After the 1519–1522 Magellan–Elcano voyage proved a westward route to the Moluccas existed, the Spanish Crown prepared a follow-up effort to claim and supply a Spanish presence there. King Charles I (Charles V) appointed García Jofre de Loaísa to lead a fleet intended to reach the Spice Islands and reinforce Spain’s position in the Iberian rivalry over the spice trade.
Loaísa’s expedition sailed from A Coruña with seven vessels and roughly 450 men. Key leaders included Loaísa as captain-general and Juan Sebastián Elcano as pilot-major, linking the expedition directly to the first circumnavigation’s experience.
After leaving Europe, the fleet followed a southern route across the Atlantic toward the coast of Brazil. This leg aimed to reach Patagonia and then enter the Strait of Magellan, the known passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
By early 1526 the fleet reached the Patagonian coast. From there, Loaísa’s ships prepared for the difficult approach to the Strait of Magellan, where winds and currents often broke up fleets and forced critical decisions.
As the fleet struggled to enter and pass through the Strait of Magellan, severe weather scattered the ships. Two vessels were wrecked and one deserted back into the Atlantic, reducing the expedition’s strength before it even reached the Pacific.
The expedition’s remaining vessels finally emerged into the Pacific after the Strait passage. This transition marked a major change in risk: resupply options became scarce, and long-distance navigation raised the danger of scurvy and starvation.
In mid-Pacific, García Jofre de Loaísa died during the voyage, removing the expedition’s appointed commander at a critical moment. Leadership shifted to Elcano, the expedition’s most famous and experienced navigator, but the fleet’s situation was already deteriorating.
Only days after taking command, Juan Sebastián Elcano died at sea, commonly attributed to scurvy during the crossing. His death removed a key link to the first circumnavigation and further weakened the expedition’s ability to navigate and keep morale.
After Loaísa and Elcano died, Toribio Alonso de Salazar took command of the flagship Santa María de la Victoria. With fewer ships and growing illness, the expedition’s goal narrowed from a fleet operation to simply getting the remaining crew to land and supplies.
During the westward crossing, Salazar recorded a European sighting of what is now identified as Bokak Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Although the expedition could not easily stop, the observation added to European mapping knowledge of the central Pacific.
Salazar died soon after, again linked in sources to scurvy during the voyage. Martín Íñiguez de Carquizano then became the next commander, showing how disease repeatedly forced abrupt leadership changes on the expedition.
By late 1526, the Santa María de la Victoria reached the Moluccas, the expedition’s intended destination, though only after major losses of ships and leaders. This arrival mattered because it put Spaniards back in the Spice Islands despite Portuguese resistance, setting up a contested foothold rather than a clear victory.
García Jofre de Loaísa Expedition to the Moluccas (1525–1526)