马尼拉邮船

The Manila galleon trade route was a Spanish trade route linking the Philippines in the Spanish East Indies to Mexico (New Spain), across the Pacific Ocean, in use from 1565 to 1815. This route was plied by sailing ships or galleons i.e. the Manila galleons (Spanish: Galeón de Manila; Tagalog: Galeon ng Maynila) that made one or two round-trip voyages per year between Manila and Acapulco.

The route was inaugurated in 1565 after the Augustinian friar and navigator Andrés de Urdaneta pioneered the tornaviaje or return route from the Philippines to Mexico. Urdaneta and Alonso de Arellano made the first successful round trips that year, by taking advantage of the Kuroshio Current. The galleons set sail from Cavite, in Manila Bay, at the end of June or the first week of July, sailing through the northern Pacific and reaching Acapulco in March to April of the next calendar year. The return route from Acapulco passes through lower latitudes closer to the equator, stopping over in the Marianas, then sailing onwards through the San Bernardino Strait off Cape Espiritu Santo in Samar and then to Manila Bay and anchoring again off Cavite by June or July. The trade using "Urdaneta's route" lasted until 1815, when the Mexican War of Independence broke out. The majority of these galleons were built and loaded in shipyards in Cavite, utilizing native hardwoods like the Philippine teak, with sails produced in Ilocos, and with the rigging and cordage made from salt-resistant Manila hemp. The vast majority of the galleon's crew consisted of Filipino natives; many of whom were farmers, street children, or vagrants press-ganged into service as sailors. The officers and other skilled crew were usually Spaniards (a high percentage of whom were of Basque descent).……

History

Discovery of the route

Spain's presence in the Philippines came from a desire to compete with Portugal for control of the spice trade. Between 1500 and 1530, the Portuguese crown worked to replace Middle Eastern and Venetian traders as the principal transporter of lucrative spices, conquering Goa in 1510 and making contact with the Maluku Islands in modern Indonesia in 1515. In 1521, a Spanish expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan sailed west across the Pacific using the westward trade winds.……

Galleons

Construction

Between 1609 and 1616, nine galleons and six galleys were constructed in Philippine shipyards. The average cost was 78,000 pesos per galleon and at least 2,000 trees. The galleons constructed included the San Juan Bautista, San Marcos, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Angel de la Guardia, San Felipe, Santiago, Salbador, Espiritu Santo, and San Miguel. "From 1729 to 1739, the main purpose of the Cavite shipyard was the construction and outfitting of the galleons for the Manila to Acapulco trade run."

Crews

Sailors averaged age 28 or 29 while the oldest were between 40 and 50.……

Possible contact with Hawaii

Over 250 years, there were hundreds of Manila galleon crossings of the Pacific Ocean between present-day Mexico and the Philippines, with their route taking them just south of the Hawaiian Islands on the westward leg of their round trip. Despite this, there are no records of contact with the Hawaiians. British historian Henry Kamen maintains that the Spaniards did not have the ability to properly explore the Pacific Ocean and were not capable of finding the islands, which lay at a latitude 20° north of the westbound galleon route and its currents.……

Preparations for UNESCO nominations

In 2010, the Philippines foreign affairs secretary organized a diplomatic reception attended by at least 32 countries, for discussions about the historic galleon trade and the possible establishment of a galleon museum. Various Mexican and Filipino institutions and politicians also made discussions about the importance of the galleon trade in their shared history.

In 2013, the Philippines released a documentary regarding the Manila galleon trade route.