The ship was named Nau Victoria and the crew was headed by a Spanish captain, Yoan Sebastián Alcano. It was not his main purpose but he became a part of history by accident. He was able to circumnavigate the world for the first time.
One might imagine that the first thing these sailors would do upon doing so would be to celebrate the achievement. Instead of bragging about it, however, he went barefoot to the churches of Nuestra Señora de la Victoria and the Cathedral of Seville.
Advertisement 
He wanted to fulfill the promise he had made during the worst part of his voyage. Because during this voyage, they had gone through such difficult and miserable conditions that instead of celebration and pride, their survival was the best reward for them.
He had just accomplished a feat that could hardly be imagined on a ship because it was something like being in prison for almost three years.
Let's go back in time to three years to find out what happened on these ships.
Paying half a ducat (gold coin) for a mouse'
The voyage began on August 10, 1519, when five ships and a crew of 250 men, led by the Portuguese captain Ferdinand Magellan, set sail from Seville.
These ships had enough food and water for two years at that time.
Lola Higueras, technical director of the Madrid Naval Museum, told BBC Mundo: "They kept salted fish and meat, vegetables, fruit, cheese, butter, double bread, oil, vinegar and spices on the ships. There was also a fire on the ships, but it was used only by high-ranking officers.
However, this varied food lasted only a few months as there were no means of preserving it at that time, so it began to spoil and rot.
The double bread had bugs very quickly and they ate more bugs than the double bread, it was horrible," says Higueras.
The effects of food shortages were beginning to show and the situation worsened as these ships reached the Atlantic. They had no idea of the vastness of the ocean and as the days wore on many of the crew began to starve.
Others cast their eyes on the floor in hopelessness and despair in search of the living animal they could use as food, the rat.
Historian Pablo Amilo Pérez Malena says that 'half a ducat (an ancient gold coin worth about nine shillings in many European countries) began to be paid for a mouse at that time.
This undesirable food became a palatable food under these circumstances, and we shall see further how it became an element of salvation.
But the rats also disappeared and the voyage continued without exploring the islands, and then these sailors added another thing to their diet in the face of great hunger.
They even began to eat the skin that was attached to various parts of the ship, softened in sea water or sometimes cooked a little over the fire," says Higueras.
Stay thirsty in the 'jail' of water
Starvation was not the only difficulty on these small ships. These brave sailors also faced severe thirst.
Lola Hagoras further explains that 'after a few months even the drinking water on the ships began to deteriorate, and the only way to obtain drinking water was to collect rainwater through the sails of the ships. But it didn't always rain and they couldn't collect enough water for all the crew members.'
Historian Carlos Martínez explains that 'so when some sailors could not bear their thirst, they would quench their thirst with salt water by filling their buckets with the sea. But they would cause severe pain in his stomach Being thirsty and trapped on a ship surrounded by water, but unable to drink the water because it would make them sick, was a mental torture that was repeated daily for several periods of the voyage.
Apart from water, the only thing they used to keep themselves hydrated was wine, which, although it was kept on board in large numbers, was also beginning to deteriorate.
Vitamin C deficiency and tooth decay.
Along with hunger and thirst, a disease also overtook them. Especially those who know about the voyages of sailors who suffered from scurvy (a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency).
It is a disease that occurs in humans without reaching a land island for a very long time.
This disease is spread among sailors due to a lack of consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables which leads to significant vitamin C deficiency.
Horas explains that 'their teeth began to break, their gums became inflamed and their bodies became so weak that they began to die. There was another serious problem with this. The movement of the ship depended on the sails and for that one had to climb on them and unfurl them, turn them, but when it was time to change the direction of the ship, the weak and emaciated sailors could not climb on the sails and change it and the ship would capsize. Unable to change direction. '
Few people were immune to the disease and lay in wait to catch the rats that roamed the ship.
'They helped him get rid of the disease because rats have a certain amount of vitamins B
and C,' says Hegros. unsung hero'
But along with the three years of physical torture, it had also become psychological torture. The ships, which were barely 80 or 90 tons, became 'prisons' for the crew members who faced these hardships and wretched conditions.
They had small rooms on board where they could rest as well as store spare parts and some leftover raw rations.
So the 'deck' of the ship was the place for the crew to spend the day and night where they faced all kinds of cold and hot weather during this period. They did not have the means to protect themselves from the harshness of the weather.
Fires built on hearths made of sand and bricks were not used to keep the sailors warm, but only for cooking when possible.
Many times they couldn't light the stoves on the ship because any storm could cause a fire to spread and burn the ship,' explains Lola Negras. The rules were very strict, candles could not be lit near certain areas of the ship, they could not even use lanterns to avoid a fire, and smoking was strictly prohibited on board.'
During these three years, hurricanes were frequent and these small ships were at the mercy of the sea waves. Death hovered over their heads every moment, but these sailors emerged as unsung heroes.
This is what Lola Higoras calls a diver. Skilled sailors who, without supplemental oxygen and in the darkness of deep water, carry out complex and difficult tasks such as sealing valuable cargo, weapon parts and, above all, sealing a hole or leak under the ship.'
The heroes who risked their lives to save the ships and their fellow sailors suffered from many ailments, including damaged eardrums.
These sailors have the honor of circumambulating the world for the first time despite hunger, thirst, disease, fear of death, and countless difficulties.
But the struggle to survive in this journey was the greatest achievement. Lola Hegoras says that 'this voyage was a wonderful and exemplary voyage under very unusual circumstances.'
No comments:
Post a Comment