Francis Drake was born in 1540 in the town of Tavistock, Devonshire, the son of a poor village priest, Edmund Drake. Some sources claim that his father was a sailor in his youth. Francis' grandfather was a farmer who owned 180 acres of land. Francis's mother was of the Milway family, but I could not find her name. There were twelve children in the Drake family, Francis being the eldest.
Francis left his parents' home early (presumably in 1550), joining a small merchant ship as a cabin boy, where he quickly mastered the art of navigation. Hardworking, persistent and prudent, he liked the old captain, who had no family and who loved Francis like his own son and bequeathed his ship to Francis. As a merchant captain, Drake undertook several long voyages to the Bay of Biscay and Guinea, where he profitably engaged in the slave trade, supplying blacks to Haiti.
In 1567, Drake commanded a ship in the squadron of John Hawkins, famous at that time, who plundered the coast of Mexico with the blessing of Queen Elizabeth I. The English were not so lucky. When, after a terrible storm, they defended themselves in San Juan, they were attacked by a Spanish squadron. Only one ship out of six broke out of the trap and, after a difficult voyage, reached its homeland. It was Drake's ship...
In 1569 he married a girl named Mary Newman, about whom I have not been able to find out anything. It is only known that the marriage was childless. Mary died twelve years later.
The Pelican is the flagship of Francis Drake.
Shortly thereafter, Drake made two exploratory voyages across the ocean, and in 1572 he organized an independent expedition and made a very successful raid on the Isthmus of Panama.
Soon, among the far from good-natured pirates and slave traders, young Drake began to stand out as the most cruel and most successful. According to contemporaries, "he was an imperious and irritable man with a rabid character", greedy, vindictive and extremely superstitious. At the same time, many historians argue that not only for the sake of gold and honors did he undertake risky voyages, that he was attracted by the very opportunity to go where none of the British had yet been. In any case, geographers and sailors of the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries owe to this person many important clarifications of the world map.
After Drake had distinguished himself in suppressing the Irish rebellion, he was presented to Queen Elizabeth and outlined his plan to raid and devastate the western coasts of South America. Along with the rank of rear admiral, Drake received five ships with a crew of one hundred and sixty selected sailors. The queen set one condition: that the names of all those noble gentlemen who, like her, gave money to equip the expedition, remain secret.
Drake managed to hide the true purpose of the expedition from Spanish spies by spreading the word that he was heading for Alexandria. As a result of this misinformation, the Spanish ambassador in London, Don Bernandino Mendoza, did not take action to block the pirate's path to the Western Hemisphere.
On December 13, 1577, the flotilla - the flagship "Pelican" (Pelican) with a displacement of 100 tons, "Elizabeth" (80 tons), "Sea Gold" (30 tons), "Swan" (50 tons) and the galley "Christopher" - left Plymouth .
During the time of Queen Elizabeth I, there were no official rules for measuring ships, and therefore the dimensions of Drake's ship do not match in different sources. By comparing the information, R. Hockel cites the following data: the length between the stems is 20.2 meters, the maximum width is 5.6 meters, the depth of the hold is 3.03 meters, the side height: amidships - 4.8 meters, in the stern - 9.22 meters, in the bow - 6.47 meters; draft - 2.2 meters, mainmast height 19.95 meters. Armament - 18 guns, of which seven guns on each side and two on the forecastle and stern. In terms of the shape of the hull, the Pelican was a transitional type from a carrack to a galleon and was well suited for long sea voyages.
Drake's cabin was finished and furnished with great luxury. The utensils he used were pure silver. During the meal, the musicians delighted his ears with their playing, and a page stood behind Drake's chair. The queen sent him as a gift incense, sweets, an embroidered sea cap and a green silk scarf with the words embroidered in gold: "May God always keep and guide you."
Storming of Cartagena by Drake (vintage engraving)
In the second half of January, the ships reached Mogadar, a port city in Morocco. Taking hostages, the pirates exchanged them for a caravan of all kinds of goods. Then followed a throw across the Atlantic Ocean. Having plundered the Spanish harbors along the way at the mouth of La Plata, on June 3, 1578, the flotilla anchored in the bay of San Julian, in which Magellan dealt with the rebels. Cancer rock dominated this harbor, for Drake also had to suppress the outbreak of a rebellion, as a result of which Captain Doughty was executed. By the way, at the same time, the "Pelican" was renamed the "Golden Doe" (Golden Hind).
