Nao Victoria

Type

Carrack

Period

16th Century

Nation

Spain

Overview: The Nao Victoria was a small Spanish carrack famed as the first ship in history to complete a circumnavigation of the globe, returning to Sanlúcar de Barrameda in September 1522 at the end of the Magellan-Elcano expedition. She was the sole survivor of the five-ship fleet that had set out from Spain in 1519 under Ferdinand Magellan to find a westward route to the Spice Islands. Specifications: Victoria was built at a Basque shipyard in Ondarroa and was an 85-tonel carrack roughly 18-21 meters (59-69 ft) long, with an initial crew of about 42-55 men. As a typical carrack of the period she carried a carvel-planked hull and a mix of square and lateen-rigged sails on multiple masts, steered by a whipstaff rather than a wheel. Service History: Victoria departed Spain in 1519 as one of four carracks and a caravel under Magellan; after Magellan's death in the Philippines, Juan Sebastián Elcano brought Victoria home alone via the Indian Ocean and around Africa, having sailed roughly 60,000 miles over three years. Remarkably seaworthy after the voyage, she was sold into private commercial service in 1523 and made further Atlantic crossings before being lost at sea, reportedly disappearing on a return trip from the Antilles around 1570. Notable Facts: The original ship survives only in historical record, but several full-size, historically researched replicas have been built, including one constructed in Spain in 1991-92 (which toured internationally, visiting Nagoya, Japan for Expo 2005) and another built in Punta Arenas, Chile in 2011, now housed at the Museo Nao Victoria. A 1590 map by cartographer Abraham Ortelius famously depicted the ship as an emblem of the historic voyage, underscoring her enduring symbolic status among Age of Exploration vessels.