Who completed the first circumnavigation expedition after Ferdinand Magellan died?

Juan Sebastián Elcano completed the first circumnavigation expedition after Ferdinand Magellan died.

Magellan’s expedition left Spain in 1519 with five ships, seeking a westward route to the Spice Islands. The fleet crossed the Atlantic, passed through the strait now called the Strait of Magellan, and reached the Pacific. Magellan was killed in the Philippines in 1521 during the Battle of Mactan.

After Magellan’s death, command changed several times. Elcano eventually took charge of the ship Victoria, the expedition’s only surviving vessel to return to Spain. Victoria reached Sanlúcar de Barrameda in September 1522, completing the voyage with eighteen surviving crew members.

Magellan led the expedition for much of its outward journey, but he did not complete the circumnavigation. Elcano is therefore credited with completing the first voyage around the world. The expedition demonstrated the enormous scale of the Earth and established a practical, though perilous, maritime route across the globe.