Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón
Encyclopedia
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. It is unknown the exact date and place of birth, but known to be born in the late 15th century or 16th century in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...
was a relative, whom he accompanied to New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
in 1526.
In 1527, Hernán Cortés prepared a new expedition aimed to find a new land in the South Sea
South Sea
South Sea or South Seas may refer to:Geographic region of the Pacific* The Pacific Ocean south of Panama* South Sea Islands * Oceania, east of AustraliaOther geographic descriptions...
or (Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
) and commissioned his cousin Alvaro de Saavedra who took over the new expedition.
On October 31, 1527, they sailed from Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan, New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
the three ships heading to Pacific, crossed the South Sea, toured the northern coast of New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, which was named Isla del Oro. On October 3, 1528 they arrived in the Moluccas, only one of the vessels survived. In their attempt to return to New Spain, they were diverted by the northeast trade winds that threw them back to the Moluccas.
A few days later Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón tried again the second time by navigating back down south. His ship shored in New Guinea, one of the Pacific Islands known at that time, they received some food and water from the natives and they sailed again northeast where they discovered the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
and Admiralty Islands
Admiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...
.
After that, they arrived in the island of Eniwetok, where they continued the journey northeast and were surprised again by northeast trade winds, which led them to the Moluccas for the third time.
In 1529, trying again to go back to the New Spain, they were surprised by a bad weather and their ship was wrecked in a big storm.
For the problem of sailing from Asia to Mexico see Manila galleon
Manila Galleon
The Manila galleons or Manila-Acapulco galleons were Spanish trading ships that sailed once or twice per year across the Pacific Ocean between Manila in the Philippines, and Acapulco, New Spain . The name changed reflecting the city that the ship was sailing from...
.