Reconstruction of the alleged appearance of the "Golden Doe"
On August 2, having abandoned two ships that had become completely useless, the flotilla ("Golden Doe", "Elizabeth" and "Sea Gold") entered the Strait of Magellan and passed it in 20 days. After leaving the strait, the ships fell into a severe storm, which scattered them in different directions. "Sea Gold" was lost, "Elizabeth" was thrown back to the Strait of Magellan and, having passed it, he returned to England, and "Golden Doe", on which Drake was, skidded far to the south. At the same time, Drake made the unwitting discovery that Tierra del Fuego is not a protrusion of the southern mainland, as was thought at that time, but an archipelago, beyond which the open sea extends. In honor of the discoverer, the strait between Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica was named after Drake.
As soon as the storm subsided, Drake headed north and broke into the harbor of Valparaiso on December 5. Having seized a ship that was in the harbor, loaded with wine and gold bars worth 37,000 ducats, the pirates landed on the shore and plundered the city, taking a cargo of golden sand worth 25,000 pesos.
In addition, they found secret Spanish maps on the ship, and now Drake was not moving forward blindly. I must say that before Drake's pirate raid, the Spaniards felt completely safe on the west coast of America - after all, not a single English ship passed through the Strait of Magellan, and therefore the Spanish ships in this area had no protection, and the cities were not prepared to repulse the pirates. Walking along the coast of America, Drake captured and plundered many Spanish cities and settlements, including Callao, Santo, Trujillo, Manta. In Panamanian waters, he overtook the Carafuego ship, on which a cargo of fabulous value was taken - gold and silver bullion and coins worth 363 thousand pesos (about 1600 kg of gold). In the Mexican harbor of Acapulco, Drake captured a galleon with a cargo of spices and Chinese silk.
Then Drake, having deceived all the hopes of his enemies, did not turn back to the south, but crossed the Pacific Ocean and went to the Mariana Islands. Having repaired the ship in the Celebes area, he headed for the Cape of Good Hope and on September 26, 1580, anchored in Plymouth, completing the second circumnavigation of the world after Magellan.
It was the most profitable of all the trips that have ever been made - it gave an income of 4700% profit, about 500 thousand pounds sterling! To imagine the enormity of this amount, it is enough to give two figures for comparison: the fighting to defeat the Spanish "Invincible Armada" in 1588 cost England "only" 160 thousand pounds, and the annual income of the English treasury at that time was 300 thousand pounds. Queen Elizabeth visited Drake's ship and knighted him right on deck, which was a great reward - there were only 300 people in England who had this title!
Knighting of Francis Drake
The Spanish king Philip II demanded the punishment of the pirate Drake, compensation for damages and an apology. Elizabeth's royal council limited itself to a vague answer that the Spanish king has no moral right "to prevent the British from visiting the Indies, and therefore the latter can travel there, at the risk of being captured there, but if they return without harming themselves, His Majesty cannot ask Her Majesty to punish them..."
In 1585 Drake married a second time. This time it was a girl of a rather rich and noble family - Elizabeth Sydenham. The couple moved into Drake's recently purchased Buckland Abbey estate. Today there is a large monument in honor of Drake. But, as in his first marriage, Drake had no children.
In 1585-1586, Sir Francis Drake again commanded an armed English fleet against the Spanish colonies of the West Indies, and, just as before, returned with rich booty. For the first time, Drake commanded such a large formation: he had 21 ships under his command with 2,300 soldiers and sailors.
It was thanks to Drake's energetic actions that the launch of the Invincible Armada was delayed for a year, which allowed England to better prepare for military operations. Not bad for one person! And it was like this: on April 19, 1587, Drake, commanding a squadron of 13 small ships, entered the harbor of Cadiz, where the Armada ships were preparing to sail. Of the 60 ships that were on the raid, he destroyed 30, and captured and took away some of the rest, including a huge galleon with a displacement of 1200 tons.
In 1588, Sir Francis put his heavy hand to the complete defeat of the Invincible Armada. Unfortunately, this was the zenith of his fame. An expedition to Lisbon in 1589 ended in failure and cost him the favor and favor of the Queen. He could not take the city, and out of 16 thousand people only 6 thousand survived. In addition, the royal treasury suffered losses, and the queen treated such matters very badly. It seems that happiness has left Drake, and the next expedition to the shores of America for new treasures has already cost him his life.
