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Published: August 28, 2010

Shortly after the Victoria retuned to Spain, another expedition was prepared. It was commanded by Fray Juan Garcia Jofre de Loaisa and consisted of seven ships and 450 men. In the crew were Sebastian del Cano and Andres de Urdaneta.

The expedition left Coruña, Spain, on July 24, 1525. The fleet stopped at Gomera Island, in the Canary Islands, and stayed there seven or eight days. After loading on some provisions, the fleet left on August 14, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and sailed along the coast of Brazil. The fleet lost two ships in doing so, and when it entered the Strait of Magellan, a third ship deserted. Still another ship was forced to discontinue the voyage for lack of supplies, shortly after entering the Pacific Ocean. On July 30, 1526, Loaisa died in mid-ocean. Del Cano then took over the command, but he too died on August 4 and succeeded by Toribio Alonzo de Salazar.

Continuing their voyage, the crew soon came upon an island, which they called San Bartolome. Twelve days later, the crew reached the Marianas Islands and rested there. In one of the islands, they found Gonzalo de Vigo, the lone survivor left there by the Magellan expedition. On September 9, Alonzo de Salazar died and Martin Eñiguez de Zarquizano took over the command. The expedition reached Mindanao, and anchored at a port called Bizaya on the eastern coast.

Sailing south, they reached the island of Talao and secured provisions there. Then they sailed on and reached the Mollucas Islands. The Portuguese refused to let them enter the port, saying that the Moluccas belonged to them by treaty. The Spaniards, however, insisted that the Moluccas were on the Spanish side of the demarcation line set by the Treaty of Tordesillas. Instead of leaving they anchored at the port of Tidore on New Year’s Day in 1527. Here Zarquizano died and Hernando de la Torre succeeded him as the last commander of the expedition. The expedition stayed there to await help from Spain.