William Adams

William Adams (September 24, 1564–May 16, 1620), also known in Japanese as Anjin-sama (???, "Mr Pilot") and Miura Anjin (????, "the pilot of Miura"), was an English navigator who went to Japan, and is believed to be the first Briton ever to reach Japan.

Expedition to the Far East

Attracted by the Dutch trade with India, Adams, then 34, shipped as pilot major with a five-ship fleet despatched from the Texel to the Far East in 1598 by a company of Rotterdam merchants (a voorcompagnie, anterior to the Dutch East India Company).

Related Topics:
Dutch - India - Texel - Far East - 1598 - Rotterdam

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He set sail from Rotterdam in June 1598 on the Hoop and joined up with the rest of the fleet (Liefde, Geloof, Trouw and Blijde Boodschap) on June 24, under the command of Jacques Mahu.

Related Topics:
June 24 - Jacques Mahu

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The vessels, boats ranging from 75 to 250 tons and crowded with men, were driven to the coast of Guinea, where the adventurers attacked the island of Annabon for supplies, and finally went for the straits of Magellan. Scattered by stress of weather, and after several disasters in the South Atlantic, only three ships out of five made it through the Magellan Straits (The Blijde Boodschop drifted after being disabled in bad weather and was captured by the Spanish, and the Geloof returned to Rotterdam in July 1600 with 36 of the original 109 crew).

Related Topics:
Guinea - Annabon - Straits of Magellan - South Atlantic

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Adams changed ships to the Liefde (originally Erasmus because of the wooden figurehead of Erasmus on her bow). The following spring 1599 the Liefde with Adams on board, and the Hoop met at length off the coast of Chile, where the captains of both vessels, together with Adams's brother Thomas and 20 other men, lost their lives in an encounter with the Indians.

Related Topics:
Erasmus - Chile - Indians

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The Liefde waited for the other ships at the offshore Santa Maria Island. Only the Hoop arrived. It was late November 1599 when the two ships sailed westwardly for Japan.

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The Trouw later turned up in Tidore, where the crew was eliminated by the Portuguese in January 1601.

Related Topics:
Tidore - 1601

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