Francisco de Hoces

Francisco de Hoces († 1526 probably in the Pacific) was a Spanish navigator. He is considered the alleged discoverer of the Drake Passage.

1525 Hoces participated in the expedition García Jofre de Loaísas that had the discovery of a sea route to the Spice Islands via the Atlantic and Pacific by rounding the southern tip of South America to the target.

Hoces commanded the San Lesmes, which was recorded in January 1526 at the Eastern Access the Magellan Strait from south winds and was driven off. This Hoces should have seen at 56 ° S, the end of the country and open waters.

From maritime historians it is believed that it has ( the most south-eastern point of Tierra del Fuego ), or around Cape San Juan is traded in the described by Hoces point either to the Cape of San Diego (on Isla de los Estados ). In both cases Hoces the waterway between the Pacific and Atlantic would have achieved (now Drake Passage, the Francis Drake first discovered in 1578 and was first sailed by Willem Schouten until 1616). For this reason, the Drake Passage in Spanish, Chilean and Argentine sources is also known as Mar de Hoces.

After Loaísas ships had reached the Pacific Ocean, the San Lesmes was finally separated from the association in May in 1526. That was the last of the caravel each track. The fate of Hoces and his crew has since been the basis of much speculation. These are based on European tracks in the South Pacific, which are dated to the 16th century. Example, it was speculated that Hoces Easter Island, Polynesia or even New Zealand could have achieved and thus this region could have discovered centuries before the following South Seas drivers.