First Atlantic crossing

Christopher Columbus · 1492 CE – 1493 CE · Earth

First Atlantic crossing — Christopher Columbus · 1492 CE – 1493 CE · Earth — Recorded expedition route · schematic map

Reach Asia by sailing west.

Historical context

Europe's demand for Asian spices and gold met a new confidence after the Reconquista. Columbus's Atlantic crossing began the contact between two worlds — and the colonisation, enslavement and disease that followed.

The voyage, step by step

  1. Departure from Palos

    3 August 1492

    Three ships — Santa María, Pinta and Niña — leave the Andalusian coast on 3 August 1492.

  2. Refit in the Canaries

    1492 CE

    The fleet repairs the Pinta's rudder and takes on water and provisions before striking west.

  3. Into the Sargasso Sea

    1492 CE

    Weeks from land, the crews grow fearful as the compass needle drifts and seaweed thickens on the water.

  4. Landfall at Guanahani

    12 October 1492

    On 12 October 1492 a lookout sighted land in the Bahamas; Columbus named it San Salvador.

  5. Cuba and the search for gold

    1492 CE

    Believing he had reached Asia, Columbus follows the Cuban coast and sends envoys inland.

  6. Wreck of the Santa María

    1492 CE

    On Christmas night 1492 the flagship ran aground off Hispaniola; its timbers built the fort of La Navidad.

  7. Return to Spain

    March 1493

    A storm drives the Niña to Lisbon before Columbus reaches Palos in March 1493 and reports to the court.

Outcome

Made landfall in the Bahamas and reached the Caribbean.

Christopher Columbus

Genoese navigator who crossed the Atlantic in 1492 in search of Asia and reached the Americas, opening sustained European contact.

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Sources

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