Luís Vaz de Torres

Luís Vaz de Torres (Galician and Portuguese), or Luis Váez de Torres in the Spanish spelling (born c. 1565; fl. 1607), was a 16th- and 17th-century maritime explorer of a Spanish expedition noted for the first recorded European navigation of the strait which separates the continent of Australia from the island of New Guinea, and which now bears his name (Torres Strait).

Captain Luis Váez de Torres was recorded as being called a "Breton" by crewmen in reports of the 1606–1608 voyage, which points to an origin in the northwest province of Spain, i. e., Galicia. Most contemporary historians accept this as evidence of his origins. The year and exact place of his birth are unknown; assuming him to have been in his late thirties or forties in 1606, a birth year of around 1565 is considered likely.

Torres has been presented by some writers as Portuguese, without any evidence other than his name. Torres is never called a Portuguese in the records but they note remarks made by crew members of the Portuguese origins of Pedro Fernandes de Queirós.

Torres entered the navy of the Spanish Crown at some point and found his way to its South American colonies. By late 1605 he first entered the historical record as the nominated commander of the second ship in an expedition to the Pacific proposed by the Portuguese born navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, searching for Terra Australis. There is no known contemporary depiction of his face or person.

Pedro Fernandes de Queirós was a Portuguese-born navigator who commanded a party of three Spanish ships, San Pedro y San Pablo (60 tons), San Pedrico (40 tons) and the tender Los Tres Reyes Magos. The three ships left Callao in Spanish Peru, on 21 December 1605, with Torres in command of the San Pedrico. In May 1606 they reached the islands which Queirós named La Austrialiadel Espiritu Santo (now Vanuatu), Austrialia being a compliment to the House of Austria, to which the King of Spain belonged.

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