5th Portuguese India Armada (Albuquerque, 1503) Cape Verde, the first squadron of Afonso de Albuquerque struck out into the south Atlantic, following the South Atlantic Gyre. Along the way, Albuquerque came across Ascension Island. Although the island had already been discovered back in 1501 by the Third Armada of João da Nova (and named "ilha da Conceição" then), Albuquerque renamed it "ilha da Ascensão" on account of it being Ascension Day (May 21), the name that has since stuck. Strong south-westerly winds pushed them towards the coast of Brazil, where Albuquerque made a brief stop to take on water (exactly where is uncertain), before making his
Afonso de Albuquerque Rome, nor Alexander was able to see the fabled regions of the East Pacific. Afonso de Albuquerque became the first European to reach the Spice Islands. Upon discovering the Malay Archipelago, he proceeded in 1511 to conquer Malacca, then commissioned an expedition under the command of António de Abreu and Vice-Commander Francisco Serrão (the latter being a cousin of Magellan) to further explore the extremities of the region in east Indonesia. As a result of these voyages of exploration, the Portuguese became the first Europeans to discover and to reach the fabled Spice Islands in the Indies in addition to