Although they thought they were sailing aimlessly, the survivors had followed exactly the same path that the Nao de China travelled in the 17th century from Acapulco to Manila, discovered by Andrés de Urdaneta in 1565.
It is a matter of some contention whether it was this ship or Urdaneta's nao, the San Pedro, that was first to discover the path across the Pacific from the Philippines to New Spain.
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The discovery, upon which the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade was based was owing to the Spanish Andrés de Urdaneta, who, sailing in convoy under Miguel López de Legazpi, discovered the return route in 1565: the fleet split up, some heading south, but Urdaneta reasoned that the trade winds of the Pacific might move in a gyre as the Atlantic winds did.