GarcÃa Jofre de LoaÃsa
García Jofre de Loaisa (* 1490, † July 30, 1526 in the Pacific) was a Spanish navigator and head of the hapless Loaisa - expedition to find a sea route to the Spice Islands across the Atlantic and Pacific by rounding the southern tip of South America.
Prehistory
After Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation attempt of 1519 to 1522 was successful and he had with the Strait of Magellan thereby found a new sea route to the Pacific ( and subsequently to the Spice Islands in the Indian Ocean ), the Spanish King Charles I. paid ( Emperor Charles V. ) from another expedition to make use of the newly discovered sea route to advantage. The nobleman Loaisa was entrusted with the command, he had under his seven ships and more than 450 men, including government officials and traders, as had been planned to take the countries along the route for Spain and economically. As chief navigator Juan Sebastian Elcano served, which had completed its circumnavigation after Magellan's death (1521 ). Subsequently, it should prove to be problematic that Loaísas squadron consisted of vessels of different types, which differed in size and speed.
Atlantic Crossing
Loaísas squadron ran out from the Spanish port of A Coruña on 24 July 1525. After a stopover on La Gomera in the first two weeks of August Loaisa reached the Patagonian coast in January 1526. Already at that time the flagship Santa Maria de la Victoria had temporarily lost contact with the other ships of the squadron.
Strait of Magellan
The following months were a nightmare for Loaisa and his crew. We spent a lot of time to collect the ship's structure, because the ships drifted apart due to the bad weather and currents. Two ships were shipwrecked. The crew of another mutinied and sat down in the Atlantic Ocean off. During the fruitless attempt to retract in the Strait of Magellan, was one of the ships, the San Lesmes so far south abortions under the command of Francisco de Hoces that is accepted by maritime historians that Hoces either the Cape of San Diego ( the south-eastern tip of Tierra del Fuego ) or Cape San Juan reached on Isla de los Estados, and thus would be the true discoverer of the Drake Passage. Mid- May 1526 finally came Loaisa with the four remaining ships still in the Pacific; Ships and crew were in a pitiful state.
In the Pacific
Hardly in the Pacific reached, the squadron was finally separated by a hurricane. The caravel San Lesmes under the command of Hoces disappeared forever, their fate is the basis of much speculation of possible Spanish discoveries in the South Pacific centuries before the European voyages of discovery in this area in search of Terra Australis Incognita. Another ship, the small 50 -ton patache Santiago, sailed 10,000 kilometers northward and reached the Mexican Pacific coast. She was thus the first ship that reached the west coast of Mexico from Europe. The crew of the Santa Maria del Parral succeeded in crossing the Pacific. However, before they Celebes shipwrecked. The crew members were captured by natives and enslaved. Four survivors of the Santa María del Parral in 1528 were rescued by a later Spanish expedition.
The fate of the flagship
The flagship Santa Maria de la Victoria was the only ship, the expedition reached the goal: how Magellan was reached first Guam. There, the team met to her surprise, a Spaniard, Gonzalo de Vigo, who had deserted during Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe. About Mindanao in the Philippines and Celebes the Santa Maria de la Victoria reached the eastern parts of the Spice Islands at Halmahera in September in 1526. Neither Loaisa still Elcano survived the Pacific crossing, initially Alonso Toribio de Salazar had taken the lead, and after it had passed away, too, the Basque Martin Iñiguez de Carquizano.
Since there were skirmishes with the Portuguese, Carquizano Tidore contributed to, a sultanate, since the Magellan circumnavigation conducted trade contacts with Spain. In Tidore, the Spaniards entrenched. From the nearby Fort Ternate from the Portuguese, it was possible to bombard their positions and to devastate the plantations. Carquizano was eventually poisoned.
The odyssey Saavedras
In the meantime, had sent out three ships with 110 men to rescue the expedition Hernan Cortez Loaisa of Mexico. Led by Alvaro de Saavedra Cerón expedition reached in March 1528, although Tidore, Saavedra had at the crossing but already lost two ships and could not intervene in favor of the Spanish military. He picked up the 24 survivors of the Loaisa expedition and sailed on June 3, empty-handed again. In order to accelerate the return to Mexico, Saavedra chose a direct eastern route across previously unexplored waters. Due to adverse wind conditions he was stripped and came to the north coast of New Guinea, where he some island groups, such as the Schouten Islands and the Admiralty Islands discovered. Saavedra continued to try to hold a course to the east and went through it the Carolines. Through strong headwinds Saavedra was driven back to the north coast of New Guinea. Ultimately Saavedra still reached the Marshall Islands, near which he died. Discouraged, the crew steered finally again to the Moluccas. In December 1529 they reached Tidore, where the Portuguese surrendered.
Portuguese captivity
The survivors of the expedition and the crew Loaisa Saavedra were captured and had to experience the next disappointment: They learned that the Spanish Crown in the Treaty of Saragossa in 1529 had on the areas west of the Mariana Islands, thus in particular to the Spice Islands, waived. Andrés de Urdaneta, who had in 1525 sailed with Loaisa, finally managed to escape, and in 1536 he returned back to Spain. For him and a few others managed by Elcano and his crew after eleven Odyssey the second European circumnavigation of the Earth.