How a Forgotten Explorer’s Secret Mission Unlocked the Pacific

HISTORY This Week

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History, Education, Society & Culture

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 1 December 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

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Summary

December 1, 1564. Spanish vessels left a secret port in Mexico about two weeks ago. Their goal: to sail across the Pacific and back, charting a new route for international trade, and giving Spain an edge against its chief colonial rival, Portugal. But today, when a storm hits, the smallest ship is separated from the rest of the fleet. Now, that ship, the San Lucas, is on its own. The following year, when the San Lucas makes it back to Mexico, against all odds, its pilot—a Black mariner—is accused of treason. How did the San Lucas—the smallest ship in the fleet—complete a near-impossible journey that would connect the world? And how did the trailblazing mariner Lope Martín get erased from the story? Special thanks to our guest, Andrés Reséndez, author of Conquering the Pacific: An Unknown Mariner and the Final Great Voyage of the Age of Discovery. ** This episode originally aired November 29, 2021. Get in touch: [email protected] Follow on Instagram: @historythisweek Follow on Facebook: ⁠HISTORY This Week Podcast⁠ To stay updated: http://historythisweekpodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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0:00.0	Hello, History This Week listeners. It's Sally here. As we are heading to the end of the year,
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1:00.6	Participation varies.
1:01.4	The History Channel, original podcast.
1:06.9	History This Week, December 1 1, 1564.
1:12.5	I'm Sally Helm.
1:18.1	Four Spanish vessels in the middle of the Pacific.
1:22.5	They left a secret port in Mexico about two weeks ago.
1:26.7	Their goal?
1:31.8	To sail across this vast ocean and back.
1:39.8	It's never been done before. If these ships succeed, they'll open up a new trade and travel route that will change the relationships among many countries on Earth. And they'll give Spain an edge in a long-running high-stakes competition with its chief colonial rival, Portugal.
1:53.0	For a few days now, the smallest of the four ships has been at the front of the pack, the San Lucas. It's been given the job of scoping out dangers that may lie ahead,
2:04.6	perhaps because of the skill of its pilot,
2:07.6	a man named Lope Martin.
	...

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