Victoria (ship)
Victoria or Nao Victoria (Spanish for "Victory") was a carrack famed as the first ship to successfully circumnavigate the world. Victoria was part of the Spanish expedition to the Moluccas (now Indonesia's Maluku Islands) commanded by the explorer Ferdinand Magellan.
| History | |
|---|---|
| Crown of Spain | |
| Name | Victoria |
| Namesake | Santa Maria de la Victoria |
| Owner | Crown of Spain |
| Acquired | 1518 |
| Renamed | 1519 |
| Fate | Disappeared en route to Seville from the Antilles, 1570 |
| Notes | First ship to circumnavigate the globe. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Carrack |
| Tonnage | 85 tons |
| Length | 18 to 21 m (59 to 69 ft) |
| Complement | 55 |
The carrack (Spanish: nao) was built at a Basque shipyard in Ondarroa. Along with the four other ships, she was given to Magellan by King Charles I of Spain (later Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire). Victoria was an 85-tonel ship with an initial crew of about 42. The expedition's flagship and Magellan's own command was the carrack Trinidad. The other ships were the carrack San Antonio, the carrack Concepción, and the caravel Santiago.
The expedition began from Seville on 10 August 1519 with five ships and entered the ocean at Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Spain on September 20. However, only two of the ships reached their goal in the Moluccas. Thereafter, Victoria was the only ship to complete the return voyage, crossing uncharted waters of the Indian Ocean under Juan Sebastián de Elcano's command to sail around the world. She returned to Sanlúcar on 6 September 1522.
Victoria was later repaired, bought by a merchant shipper and sailed for almost another fifty years before being lost with all hands on a trip from the Antilles to Seville in about 1570.