the sailors left on the shore. Urdaneta's group soon ran out of provisions. It was very cold at night, and people were forced to bury themselves up to their necks in sand, which also did little to warm them. On the fourth day, Urdaneta and his companions approached the sailors dying on the shore from hunger and cold, and on the same day Loaiza’s ship, the San Gabriel, and the pinassa Santiago entered the mouth of the strait. On January 20, they joined the rest of the flotilla.
JUAN SEBASTIAN ELCANO
On February 5, a strong storm broke out again. Elcano's ship took refuge in the strait, and the San Lesmes was thrown further south by the storm, to 54° 50′ south latitude, that is, it approached the very tip of Tierra del Fuego. In those days, not a single ship sailed further south. A little more, and the expedition could open a route around Cape Horn. After the storm, it turned out that the admiral's ship was aground, and Loaiza and his crew left the ship. Elcano immediately sent a group of his best sailors to help the admiral. On the same day, the Anunciada deserted. The captain of the ship, de Vera, decided to independently get to the Moluccas past the Cape of Good Hope. The Anunciada has gone missing. A few days later, the San Gabriel also deserted. The remaining ships returned to the mouth of the Santa Cruz River, where the sailors began repairing the admiral's ship, which had been battered by storms. Under other conditions, it would have had to be abandoned altogether, but now that the flotilla had lost three of its largest ships, this could no longer be afforded. Elcano, who, on his return to Spain, had criticized Magellan for staying at the mouth of this river for seven weeks, was now forced to spend five weeks here. At the end of March, the somehow patched up ships again headed for the Strait of Magellan. The expedition now consisted of only an admiral's ship, two caravels and a pinnace.
On April 5, the ships entered the Strait of Magellan. Between the islands of Santa Maria and Santa Magdalena, the admiral's ship suffered another misfortune. A boiler filled with boiling tar caught fire and a fire broke out on the ship.
Panic began, many sailors rushed to the boat, not paying attention to Loaiza, who showered them with curses. The fire was still extinguished. The flotilla moved on through the strait, along the banks of which on the high mountain peaks, “so high that they seemed to stretch to the very sky,” lay eternal bluish snow. At night, Patagonian fires burned on both sides of the strait. Elcano was already familiar with these lights from his first voyage. On April 25, the ships weighed anchor from the San Jorge parking lot, where they replenished their supplies of water and firewood, and again set off on a difficult voyage.
And where the waves of both oceans meet with a deafening roar, a storm struck Loaisa's flotilla again. The ships anchored in the bay of San Juan de Portalina. On the shore of the bay rose mountains several thousand feet high. It was terribly cold, and “no clothing could warm us,” writes Urdaneta. Elcano was on the flagship the entire time: Loaiza, having no relevant experience, relied entirely on Elcano. The passage through the strait lasted forty-eight days - ten days more than Magellan. On May 31, a strong northeast wind blew. The whole sky was overcast. On the night of June 1 to 2, a storm broke out, the most terrible that had occurred so far, scattering all the ships. Although the weather later improved, they were never destined to meet. Elcano, with most of the crew of the Sancti Espiritus, was now on the admiral's ship, which numbered one hundred and twenty people. Two pumps did not have time to pump out the water, and it was feared that the ship could sink at any minute. In general, the ocean was Great, but by no means Quiet.
4. The helmsman dies an admiral
The ship was sailing alone; neither a sail nor an island was visible on the vast horizon. “Every day,” writes Urdaneta, “we waited for the end. Due to the fact that people from the wrecked ship moved to us, we are forced to reduce rations. We worked hard and ate little. We had to endure great hardships and some of us died.” Loaiza died on July 30. According to one of the expedition members, the cause of his death was loss of spirit; he was so distressed by the loss of the remaining ships that he “became weaker and weaker and died.” Loayza did not forget to mention his chief helmsman in his will: “I ask that Elcano be returned the four barrels of white wine that I owe him. Let the crackers and other provisions lying on my ship Santa Maria de la Victoria be given to my nephew Alvaro de Loaiza, who should share them with Elcano.” They say that by this time only rats remained on the ship. Many on the ship suffered from scurvy. Wherever Elcano looked, everywhere he saw swollen pale faces and heard the groans of the sailors.
From the time they left the strait, thirty people died of scurvy. “They all died,” writes Urdaneta, “because their gums were swollen and they could not eat anything. I saw a man whose gums were so swollen that he tore off pieces of meat as thick as a finger.” The sailors had one hope - Elcano. They, in spite of everything, believed in his lucky star, although he was so ill that four days before Loaisa's death he himself made a will. A cannon salute was given in honor of Elcano's assumption of the post of admiral, a position for which he had unsuccessfully sought two years earlier. But Elcano's strength was running out. The day came when the admiral could no longer get out of bed. His relatives and his faithful Urdaneta gathered in the cabin. In the flickering light of the candle one could see how thin they had become and how much they had suffered. Urdaneta kneels and touches the body of her dying master with one hand. The priest watches him closely. Finally he raises his hand, and everyone present slowly kneels. Elcano's wanderings are over...
“Monday, August 6th. The valiant Senor Juan Sebastian de Elcano has died." This is how Urdaneta noted in his diary the death of the great navigator.
Four people lift the body of Juan Sebastian, wrapped in a shroud and tied to a board. At a sign from the new admiral, they throw him into the sea. There was a splash that drowned out the priest's prayers.
MONUMENT IN HONOR OF ELCANO IN GETARIA
Epilogue
Worn by worms, tormented by storms and storms, the lonely ship continued on its way. The team, according to Urdaneta, “was terribly exhausted and exhausted. Not a day went by without one of us dying.
Therefore, we decided that the best thing for us was to go to the Moluccas." Thus, they abandoned the bold plan of Elcano, who was going to fulfill Columbus’s dream - to reach the eastern coast of Asia, following the shortest route from the west. “I am sure that if Elcano had not died, we would not have reached the Ladron (Mariana) Islands so soon, because his always intention was to search for Chipansu (Japan),” writes Urdaneta. He clearly thought Elcano's plan was too risky. But the person who first circled the “earthly apple” did not know what fear was. But he also did not know that three years later Charles I would cede his “rights” to the Moluccas to Portugal for 350 thousand gold ducats. Of Loaiza's entire expedition, only two ships survived: the San Gabriel, which reached Spain after a two-year voyage, and the Santiago, under the command of Guevara, which sailed along the Pacific coast of South America to Mexico. Although Guevara saw the coast of South America only once, his voyage proved that the coast nowhere extends far to the west and South America has the shape of a triangle. This was the most important geographical discovery of Loaiza's expedition.
Getaria, in the homeland of Elcano, at the entrance to the church there is a stone slab, a half-erased inscription on which reads: “... the illustrious captain Juan Sebastian del Cano, a native and resident of the noble and faithful city of Getaria, the first to circumnavigate the globe on the ship Victoria.” In memory of the hero, this slab was erected in 1661 by Don Pedro de Etave e Azi, Knight of the Order of Calatrava. Pray for the repose of the soul of the one who was the first to travel around the world.” And on the globe in the San Telmo Museum the place where Elcano died is indicated - 157º west longitude and 9º north latitude.
In history books, Juan Sebastian Elcano undeservedly found himself in the shadow of the glory of Ferdinand Magellan, but in his homeland he is remembered and revered. A training sailing ship in the Spanish Navy bears the name Elcano. In the wheelhouse of the ship you can see the coat of arms of Elcano, and the sailing ship itself has already completed a dozen expeditions around the world.
