Magellan set out in 1519 with five ships to find a passage through the Americas. Such a passage, if it existed, would allow Spanish ships to follow a westward route to the East Indies. After months of fruitless searching, Magellan eventually found a narrow, dangerous sea passage at the bottom of South America—now called the Strait of Magellan. In 1522, a lone ship sailed into the harbor at Seville, making its crew the first men to sail completely around the world.