Which Spanish explorer completed the first circumnavigation of the globe after Magellan's death?

Juan Sebastián Elcano completed the first circumnavigation of the globe after Ferdinand Magellan’s death. Elcano was a Spanish Basque navigator who joined Magellan’s 1519 expedition to the Spice Islands, originally sailing aboard the Concepción.

Magellan was killed at the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines on 27 April 1521. After a period of confused leadership, Elcano emerged as a senior commander. By the time the expedition reached the Moluccas, only the ships Victoria and Trinidad remained. Trinidad was too badly damaged to make the westward voyage, so Elcano took command of Victoria and sailed west across the Indian Ocean.

Victoria crossed the Indian and Atlantic oceans and reached Sanlúcar de Barrameda on 6 September 1522, returning to Spain shortly afterward. Of the roughly 234–247 people who began the expedition, only a small group survived the complete voyage. Elcano’s achievement was recognized by Charles I of Spain, who granted him a coat of arms showing a globe and the motto Primus circumdedisti me, meaning “You were the first to circumnavigate me.”

Magellan planned and began the expedition, but Elcano—not Magellan—completed it.