Gavin Menzies (b. 1937) is a retired submarine commander and the author of the controversial book The Year China Discovered America which asserted that ships from the Chinese fleet of admiral Zheng He travelled to the Americas prior to Christopher Columbus' arrival in 1492 and circumnavigated the globe a century before Ferdinand Magellan.

Menzies joined the Royal Navy in 1953 and served in submarines from 1959 to 1970. When he was the commander of the diesel submarine HMS Rorqual (1968-1970), Menzies claims he sailed the routes sailed by Ferdinand Magellan and Captain James Cook. In 1969 in the Philippines, HMS Rorqual rammed a U.S. Navy minesweeper, the USS Endurance which was moored at a pier. This collision punched a large hole in USS Endurance but did not damage HMS Rorqual. Menzies and one of his subordinates were found responsible in the ensuing enquiry. Some critics have questioned Menzies' nautical knowledge and whether he has actually sailed the routes he has claimed, particularly while commanding HMS "Rorqual".

Menzies now resides in North London with his wife, Marcella, and two daughters.

In 1996 Gavin Menzies, under his full name of Rowan Gavin Paton Menzies, was declared a vexatious litigant by HM Courts ServiceMenzies had been declared bankrupt following losses in an investment, and sought to launch a variety of criminal proceedings against the allegedly delinquent directors. Some scholars are reluctant to criticise the 1421 hypothesis because of Menzies' litigious behaviour [http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=H-Asia&month=0511&week=b&msg=hVRc3WWmNX16pLh5x9w8iQ&user=&pw=.

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Further reading

• Menzies, Gavin (2003). 1421: The Year China Discovered America. Morrow/Avon, hardcover, 576 pages. ISBN 0060537639.

See also

• 1421 hypothesis
• The Year China Discovered America
• Newport Tower (Rhode Island)

External links

• Official Web site of the book
• John Noble Wilford, "'1421': Pacific Overtures" (registration required), New York Times - Review of 1421 by a science correspondent.
• Menzies' page on the 1421 website
• The 1421 Heresy

Critics

• Gavin's Fantasy Land, 1421
• Critical scholarly review of Menzies
• The '1421' myth exposed
• A critical view of Menzies' story
• Another critical view by Manuel Luciano da Silva, MD
• USS Endurance's web site with photographs and official documents relating to its ramming by HMS Rorqual

Royal Navy officers | British historians | History of China | Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact | 1937 births | Living people

Gavin Menzies | 加文·孟席斯