Olivier van Noort

Another Dutch expedition of this period, consisting of four ships under the command of Olivier van Noort, sailed from Goree, Holland, on September 13, 1598. Van Noort entered the Strait of Magellan on November 22, 1599, and cleared into the Pacific on February 29, 1600. He had committed various atrocities in the Strait, needlessly killing numbers of the local Indians. After little success along the Pacific coast, he sailed west for the Philippines on May 20 page 12and, after touching at Guam, reached the Philippines on October 14. Off Manila, he fought a desperate battle against two Spanish ships which attacked him with forces greatly outnumbering the 80 men on his own two ships. The Spanish admiral boarded Van Noort's ship, drove the Dutch below decks, and hauled down the Dutch flag. But Van Noort, by threatening to set fire to the magazine, drove his men on deck where they cleared the ship of the Spaniards and sank the enemy ships. Van Noort's other vessel, with a crew of 25, was captured by the second Spanish ship; and as Van Noort saw no hope of rescuing them, he sailed off on his return voyage to Holland. He arrived at Goree on August 26, 1601, after a voyage of nearly three years.