Sir Francis Drake
Everything in this last voyage was unsuccessful: at the landing sites it turned out that the Spaniards were warned and ready to fight back, there was no treasure, and the British suffered constant losses in people, not only in battles, but also from disease. The admiral also fell ill with dengue fever. Feeling the approach of death, Drake got out of bed, dressed with great difficulty, asked his servant to help him put on armor in order to die like a warrior. At dawn on January 28, 1596, he was gone. A few hours later, the squadron approached Nombre de Dios. The new commander, Thomas Baskerville, ordered the body of Sir Francis Drake to be placed in a lead coffin and lowered into the sea with military honors.
Since Sir Francis Drake did not have any children to inherit his title, he was passed on to a nephew, also named Francis. Then it seemed a curiosity of fate, but later became the cause of many incidents and misunderstandings.
Drake Francis (circa 1540-1596), English navigator.
Born in the city of Tavistock (Devonshire) in a farmer's family. In his youth, he sailed on coasters that entered the Thames. After the first trip across the Atlantic Ocean, Drake received a position as a ship captain in the squadron of J. Gaukins. In 1567, he participated in the maritime expedition of Gaukins to seize the ships of the Spanish slave traders and plunder the Spanish possessions in the West Indies.
Since 1570, Drake made pirate raids every summer in the Caribbean, which Spain considered its own. He captured Nombre de Dios in Mexico, plundered caravans that transported silver from Peru to Panama.
In December 1577, Drake set out on his most famous expedition. She was equipped with the money of private investors, which Drake was able to receive thanks to the patronage of the Earl of Essex, the favorite of Elizabeth I. Later, the navigator mentioned that the queen herself invested 1,000 crowns. Drake was instructed to sail through the Strait of Magellan, find suitable places for colonies and return back the same way. He was also supposed to make raids on Spanish possessions in America.
Drake sailed from Plymouth on December 13, 1577. He commanded the Pelican ship (later renamed the Golden Doe) with a displacement of 100 tons; there were four more small ships in the squadron. Having sailed to the coast of Africa, the flotilla captured more than ten Spanish and Portuguese ships. Through the Strait of Magellan, Drake entered the Pacific Ocean; there a strong storm drove the ships south for 50 days. Between Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica, Drake discovered the strait, later named after him. The storm damaged the ships. One of them returned to England, the others drowned. The captain only had the Golden Doe left. Moving along the coast of South America, Drake plundered ships and harbors off the coast of Chile and Peru. On March 1, 1579, he captured the ship Kakafuego, loaded with gold and silver bars. In July of that year, the ship commanded by Drake crossed the Pacific Ocean. In 1580 he returned to Plymouth. Thus, the navigator made a round-the-world trip (the second after F. Magellan), which brought him not only fame, but also wealth.
Having received his share of the booty (at least £10,000), Drake bought an estate near Plymouth. Queen Elizabeth in 1581 granted him the title of knight. In 1585, Drake was appointed commander in chief of the English fleet bound for the West Indies. This marked the beginning of the war with Spain.
In March 1587, Drake took possession of the port city of Cadiz in southern Spain by an unexpected assault, destroyed it and captured about 30 Spanish ships. And again, in addition to military glory, the "pirate of Queen Elizabeth" received a lot of money - his personal part of the captured wealth amounted to more than 17 thousand pounds.
Sir Francis Drake(eng. Francis Drake; c. 1540 - January 28, 1596) - English navigator, slave trader, prominent politician of the era of Elizabeth I, a successful pirate, the second after he made a round-the-world trip, vice admiral, reputed to be a thunderstorm of the seas.
First Englishman to circumnavigate the world (1577-1580).
Childhood and youth
The future "Iron Pirate" of Queen Elizabeth, the first English navigator around the world, was supposedly born in 1540 in the English town of Crowndale, Devonshire.
Francis became the first child in a farmer's family. When 11 more children were born one after another, the father, Edmund Drake, became a rural preacher to feed a large family. In 1549, the family, having leased their land, moved to the south-east of England, to the county of Kent (eng. Kent). This move had a huge impact on the fate of the boy. At the age of 13, Francis, who from childhood dreamed of long-distance sea voyages, fame and fortune, became a cabin boy on his uncle's merchant ship (barge), who fell in love with the hardworking, persistent and prudent young man so much that he bequeathed the ship after his death to his nephew. Thus, after the death of his uncle at the age of 16, Francis became the full captain of his own ship.
Life full of adventure
In 1567, Drake set out on his first serious voyage to the West Indies, commanding a ship on a slave trading expedition of his relative, Sir John Hawkins. During this expedition, near the Gulf of Mexico, the British ships were attacked by the Spaniards, and most of the ships were sunk. Only two sailboats survived - Drake and Hawkins. The British demanded from the Spanish king that he pay them for the destroyed ships. The king, of course, refused, then Drake "declared war" on the Spanish crown.
