List of crossings of the Atlantic Ocean

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Ra II, a ship built from papyrus, was successfully sailed across the Atlantic by Thor Heyerdahl proving that it was possible to cross the Atlantic from Africa using such boats in early epochs of history.
Main article: Transatlantic Crossing

This is a list of notable crossings of the Atlantic Ocean.

Post-1492 crossings[]

15th to 18th centuries[]

  • In April 1563, Nicolas Barre and 20 other stranded Huguenots were the first to build a (crude) boat in the Americas and sail across the Atlantic. They sailed from Charlesfort, South Carolina to just off the coast of England where they were rescued by an English ship. Though they resorted to cannibalism, seven men survived the voyage, including Barre.[1][2]
  • On 16 September 1620 (New Style), the sailing ship Mayflower, carrying English and Dutch Pilgrims onboard, set sail from England to North America, reaching New England on 21 November (New Style) the same year.[3]

19th century[]

  • In 1870, the small City of Ragusa of Liverpool became the first small lifeboat to cross the Atlantic from Queenstown, County Cork to Boston with two crew, John Charles Buckley and Nikola Primorac (di Costa).[4]

20th century[]

  • On 15 April 1912 the RMS Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg with a loss of more than 1,500 lives.[5]
  • 1939–1945, during World War II, the Battle of the Atlantic resulted in nearly 3,700 ships sunk and 783 U-boats destroyed.[6]
  • In 1952, Ann Davison was the first woman to single-handedly sail the Atlantic Ocean.
  • In 1965, Robert Manry crossed the Atlantic from the U.S. to England non-stop in a 4.1-meter (13-foot) sailboat named Tinkerbelle.[7] Several others also crossed the Atlantic in very small sailboats in the 1960s, none of them non-stop, though.
  • In 1969 and 1970 Thor Heyerdahl launched expeditions to cross the Atlantic in boats built from papyrus. He succeeded in crossing the Atlantic from Morocco to Barbados after a two-month voyage of 6,100 km with Ra II in 1970, thus conclusively proving that boats such as the Ra could have sailed with the Canary Current across the Atlantic in prehistoric times.[8]
  • In 1984, five Argentines sail in a 10-meter-long raft made from tree trunks named Atlantis from Canary Islands and after 52 days 4,800 kilometres (3,000 mi) journey arrived to Venezuela in an attempt to prove travellers from Africa may have crossed the Atlantic before Christopher Columbus.[9][10]
  • In 1985, Freeport, New York based boatbuilder and marina owner, Al Grovers, Sr., began a voyage which set the Guinness World Record for the first outboard crossing of the Atlantic.[11][12]

21st century[]

  • In August 2019, the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, her father and three crew members made a crossing of the Atlantic from Plymouth to New York in 15 days onboard the Malizia II. The voyage generated all of its power during the crossing using solar power and an under-water turbine.[13]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ The Huguenot settlement in 16th century South Carolina churchmousec.wordpress.com, accessed 28 October 2020
  2. ^ [1][dead link]
  3. ^ "Mayflower departs England". History. 4 March 2010. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  4. ^ William H. Longyard (2003). A speck on the sea: epic voyages in the most improbable vessels. International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-07-141306-0.
  5. ^ Jill, Lawless (16 October 2008). "Last Titanic survivor sells mementos". Associated Press. Retrieved 2015-08-06.
  6. ^ "Introduction" U-Boat Operations of the Second World War—Vol 1 by Wynn, Kenneth, 1998 p. 1
  7. ^ Tinkerbelle (1967; Harper & Row, New York City, N.Y.)
  8. ^ Ryne, Linn. Voyages into History. Retrieved 13 January 2008.
  9. ^ 5 cross Atlantic in tiny raft. News.google.com. 12 July 1984 Retrieved on 27 October 2011.
  10. ^ Expedicion Atlantis Archived 2009-04-25 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
  11. ^ "Our Story: Transatlantic Journey". Al Grovers Marina High and Dry.
  12. ^ "VIDEO: An epic Atlantic adventure". Soundings Online. March 26, 2017.
  13. ^ "Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg makes trans-Atlantic boat trip to attend global warming conference". www.abc.net.au. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
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