Victoria was the ship that completed the first expedition to circumnavigate Earth. It returned to Spain on 6 September 1522 under the command of Juan Sebastián Elcano, after departing with Ferdinand Magellan’s fleet in 1519.
Magellan’s expedition began with five ships: Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepción, Victoria, and Santiago. The fleet found the strait now called the Strait of Magellan, crossed the Pacific, and reached the Philippines. Magellan was killed at the Battle of Mactan in 1521, so he did not personally complete the voyage.
Victoria continued westward across the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope, and back to Spain. Only 18 of the original expedition’s approximately crew members returned aboard the ship, after a journey of about three years. The achievement demonstrated the practical global scale of Earth and provided valuable geographic knowledge. Victoria was the only one of the five original ships to complete the circumnavigation.