In 1572, the navigator went on his own repeated campaign to the Spanish possessions in the West Indies, as a result of which he captured the city of Nombre de Dios (Spanish: Nombre de Dios), then several ships near the harbor near the Venezuelan city (Spanish. Cartagena).
During this expedition, an English corsair attacked in the area of the Isthmus of Panama on a Spanish squadron heading from Panama to Nombre de Dios, called the "Silver Caravan", in the holds of which there were approx. 30 tons of silver. August 9, 1573 Drake returned to Plymouth (Eng. Plymouth) a rich man, fanned by the glory of a successful corsair, "thunderstorm of the seas."
On November 15, 1577, the English Queen Elizabeth I ordered her faithful privateer to go on an expedition to the Pacific coast of America. December 13, 1577 Francis Drake on the flagship "Pelican" (Pelican) with a displacement of 100 tons left Plymouth on his most famous campaign at the head of a flotilla, consisting of 4 large ones ("Elizabeth", "Sea Gold", "Swan", "Christopher") ships and 2 small auxiliary vessels. By that time, he was already surrounded by the halo of glory of the "iron pirate", an experienced navigator and a talented naval tactician.
The official purpose of the voyage was to discover new lands, however, in fact, Drake was supposed to rob Spanish ships, replenishing the treasury of England with Spanish gold.
Francis went south to (Spanish: Estrecho de Magallanes), which the squadron passed successfully, but at the exit from it fell into a fierce storm, scattering the ships of the squadron. One ship crashed against the rocks, another was thrown back into the strait, and its captain decided to return to England.
The flagship "Pelican", the only one of all the ships "made its way" to the Pacific Ocean, where it was renamed the "Golden Doe" (Eng. Golden Hind) for its excellent seaworthiness. After a storm, he anchored among the previously unknown islands, calling them "Elizabeth".
Involuntarily, Drake made an important geographical discovery: it turned out that (Spanish: Tierra del Fuego) is not part of the unknown southern mainland, but only a large island, beyond which the open sea continues. Subsequently, the wide one between Antarctica and Tierra del Fuego was named after him.
His further journey consisted of robberies off the coast and, for which the Viceroy of Peru sent 2 ships to capture the pirate. He escaped the pursuit to the northwest, robbing jeweled ships and capturing prisoners along the way. It is impossible to establish the exact number of ships that became victims of the pirate today, but it is known that the booty was fabulous. A particularly large jackpot was waiting for the "sea wolf" in (Spanish: Valparaiso) - the pirates seized a ship that was in the harbor, loaded with gold and expensive goods, and a large supply of golden sand was stored in the city. But the main thing is that on the Spanish ship there were secret nautical charts with a detailed description of the western coast of South America.
The Spanish cities and settlements on the coast did not expect the British to attack and were not ready for defense. Moving along the coast, the pirates captured city after city, filling the holds with gold. Not far from the Isthmus of Panama, they managed to board the large Spanish ship Carafuego, which contained more than 1.6 tons of gold and a huge amount of silver bars. In the Mexican harbor of Acapulco (Spanish Acapulco), Drake captured a galleon loaded with spices and Chinese silk.
The privateer passed along the South American Pacific coast to the north, and then explored the coast far north of the Spanish colonies, approximately to modern Vancouver (eng. Vancouver; a city on the west coast of Canada). On June 17, 1579, the ship landed on an unknown shore, presumably in the San Francisco area (eng. San Francisco), and according to another version, in modern Oregon (eng. Oregon). The pirate declared these lands an English possession, calling them "New Albion" (eng. New Albion).
Map of the movements of the Drake flotilla (1572-1580)
Then he crossed the Pacific Ocean and went to Mariana Islands(Eng. Mariana Islands). After repairing the ship and replenishing provisions, he headed for the Cape of Good Hope, then, bypassing Africa from the south, on September 26, 1580 moored at Plymouth, having completed the 2nd circumnavigation of the world after Magellan in 2 year 10 months and 11 days. At home, the pirate was greeted as a national hero, he was awarded an honorary knighthood by the Queen.
From the circumnavigation of the world, Drake brought to England not only treasures worth a huge amount of 600 thousand pounds sterling (this was 2 times the size of the annual income of the kingdom), but also potato tubers - descendants are especially grateful to him for this.
