A ranar 8 ga Yuli 1497 Vasco da Gama ya jagoranci rundunar jiragen ruwa guda hudu tare da ma'aikatan mutane 170 daga Lisbon. Nisa da aka yi a cikin tafiya a kusa da Afirka zuwa Indiya da baya ya fi kusa da ma'auni. Masu ba da gudummawa sun hada da mafi yawan ƙwarewar Portugal, Pero de Alenquer, Pedro Escobar, João de Coimbra, da Afonso Gonçalves. Ba'a san tabbas yawan mutanen da ke cikin ma'aikatan kowane jirgi ba amma kimanin 55 suka dawo, kuma an rasa jiragen ruwa biyu. Biyu daga cikin jiragen ruwa sun kasance carracks, sabon da aka gina don tafiya; wasu sun kasance caravel da jirgin ruwa hudu. Jirgin ruwa sun kasance: Tambaya: A wace shekara ne Vasco da Gama ya jagoranci jiragen ruwa hudu tare da ma'aikatan 170 a cikin shekara ta 1498?
1497 da kuma