The Concepción held 90 tonels[b] and cost 228,750 maravedís[c] to construct.[5] Leaving Seville on August 10, 1519, the Concepción's crew consisted of 44 men under CaptainGaspar de Quesada. Juan Sebastián Elcano was its boatswain. Along with the rest of the fleet, Concepción sailed through the Straits of Magellan in October and November 1520.[6]João Serrão commanded the ship across the Pacific, and became joint leader of the expedition after Ferdinand Magellan's death during a 1521 raid on Mactan Island, whose leader Lapulapu had refused to convert or pay tribute. When Elcano then joined Duarte Barbosa in refusing to free Magellan's MalayslaveEnrique, Enrique convinced the Cebu raja Humabon to massacre the Spanish. However, other sources say that the Cebu raja Humabon decided to poison the Spanish because they did attempt to rape the native women. With too few men and supplies to keep it repaired and manned, and its hull infested by worms,[6] the expedition's new leader João Lopes Carvalho ordered the Concepción, the least seaworthy, to be abandoned and burnt. The burning took place on May 2, 1521.[7][4]
^Note that many English sources such as Joyner[1] provide these numbers calqued as "tons" without converting their values from the actual unit, the Biscayan tonel ("tun"). At the time of Magellan's voyage, this tonel was reckoned as 1.2 toneladas,[2] giving the Concepción a capacity of roughly 108 toneladas,[2]153 m³, 5400 cu. ft., or 54 English shipping tons.
^Note that many English sources such as Joyner[1] provide these numbers calqued as "tons" without converting their values from the actual unit, the Biscayan tonel ("tun"). At the time of Magellan's voyage, this tonel was reckoned as 1.2 toneladas,[2] giving the Concepción a capacity of roughly 108 toneladas,[2]153 m³, 5400 cu. ft., or 54 English shipping tons.
^Spanish currency was extremely complicated during this period but the maravedíunit of account was usually reckoned as 1/375 of the Spanish ducat, making the cost of the Concepción equivalent to the value of about 2125 grams of pure gold.