Giovanni da Verrazzano- explorer of North America

[Anatol]

Verrazzano was born in Tuscany, near Florence, and was the recipient of a thorough education. As a young man he lived in Dieppe, France, and entered the French maritime service. Verrazzano made two voyages to the Levant (present-day Turkey, Syria and Lebanon). France at the time was increasingly jealous of Spain's early ventures in the New World. In 1524, Verrazzano set sail in search of a Northwest Passage to Asia.
Within months, four ships set sail due west for the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, but a violent storm and rough seas caused the loss of two ships. The remaining two damaged ships, La Dauphine and La Normande, were forced to return to Brittany.
Repairs were completed in the final weeks of 1523, and the ships set sail again. This time, the ships headed south toward calmer waters, which were under the dangerous Spanish and Portuguese control.
After a stop in Madeira, complications forced La Normande back to home port, but Verrazzano's ship La Dauphine departed on January 17, 1524, piloted by Antoine de Conflans, and headed once more for the North American continent.
Initially he reached the West Indies, then sailed on to the coast of North America. He arrived first at present-day North Carolina, then headed north past Sandy Hook into New York Harbor. It was quickly discovered that the Hudson River was not a strait, so the voyage continued to Narragansett Bay, another dead end. Verrazzano later pushed on past Cape Cod, Maine, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. He then returned to France by 8 July 1524.This voyage established a French claim to these lands.
Verrazzano arranged a second voyage, with financial support from Jean Ango and Philippe de Chabot, which departed from Dieppe with four ships early in 1527. One ship was separated from the others in a gale near the Cape Verde Islands, but Verrazzano reached the coast of Brazil with two ships and harvested a cargo of brazilwood before returning to Dieppe in September. The third ship returned later, also with a cargo of brazilwood.[30]
The partial success did not find the desired passage to the Pacific Ocean, but it inspired Verrazzano's final voyage, which left Dieppe in early 1528.
There are conflicting accounts of Verrazzano's demise. In one version, during his third voyage to North America in 1528, after he had explored Florida, the Bahamas, and the Lesser Antilles, Verrazzano anchored out to sea and rowed ashore, probably on the island of Guadeloupe. He was allegedly killed and eaten by the native Caribs.[32] The fleet of two or three ships was anchored out of gunshot range, and no one could respond in time.
Verrazzano's brother, Gerolamo, published maps that were among the first depictions of North America. Virginia was shown as a very narrow strip of land bounded on the western side by the Indian Ocean. Verrazzano's accomplishments were honored in the 1964 dedication of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, which links Brooklyn and Staten Island in New York Harbor.
PMR 2019; [P]. Marshall Islands 2008;41,0.
Source: https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h534.html