Alonso de Salazar

Toribio Alonso de Salazar, born in Biscay, was a Spanish navigator of Basque origin, who discovered the Marshall Islands on August 21, 1526.

De Salazar was part of the Fray García Jofre de Loaísa's expedition from Spain to the Spice Islands in 1525, the second in history to cross the Pacific Ocean, after the Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation of the globe. De Salazar took command of Santa Maria de la Victoria, the last of seven ships to survive the voyage, after the deaths of Loasa and Juan Sebastián Elcano. He sighted the Bokak Atoll in the Marshall Islands on route to Guam, the Philippine Islands and finally the Moluccas. . After one month of holding the command, he also died of scurvy shortly after having left Guam on 5 September 1526 and was succeeded by Martín Iñiguez de Zarquizano.

Alonzo de Salazar is featured in the new Disney sequel to the Jack Sparrow epos, Dead men tell no tales.

References

• Quanchi, Max (2005). Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands. The Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810853957.