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SIR FRANCIS DRAKE (ca. 1540-1596) DRAKE'S BEGINNINGS The son of a Protestant farmer, Francis Drake was born around 1540 in Devonshire, England. During the Catholic uprising of 1549, the family was forced to flee Devonshire and moved to Kent, where they took up residence in the hulk of an old naval ship moored near Chatham. When he was about 13 years old, Drake was apprenticed to a small ship sailing between North Sea ports, one of the world's roughest, most difficult patches of water. In these early years, Drake honed his piloting skills and eventually rose to master of the ship. He sold the ship when he was about 23 and signed on with a fleet that plied the Atlantic Ocean and traded with the New World, which the Catholic church had placed under Spanish rule. DRAKE'S REPUTATION ESTABLISHED On his first voyage to the West Indies, Drake was outraged at the way the Spanish treated foreigners in their colonies. On his second expedition to the New World, Drake's hatred of the Spanish deepened when the Spaniards attacked the English fleet and killed many of its sailors. That expedition, though financially devastating, established Drake as an excellent seaman and brought him to the attention of Queen Elizabeth I, who in 1572 commissioned him as a privateer, enabling him to plunder in Spanish territory. Accordingly, Drake set out to capture the prosperous town of Nombre de Dias in Panama. He was successful and returned from the voyage rich and famous, but the Queen, who had just signed a temporary truce with King Phillip II of Spain, was unable to officially acknowledge Drake's accomplishment. |
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CIRCUMNAVIGATION AND KNIGHTHOOD In 1577, Queen Elizabeth backed an expedition, led by Drake, with the object of passing through the Strait of Magellan and exploring South America's Pacific coast to form trading agreements with peoples outside Spanish influence. If possible, the fleet would also explore a new continent that purportedly lay across the Pacific. This time, the Queen gave Drake official permisson to plunder both for her and his own benefit and to damage Spanish holdings as revenge "for divers injuries." Drake set out with five small ships, two of which he abandoned after redistributing the supplies they had carried once he reached South America. On the difficult passage through the Strait of Magellan, his flagship, The Golden Hind, became separated from the other two vessels during a fierce storm. Assuming that Drake's ship had sunk, his second in command sailed home to England. Drake and his crew continued up South America's Pacific coast, attacking and pillaging Spanish ports and ships, amassing a fortune in Spanish gold, silver, pearls and jewels. Before pressing on across the Pacific, Drake sailed north as far as Vancouver to seek the Northwest Passage, but when extreme cold weather forced him to turn back, he headed south down the coast. Anchoring just north of what is now San Francisco, Drake claimed the region, which he named Nova Albion, for the Queen. By July 1579, the Hind was sailing westward and eventually made its way back to England, having circled the globe. |
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On September 26, 1580, The Golden Hind, which had been presumed lost, sailed into Plymouth Harbour, laden with Spanish treasure, making Francis Drake the first captain to circumnavigate the globe in his own ship. When the Spanish protested bitterly about his having plundered their holdings in the New World, Queen Elizabeth swept aboard The Golden Hind as if to reprimand Drake and knighted him instead.
DEFEAT OF THE SPANISH ARMADA In 1585, hostilities with Spain had increased, and Elizabeth gave Sir Francis Drake command of 25 ships and charged him to do as much damage as he could to Spain's holdings in the New World. Drake obliged the Queen, seizing and plundering Spanish cities in the West Indies, all but ruining Spanish credit. But soon Spain's Phillip II had Pope Pius V's blessing to conquer England and restore it as a Catholic country. Hearing this, the Queen ordered Drake to "impeach the provisions of Spain," and in 1587 he attacked Spain's Cadiz harbor and quickly destroyed ships and supplies earmarked for the Armada, the fleet that was to invade England. Drake's victory in Cadiz delayed Spain's ships for a year, but in July 1588 the Armada had reached the English Channel in full strength. Drake was chosen as Vice Admiral, under Lord Howard, to repel the invasion, but easily eclipsed Howard during the battle. When the Armada sought refuge at Calais, Drake drove them out with fire ships, and the Spanish fleet was dispersed and virtually decimated. |
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On his final voyage to the West Indies in 1596, Sir Francis Drake died of a fever that swept through his fleet off Puerto Bello, Panama. He remains one of Englands most popular heroes, and is considered to be one of the greatest seamen in the history of the world. |
