Sir Francis Drake
An English Hero, Pirate, and Circumnavigator
Born of middle-class parents around the year 1540, Francis Drake left home at an early age to brave a life at sea. His obvious intelligence helped him quickly climb the ranks until he was captain of his own ship. In 1567, Drake joined an expedition headed by his cousin John Hawkins. Hawkins’ small fleet first sailed to Africa to kidnap slaves and then made for the new world to sell them. While there, the Spanish ambushed the fleet with only Hawkins’ and Drake’s ships escaping.
This set-back did nothing to curb Drake’s enthusiasm, instead it seems to have ignited a hatred for the Spanish that would drive Francis Drake to a series of bold and bloody feats. In 1572 he set sail with two small ships and attacked several colonies in the Spanish Main. His ships returned weighed down with treasure.
In 1577, Queen Elizabeth secretly commissioned Drake to sail against the Spanish. Leaving England with five ships, including his flag ship the Pelican. In a series of violent and bloody encounters, not to mention bad weather, Drake lost all his ships but the Pelican. He renamed his ship the Golden Hind and sailed on.
He sailed into the Pacific and fought his way up the South American coast, looting every Spanish colony he came across. Unable to find a way back through the Americas, he turned west and sailed across the Pacific Ocean. He arrived back in England nearly three years after his departure, but carrying a rich cargo of foreign spices and Spanish treasure. He was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe, and the country hailed him as a hero.
Five years later, he was back at sea, plundering the Spanish, but also helping to supply the colony at Roanoke started by his friend Sir Walter Raleigh.
By 1587 relations with Spain had gotten so bad, partly due to the actions of Sir Francis Drake, that war was deemed unavoidable. Queen Elizabeth again called upon Drake to lead a fleet of ships on a surprise attack against Spain. Sailing into the port of Cadiz, Drake caught the Spanish unprepared and was able to destroy 30 ships.
Despite this set back, one year later, the King of Spain launched his mighty Armada against the English. The English assembled their own massive fleet, of which Sir Francis Drake commanded one wing. For a week the two fleets manoeuvred and sniped at each other, but neither would be drawn into a decisive engagement. Unable to fully group their forces together for the planed invasion, the Spanish Admiral eventually gave up. However, on his way back to Spain a storm destroyed much of his fleet.
Nearly a decade later, Sir Francis Drake set out again with this friend John Hawkins to search for Spanish gold. However, with both men well past their prime, the hard life of the sea caught up with them and both me died of disease on the journey.
