List of maritime explorers
This is a list of maritime explorers . The list includes explorers which had contributed, and continue to contribute to human knowledge of the planet's geography, weather, biodiversity, human cultures, the expansion of trade, or established communication between diverse populations...
Ocean explorers
Nationality
Sailed for
Name
First voyage of exploration
Last voyage of exploration
Arctic [1]
North Atlantic
Indian
Pacific
South Atlantic
Southern
Portuguese
Portugal
de Abreu, António
1507
1512
Portuguese
Portugal
de Albuquerque, Afonso
1503
Portuguese
Portugal
de Alenquer,Pero
1487
1488
Portuguese
Portugal
de Almeida, Francisco
Portuguese
Portugal
Álvares, Jorge
Portuguese
Portugal
de Azambuja, Diogo
Portuguese
Portugal
de Barcelos, Pero
Newfoundlander[2]
United States
Bartlett, Robert
Estonian[3]
Russia
von Bellingshausen, Fabian Gottlieb
*[4]
Danish[5]
Russia
Bering, Vitus
*
French
France
de Bougainville, Louis Antoine
English
Britain
Byron, John
Italian
England
Cabot, John
Italian
England and Aragon
Cabot, Sebastian
Portuguese
Portugal
Cabral, Pedro Álvares
Portuguese[6]
Spain
Cabrilho, João Rodrígues
Venetian
Portugal
Cadamosto. Alvise
Portuguese
Portugal
Caminha, Álvaro
Portuguese
Portugal
de Caminha, Pero Vaz
Portuguese
Portugal
Cão,Diogo
French
France
Cartier, Jacques
1534
English
England
Cavendish, Thomas
1586-1588
French
France
de Champlain, Samuel
Portuguese
Portugal
Coelho, Gonçalo
Portuguese
Portugal
Coelho, Nicolau
Italian
Spain
Columbus, Christopher
English
Britain
Cook, James
1768–1771
1776–1779
3
1
Portuguese
Portugal
Corte-Real, Gaspar
Portuguese
Portugal
Corte-Real, Miguel
Portuguese
Portugal
da Cunha, Tristão
English
England
Dampier, William
English
England and Netherlands
Davis, John
Russian
Russia
Dezhnev, Semyon
*
Portuguese
Portugal
Dias, Bartolomeu
Portuguese
Portugal
Dias, Dinis
Portuguese
Portugal
Dias, Diogo
Portuguese
Portugal
Dias, Pero
Portuguese
Portugal
do Pó, Fernão
English
England
Drake,Francis
1577–1581
1577–1581
1
1
1
Portuguese
Portugal
Eanes, Gil
Norwegian
Norse
Erik the Red
Icelandic
Norse
Ericson, Leif
Portuguese
Portugal
Escobar, Pedro
Portuguese
Portugal
Fernandes, Álvaro
English
Britain
Flinders, Matthew
English
England
Frobisher, Martin
Portuguese
Portugal
da Gama, Estêvão
Portuguese
Portugal
da Gama, Paulo
Portuguese
Portugal
da Gama, Vasco
1497-1499
1524
English
England and Ireland
Gilbert, Humphrey
Russian
Russia
Golovnin, Vasily
*
Portuguese
Portugal
Gonçalves, André
Portuguese
Portugal
Gonçalves, Antão
Portuguese
Portugal
Gonçalves, Lopes
Portuguese
Portugal
Grego, João
English
England
Hudson, Henry
Portuguese
Portugal
Infante, João
Baltic German
Russia
von Kotzebue, Otto
*
Baltic German
Russia and Britain
Kruzenshtern, Ivan Fedorovich
*
French
France
de Lapérouse,Jean François de Galaup,comte
Portuguese
Portugal and England
Lavrador, João Fernandes
Russian
Russia and Britain
Lazarev, Mikhail Petrovich
*
Portuguese
Portugal
de Lemos, Gaspar
Russian
Russia
Litke, Fyodor Petrovich
*
Portuguese
Spain and Portugal
Magellan, Ferdinand
Dutch
Netherlands
le Maire, Jacob
Portuguese
Portugal
Martins, Álvaro
Portuguese
Portugal
Mascarenhas, Pedro
Spanish
Spain
de Mendaña, Álvaro
1567-1569
Genoese
Portugal
Noli, António
Portuguese
Portugal
de Noronha, Fernão
Galician
Portugal
da Nova, João
French
France
Paulmyer, Binot
Portuguese
Portugal
Pereira, Duarte Pacheco
Portuguese
Portugal
Perestrelo, Bartolomeu
German
Denmark and Hamburg
Pining, Didrik
Portuguese
Portugal
Pinto, Fernão Mendes
Portuguese
Portugal
Pires, Luís
Portuguese
Spain
de Queirós, Pedro Fernandes
Portuguese
Portugal
Rodrigues, Diogo
Portuguese
Portugal
de Santarém, João
Dutch
Netherlands
Schouten, Willem
Irish
Britain
Shackleton, Ernest
Portuguese
Portugal
Silves, Diogo
Portuguese
Portugal
de Sintra, Pedro
Portuguese[7]
Spain
Soromenho, Sebastião Rodrígues
Portuguese
Portugal
de Sousa, Martim Afonso
Dutch
Netherlands
Tasman, Abel
Portuguese
Portugal
Teixeira, Tristão Vaz
Portuguese or Spanish (Galician)
Spain
de Torres, Luis Váez
Portuguese
Portugal
Tristão, Nuno
English
Britain
Vancouver, George
Portuguese
Portugal
Vaz Corte-Real, João
Portuguese
Portugal
Velho, Gonçalo
Italian
France
da Verrazzano, Giovanni
Italian
Spain and Portugal
Vespucci, Amerigo
English
Britain
Wallis, Samuel
Baltic German
Russia
Wrangel, Ferdinand Petrovich
*
Portuguese
Portugal
Zarco, João Gonçalves
Chinese
China (Three Kingdoms period of China)
Kang Tai
300
Chinese
China (Three Kingdoms period of China)
Zhu Ying
300
Chinese
China (Yuen dynasty)
Wang Dayuan
1330
Chinese
China (Ming dynasty)
Zheng He
1405
1431
Chinese
China (Ming dynasty)
Ma Huan
1413
Chinese
China (Ming dynasty)
Fei Xin
1409
See also
References and notes
^ The numbers indicate the number of exploratory voyages. A ship sailing from port through familiar seas does not start exploring until terra incognita is sighted, or a new sea is sailed confirming the lack of land — as in the case of James Cook's second voyage, when he could confirm that the Terra Australis land mass did not exist in the regions of the Southern Ocean that he sailed.
^ Newfoundland then part of the British Empire
^ Estonia - then part of the Russian Empire
^ Indicates a voyage
^ Sailed for the Russian Empire
^ In some sources Spanish
^ In some sources Spanish
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