Da Gama Sets Sail with Fleet

Date: February 12, 1502 • Location: Lisbon, Portugal

Vasco da Gama sets sail with 15 ships and 800 men from Lisbon, Portugal on his second voyage to India.

Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese mariner, explorer and nobleman. His discovery of the first maritime route between Europe and India—around the Cape of Good Hope, then across the Indian Ocean from Malindi in Kenya to Kozhikode—opened up European exploration of, and commerce with, India, and is considered a landmark event in world history.