Olivier van Noort: The First Dutch Circumnavigator
Most of us have heard of Ferdinand Magellan and Francis Drake—early explorers who sailed around the world. One was Portuguese, the other English. But what about Olivier van Noort? Between 1598 and 1601, van Noort became the first Dutchman to complete a circumnavigation of the globe.
By Peter Douglas
Born in Utrecht in 1568, van Noort died in 1627 and is buried in Schoonhoven, South Holland. In 1598, he was given command of a four-ship expedition, tasked with trading in the South Sea (Pacific Ocean) and disrupting Spain’s holdings and shipping.
Spanish treasure ships in the Pacific were rarely attacked. The English and French typically reached Asia via the Indian Ocean, where they had easier access to ports. But some privateers dared to challenge Spain directly in the Pacific—first the English, like Drake and Thomas Cavendish, and later the Dutch, who had begun revolting against Spanish rule.
By the 1570s, the Netherlands was in full revolt against Spain’s political and religious control. The Dutch began raiding Spanish holdings in the Pacific, hoping to pressure Spain into granting them independence. Though early efforts struggled, the Dutch had a key advantage: a powerful navy with well-trained crews and seaworthy ships. Their maritime skill, rooted in a seafaring culture, gave them the upper hand over Spain’s mostly land-based military power.
Van Noort’s mission was in the spirit of the “Sea Beggars” (Watergeuzen), Dutch rebel corsairs who disrupted Spanish shipping and helped spark the revolt—most famously by capturing Brielle in 1572.
He set sail from Rotterdam aboard the Mauritius, a 275-ton flagship named for Prince Maurits of Nassau. His fleet included the Eendracht, Hendrik Frederik, and Hoop. The expedition was fraught with danger—storms, disease, skirmishes with indigenous peoples, and battles with enemy ships claimed most of the men and vessels.
After surviving the perilous Strait of Magellan, van Noort entered the Pacific in early 1600. He moved north along the coasts of Chile and Peru but avoided Spanish naval forces by turning westward. By October 1600, he reached the Philippines and began raiding Spanish shipping near Manila. In December, he famously sank the galleon San Diego—commanded by Antonio de Morga—after a six-hour battle. The wreck was rediscovered in 1992, yielding over 34,000 artifacts.
Van Noort returned to Rotterdam via the Cape of Good Hope on August 26, 1601. Though the voyage was a financial failure—only the Mauritius returned—he was hailed as a hero. He was the first Dutchman to circle the globe and had opened the door to further Dutch expansion in Asia. His journey helped inspire the founding of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) the following year.
