Explorer's Assignment

Magellan

Mar 1, 1487

Magellan's primary goal was to reach the Moluccas by way of a western route. Magellan found a passage through South America, and his crew was the first to circumnavigate the globe. Magellan used five ships, the Trinidad, the San Antonio, the Concepcion, the Victoria, and the Santiago. He sailed on the Trinidad. The small fleet of ships was called the Armada de Molucca. He used a compass, back staff and a lead line on his voyage.

Bartolomeu Dias

Aug 1, 1487

He left Lisbon in August 1487. He died in 1500, when he was 50. He spent 10 months getting the materials and everything for his voyage. His three ships were two armed caravels of fifty tons each and a supply ship. They carried six Africans from Angola and Guinea, two men and four women, who had been taken to Portugal. They were told to praise the King of Portugal. Dias lost sight of the coast at 29° south latitude. Dias then found the Cape of Good Hope.

Columbus

Sep 6, 1492

Columbus left Spain in 1492 with three ships: the Niña, the Piñta, and the Santa María. He thought he arrived in Asia, but actually arrived in Guanihani on his first voyage. His intensions were to sail around the globe and to sail to the west of Asia. He then found the Americas. Columbus used a quadrent on his voyage.

Vasco da Gama

Jul 8, 1497

Around 170 people came with Da Gama on his voyage. There were four priests for each ship and some condemned criminals who were assigned the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs. By July 15th, the crew reached the Canary Islands and on the 26th they were at the Cape Verde Islands where they rested and repaired their ships for a week. Some of the tools he used on his voyage included, a compass, time keeping, lead line and an astrolabe.

Balboa

Feb 1, 1501

He set sail sometime in early 1501. Consisted of a nao named Santa Maria de Gracia and a caravel named San Anton. There were roughly 50 or so men with Bastidas, including his partner, Juan de la Cosa, and some of the Spanish crown's clerks, or escribanos. It also included an unknown number of women. Once arriving in the New World, Bastidas became the first European to land on the island now known as Barbados. The tools he used on his voyage are unknown.

Cabot

Mar 1, 1525

In March 1525, he was given command of a Spanish fleet with orders to find a westward route to Cathay and the Moluccas. He had three ships and 150 men. The expedition only made it as far as the Rio de la Plata, on the coast between Argentina and Uruguay in South America. In August 1530 he returned to Spain, where he faced the consequences of his disagreement with his fellow explorers and failure to find the route to Asia. He was banished to Spanish-held lands in Africa.

Cartier

Apr 1, 1534

His primary goal was to search for a western route to Asia via a northern waterway. Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River as far as present day Montreal, claiming it for France. Sponsored by the king of France, Francis I, Cartier went on three voyages to the New World in search of a northern route to Asia. He arrived back in France on September 5, 1534.

Hudson

May 1, 1607

On four different voyages of exploration, Hudson sailed northeast in search for a passage across the North Pole to Asia, then west in search of a passage through North America to the Indies. He explored Hudson Bay, the Hudson River as far as West Point, south to the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay. On his fourth voyage, marooned and left to die with his young son and seven others by a mutinous crew, Hudson was never heard from again.