It should be mentioned that his campaign caused a major international scandal, since there was no official state of war during this period between Spain and England. The Spanish king even demanded that the Queen of England punish Drake for piracy, compensate for material damage and apologize. Of course, Elizabeth was not going to punish anyone or compensate for the damage, on the contrary, from now on, Francis Drake rested on his laurels. He was awarded the post of mayor of Plymouth, became an inspector of the naval Royal Commission, which controlled the state of the fleet, and in 1584 was elected a member of the House of Commons of the British Parliament. Since the knighthood required to have his own castle, Sir Francis bought an estate in Buckland (Eng. Buckland Abbey, Devon).
However, the famous adventurer was clearly burdened by land life. When in the mid 80's. relations between the two countries escalated, Drake offered his services to the Queen and was ordered to form a fleet to attack Spain.
Soon, having received the rank of vice admiral, he prepared 21 ships for the campaign. In 1585, an impressive squadron went to sea, but the captain did not dare to go to the coast of Spain, heading for the Spanish possessions in America, which he thoroughly plundered, capturing a number of large cities, including Santo Domingo (Spanish: Santo Domingo), Cartagena (Spanish Cartagena) and San Augustin (Spanish San Augustine).
In 1587, Drake launched his exceptionally audacious attack on the most important Spanish port of Cadiz (Spanish: Cadiz): with 4 warships, he broke into the port, sank and burned more than 30 Spanish ships. As Francis himself put it, he deftly "burned the beard of the Spanish King." And on the way back, the corsair off the Portuguese coast destroyed about 100 enemy ships. However, the richest booty was brought to the corsair by a Portuguese ship sailing from India with a cargo of spices, which was of such value that every sailor of the flotilla already considered his fate "arranged."
In 1588, Sir Francis, along with other English admirals, defeated the Spanish "Invincible Armada". In 1589, he commanded the combined forces of the fleet ("English Armada"), under his command there were over 150 warships.
Drake's "English Armada"
The corsair tried to capture the Portuguese Lisbon, but due to the lack of siege weapons, he suffered a crushing defeat. It seems that this time Drake's luck left, he could not take the city, and out of 16 thousand people only 6 thousand survived. In addition, his military campaign cost the English treasury 50 thousand pounds sterling, which the stingy Queen could not endure , and the Iron Pirate lost her favor.
The next expedition to the shores of America for new treasures was the last for the corsair (1595-1596). Failures pursued the squadron, in addition, the weather was disgusting and diseases spread among the crews. Drake took the ships to an unfavorable place near the island of Escudo le Veragua (Spanish: Escudo de Veraguas). Food was running out, people were dying of dysentery and tropical fever. Sir Francis himself soon fell ill, and on January 28, 1596, at the age of 56, he died of dysentery near Puerto Bello (modern Portobelo in Panama). According to tradition, the famous navigator was buried under the volleys of ship guns in the ocean, putting the body in a lead coffin. The remnants of the squadron under the command of Thomas Baskerville returned to Plymouth without their admiral.
Personal life
In 1569, Francis Drake married a girl named Mary Newman (eng. Mary Newman), it is known that the first marriage was childless, and Mary died 12 years later.
In 1585, he married a second time to a girl from a rich and noble family, Elizabeth Sydenham(Eng. Elizabeth Sydenham). The couple moved to their new estate "Buckland Abbey", today there is a large monument in honor of the "royal pirate". As in his first marriage, the famous navigator had no children; his entire fortune subsequently passed to his nephew, who was also named Francis.
Francis Drake: Memory
Curious facts
Francis Drake was the eldest of twelve children in the family of Edmund Drake, an ardent supporter of Martin Luther. At the age of twelve, Francis was sent to train on a merchant ship.
In 1563 he made the first long journey to Africa with his cousin. There they began to capture local residents and sell them to the Spaniards in the Caribbean. Since the Spanish settlers were forbidden to trade with foreigners, Drake had a conflict with the Spanish authorities.
A couple of years later, he made the first attack on a Spanish ship. His share of the booty consisted of silver and gold, totaling around £40,000. A staunch Protestant, Drake fancied himself an instrument of God in the fight against Catholics.
The biography of Francis Drake includes many seizures of foreign ships off the coast of both Americas and in the Atlantic Ocean. After meeting Sir Francis Walsingham, he had a plan to go to the Pacific Ocean and defeat the Spanish settlements there.
