San Antonio (carrack)
Carrack of Magellan's fleet, involved in Falklands discovery.
The San Antonio, also called the San Antón, was a Spanish carrack sailing with Magellan. Its pilot, Esteban Gómez, is widely credited with discovering the Falkland Islands, which he first named Sansón.
Quick Facts
- Capacity
- 120 toneles (144 toneladas)
- Crew
- 57 men
- Embarkation date
- 20 September 1519
- Embarkation location
- Sanlúcar de Barrameda, province of Cádiz
- Return to seville
- 6 May 1521
Facts from the source article.
Background
The papal bulls Inter Caetera and Dudum siquidem of 1493 granted the Crown of Castille all islands and lands discovered or yet to be discovered in the south, fixed by a line 100 leagues from the Azores; the Falkland Islands fell within this zone. The Hispanic Monarchy then provided a fleet under Ferdinand Magellan to reach the Spice Islands, provided they lay within the Spanish region and did not touch Portuguese islands. This fleet, called the Spice Armada or Magellan's Armada, concluded with the first circumnavigation of the world (1519–1522) by the ship Victoria under Juan Sebastián Elcano.
History
San Antonio, costing 330,000 maravedíes and with a capacity of 120 toneles (144 toneladas), was the largest ship in the fleet and carried a crew of 57. Magellan initially placed the ship under Juan de Cartagena, but after serious conflicts command passed to Antonio de Coca and later to Álvaro de Mezquita. At San Julian Bay a mutiny broke out against Magellan led by Juan de Cartagena, Gaspar de Quesada (captain of the Concepción), Luis de Mendoza (captain of the Victoria), and other officers; San Antonio fell into mutineer hands, and Juan Sebastián Elcano became its captain. Although the mutineers controlled three of the five ships, Magellan surprised and captured the Victoria, causing the mutiny to fail, and Mezquita was restored to command of San Antonio. On 21 October 1520 the fleet assembled off the Cape of Eleven Thousand Virgins, and San Antonio was sent with Concepción to confirm whether a passage between the oceans existed. After verifying the Strait of Magellan, pilot Esteban Gómez advised returning to report the discovery, but Magellan refused. When a new scouting expedition with San Antonio and Concepción was sent, Gómez rebelled in November 1520, deposed Mezquita, took command, and left the main channel for Spain. As the largest and best-provisioned ship, its departure severely harmed the remaining crews crossing the Pacific. Gómez returned to Spain via Guinea, arriving in Seville on 6 May 1521. He faced a trial in which no mention was made of the Falkland Islands. In 1529 Gómez provided an indigenous person to cartographer Diego Ribero to obtain a direct account of the Sansón islands.
Discovery of the Falkland Islands
One account states that while the expedition wintered at Puerto San Julián, Magellan ordered San Antonio under Jerónimo Guerra with Gómez as pilot to explore the region, and upon discovering the islands they named them Sansón. Another account says that after rebelling, the 55 deserters first returned to the Patagonian coast seeking castaways (whom they did not find) and then set course for the Cape of Good Hope, sighting unknown lands that proved to be the Falkland Islands. The name Sansón may refer to a mythological giant of the Tehuelches or to the day of Saint Sansón; the French chaplain Bernard Calmette is said to have named the island for that saint. Researcher Rolando Laguarda Trías placed the discovery in late July 1520, as 28 July is the day of Saint Sansón. The name San Antonio is also used for the archipelago. A further version attributes the discovery to the Victoria, sent by Magellan to track San Antonio in the Atlantic. Dom Pernety's 1770 book states that Magellan himself sighted the islands but did not land.
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