Garcia de Nodal expedition

The García de Nodal expedition was chartered in 1619 by King Philip III of Spain to reconnoiter the passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, rounding Cape Horn, south of Tierra del Fuego, just discovered by the Dutch merchants Jacob Le Maire and Willem Schouten. It was a successful expedition, as all goals were reached. In addition, neither lives nor ships were lost and the whole was done in a small amount of time.

The García de Nodal expedition was crucial to the Spanish Empire. The discovery of a route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, an alternative to the Strait of Magellan, dramatically changed the Spanish approach to the management of the southernmost regions of America, which were already disturbed by Drake’s unexpected emergence in the Pacific through the Strait in 1578.

The expedition was led by the brothers Bartolomé (Pontevedra, 1574–1622) and Gonzalo García del Nodal (Pontevedra, 1569–1622), with the cosmographer Diego Ramírez de Arellano Chamás serving as pilot (chief navigator). Two vessels of similar construction were used in the expedition to prevent one ship of having to wait for the other when sailing, a common hindrance in others expeditions of the time.

The expedition sailed from Lisbon, Portugal (which was by then united to Spain in the crown of Philip II) on September 27, 1618 and on January 1619, they entered the strait between Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados which they called Estrecho de San Vicente (now known as Strait of Le Maire). The following weeks were spent meticulously exploring and naming the southern shores of Tierra del Fuego and its southern islands including Cape Horn, which they named Cabo San Ildefonso. Next the expedition sailed south to 58º30'S, discovering the Diego Ramirez Islands and going farther south into the Drake Passage. They then turned north into the Pacific Ocean and skillfully entered the Strait of Magellan from the west in their first attempt. They passed into the Atlantic on March 13, and on they returned to Spain July 7, 1619.

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