Of the five ships that started the expedition with Ferdinand Magellan, how many completed the entire voyage and returned to Spain?

Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition to find a westward route to the Spice Islands left Seville, Spain August 1519 with five ships. Only one vessel, the Victoria returned to Spain in 1522, with 18 men, under command of Juan Elcano, along with 26 tons of spices in the hold. The expedition started with 237 men, and would lose men and vessels during the voyage that would ultimately circumnavigate the globe.

The first vessel lost was the Santiago that was wrecked during a storm off the coast of South America. The San Antonio turned back while it and the Concepcion explored the straight that would be known as the Straight of Magellan. Three vessels crossed the Pacific Ocean and reached the Philippines. After a battle with a local kingdom on the island of Mactan where Magellan lost his life, there were too few crew members left to man the three ships, the Concepcion was burned and the voyage continued with two ships.

The expedition reached the Spice Islands in 1521 and loaded the ships with spices and decided on a westward journey back to Spain. Shortly after leaving the Spice Islands, one of the ships, the Trinidad, began taking on a lot of water and remained to attempt repairs, while the Victoria sailed westward and back to Spain. The Trinidad would sail east to return, but was captured by the Portuguese and ultimately sunk in a storm.