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Where did the Flor de la Mar go down?

Asked 26 Oct 2026 by ·3 answers·0·0 following
Most likely: on shoals off the kingdom of Aru, south-east of Pasai, on the night of 20 November 1511 (the modern…Ahead on the evidence, not yet confirmed. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

Where it stands

Three answers have been proposed. On shoals off the kingdom of Aru, south-east of Pasai, on the night of 20 November 1511 (the modern… leads, with evidence 1 for, 1 against: partly supported by its tests. Two are still possible. Of the one narrower question under it, none is answered yet.

Why it matters

The chronicles give a coast, not a point, and disagree on the date by two weeks. Without a narrower position no survey can be designed and every "discovery" claim is untestable⁠[1]⁠[2].

Answers 3

Evidence: 1 for, 1 against
Most likely
Evidence: 1 for
Still possible
None of these.
Not tested enough to call either way
Evidence: none yet
Still possible

History

  1. Albuquerque & Birch puts forward: closer to Pasai (Pacem), where survivors from the junk made landfall and where the Portuguese had contacts.
  2. Albuquerque & Birch: correia, quoted by Birch, has the fleet leaving Malacca on 1 December 1511, after the 20 November date…Against: On shoals off the kingdom of Aru, south-east of Pasai, on the night of 20 November 1511 (the modern…
  3. Albuquerque & Birch: the Commentaries place the wreck on shallows off the coast of Sumatra on the route from Malacca to India,…For: On shoals off the kingdom of Aru, south-east of Pasai, on the night of 20 November 1511 (the modern…
  4. Albuquerque & Birch: four mariners from the mutinied junk reached Pasai by boat, so the loss was within reach of it.For: Closer to Pasai (Pacem), where survivors from the junk made landfall and where the Portuguese had contacts.
  5. Asked on this site
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