<Ul> <Li> The Great White Fleet ; 1907 -- 1909 ; first fleet to circumnavigate the world . </Li> <Li> Harry Pidgeon ; 1921 -- 1925 ; second single - handed circumnavigation . </Li> <Li> HMS Hood , HMS Repulse , and the rest of the Special Service Squadron ; 1923 -- 24 ; in the Empire Cruise , a tour of the British Empire after World War I . </Li> <Li> Harry Pidgeon ; 1932 -- 1937 ; third single - handed circumnavigation , first person to circumnavigate solo twice ( 1921 -- 1925 and 1932 -- 1937 ) . </Li> <Li> Electa and Irving Johnson ; 1934 -- 1958 ; sail training pioneers , circumnavigated the world 7 times with amateur crews . </Li> <Li> Vito Dumas ; 1942 ; single handed circumnavigation of the southern oceans , including the first single handed passage of all three great capes . </Li> <Li> Operation Sandblast ; 1960 ; USS Triton ; first underwater circumnavigation . </Li> <Li> Operation Sea Orbit ; 1964 ; USS Enterprise , USS Long Beach , and USS Bainbridge ; first circumnavigation by an all - nuclear naval task force . </Li> <Li> 1966 Soviet submarine global circumnavigation . </Li> <Li> Sir Francis Chichester ; 1966 -- 1967 ; first single - handed circumnavigation with just one port of call . </Li> <Li> Sir Alec Rose ; 1967 - 1968 ; single - handed circumnavigation with two stops ( in Australia and New Zealand ) . </Li> <Li> Leonid Teliga ; 1967 -- 1969 ; single - handed circumnavigation aboard SY Opty . </Li> <Li> Robin Knox - Johnston ; 1968 -- 1969 ; first single - handed non-stop circumnavigation . </Li> <Li> Robin Lee Graham ; 1965 -- 1970 ; then youngest ( at ages 16 -- 21 ) solo circumnavigation aboard 24 - foot sailboat Dove . </Li> <Li> Chay Blyth ; 1971 ; first westwards single - handed non-stop circumnavigation . </Li> <Li> Edward Allcard ; 1957 -- 1973 ; circumnavigation via the three great capes aboard his 36 - foot wooden ketch Sea Wanderer . </Li> <Li> Jon Sanders ; 1970 - 2017 ; completed ten circumnavigations. . <Ul> <Li> 1970 First solo circumnavigation trip east to west mostly sailing through tropics . </Li> <Li> 1981 - 82 Double nonstop solo circumnavigation west to east via Southern Ocean . </Li> <Li> 1986 - 88 Triple non-stop solo circumnavigation : 657 days 21 hours and 18 minutes at sea . The Guinness World Book of Records cites this as the longest distance sailed non-stop by any vessel ( 71,023 nautical miles ) </Li> <Li> 2016 - 17 Completed 10th circumnavigation at the age of 78 , mostly singlehanded . </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> USS Inchon ; ETR - 3 crew SEP - 1972 - SEP - 1973 Circumnavigation via Panama Canal Norfolk VA . East to West . </Li> <Li> Krystyna Chojnowska - Liskiewicz ; 1976 -- 1978 ; first woman to perform a single - handed circumnavigation . </Li> <Li> Naomi James ; 1977 -- 1978 ; first woman to perform a single - handed circumnavigation via Cape Horn . </Li> <Li> Mark Schrader ; 1982 ; completed two solo circumnavigations . In 1982 -- 1983 became the first American to complete a solo circumnavigation via the five southernmost capes . </Li> <Li> Marvin Creamer ( USA ) ; 21 December 1982 -- 17 May 1984 ; only known person to circumnavigate the globe by boat with no nautical aids , not even a compass or watch ( 1 ) . </Li> <Li> Bertie Reed - 1982 - the first South African to complete three singlehanded circumnavigations . </Li> <Li> David Scott Cowper ; 1985 ; first single - handed circumnavigation by motor boat . </Li> <Li> Dodge Morgan ; 12 November 1985 - 11 April 1986 ; Aboard sailboat American Promise , became first American to sail solo around the world , non-stop . </Li> <Li> Trishna ; 28 September 1985 - 10 January 1987 ; First Indian circumnavigation by an Indian Army Corps of Engineers crew . Also had the first handicapped sailor to sail around the globe . </Li> <Li> Teddy Seymour ; 1987 ; aboard sailboat Love Song ; the first African - American to complete solo single - handed circumnavigation . </Li> <Li> Mike Plant ; 1987 -- 1991 ; completed three circumnavigations . <Ul> <Li> 1986 -- 87 : Won the BOC Challenge ( Class II - Open 50 ) with a time of 157 days aboard Airco Distributor , an Open 50 sloop built by Plant and designed by Roger Martin . </Li> <Li> 1989 : Competed in the first Vendée Globe on Duracell , an Open 60 sloop built by Plant and designed
who was the first person to sail around the world non stop
Robin Knox - Johnston ; 1968 -- 1969