Luis Vaez de Torres
Luiz Vaez de Torres was the discoverer of the the body of water that now bears his name - the Torres Strait. Torres was a navigator in the Spanish Navy before he was given command of a ship under Quiros in the explorations to find the great south land, terra Australis or Australia where I live. Quiros only made it to Vanuatu but Torres just sailed right on by. He sailed from the New Hebrides to the Torres Strait, into the Arafura Sea to the Philippines.
Like Quiros, Torres was also a Portuguese working for the Spanish navy. In 1605 Torres is second-in-command to Quiros in his expedition to the Pacific. Torres was in command of the San Pedro, and lost Quiros off the New Hebrides. So he set off for the intended destination of the Philippines. It is speculated that while Torres was sailing through the Torres Strait, he may have seen the northern tip of Australia, Cape York.
On 27th October Torres reached the western tip of New Guinea and then sailed through the Halmahera Sea and reached Ternate in Indonesia in January 1607. He then sailed for Manila which he reached on 22nd May. Captain Cook later sailed through the Torres Straits after his discovery of the east coast of Australia in 1770.
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