Thus, the purpose of Francis Drake's journey was not idle interest: his goal was the wealth of the Spaniards and the strengthening of the position of the Protestant church. The expedition was sponsored by several influential people in England and by Queen Elizabeth 1 herself. In total, five ships equipped with guns were equipped for the campaign.
The journey began in November 1577. By the end of the month, Francis Drake had plundered six Spanish and Portuguese ships. On one of them was a captain who knew the coast of Africa well. It was decided to take him with him. In addition, Drake left his ship and appropriated one of the Spaniards' ships.
By June 1578, the flotilla reached the port of San Julian in southern Argentina, where Drake had one of his subordinates executed for attempting to mutiny. Fearing a new conspiracy, he announced that all ship captains appointed by their owners would be stripped of their powers. True, then he again appointed almost all of them captains, but already under his own leadership.
During the passage to the Pacific Ocean, the ships were caught in a severe storm. One of the ships turned back to England, another disappeared without a trace, another remained in San Julian. As a result, Drake got into the Pacific Ocean alone, on his Pelican, renamed the Golden Doe. During the journey, he discovered that Tierra del Fuego is not part of South America, as previously thought. The strait that Francis Drake discovered was later named after him.
Having circled Argentina, the flotilla moved along its western coast. Along the way, a ship with rich booty was captured and the port of Valparaiso was destroyed. By March, Drake had robbed two more Spanish ships carrying money. However, by this time his team consisted of only 70 people, half of whom were injured or sick. In addition, the "Golden Doe" was seriously leaking. Having reached North America, he ordered to anchor in the area of the future California.
Here they were met by a local tribe, who considered the British gods who descended from heaven. The men presented them with gifts in the form of tobacco leaves and bird feathers, while the women sobbed and scratched their faces until they bled. When the time came to set sail, the Indians were greatly saddened. However, in July the ship set off further. In Java, they stocked up on food and crossed the Indian Ocean, then rounded the Cape of Good Hope.
On November 26, 1580, Drake returned to Plymouth, becoming the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world. This campaign brought him wealth and fame. By decree of Queen Elizabeth, he was henceforth called Sir Francis Drake and was elected to the House of Commons. He went to sea more than once to capture Spanish ships.
In 1588, Sir Francis Drake participated in repulsing the attack of the Invincible Armada of Spain, which ended in a crushing defeat for the Spaniards. Pursuing the remnants of the enemy fleet, the British had the opportunity to capture Lisbon, but the ships did not have siege weapons. For services to the fatherland, the queen appointed him mayor of Plymouth.
In 1595, he went on his last campaign, and this is where the biography of Francis Drake ends - in the Caribbean, the famous pirate and navigator died of dysentery at the age of 56. After his death, his body was committed to the ocean, with which he once connected his life.
Francis Drake's message about the discoveries of a corsair, navigator, vice-admiral of the English fleet is set out in this article.
Francis Drake discovered what?
He was the second person after and the first Englishman who circumnavigated the world in 1577-1580. Drake was a talented organizer and naval commander, the main figure in the English fleet, thanks to which the Invincible Spanish Armada was defeated. For what Francis Drake did, Queen Elizabeth I of England granted him a knighthood: the navigator began to be called Sir Francis Drake.
In 1575, he was introduced to the Queen of England, Elizabeth I. She invited the pirate (Drake by that time had the glory of a robber and slave trader) to enter the public service. In addition, she, along with the shareholders, financed his expedition to explore the eastern coast of South America. As a result, Francis Drake's journey not only paid for itself many times over, but also made geographical discoveries and important sea routes.
What did Francis Drake discover between 1577 and 1580?
Francis Drake, whose round-the-world trip began on November 15, 1577, as part of 6 ships, descended to the southern part of the American continent. Having passed the Strait of Magellan, the team entered the waters of the Pacific Ocean. They were caught by a terrible storm, which threw the ships a little south of the islands of Tierra del Fuego. Francis Drake's expedition made a grandiose discovery - the path between the still undiscovered Antarctica and South America. Later it will be named after the traveler - Drake Passage.
All the ships went missing in the storm, leaving only one flagship, the Pelican. Francis Drake, after a miraculous rescue, renamed the ship the Golden Hind. On it, the captain rounded the northern part of the western coast of South America, attacking and plundering Spanish ports along the way.
He reached the shores of modern Canada and California. This Pacific coast was then unexplored and was considered wild land. Drake was the first European in history to stake out new lands for the crown of England. Having replenished supplies, the team headed west, sailed to the Spice Islands. Having rounded the Cape of Good Hope, the corsair returned home on September 26, 1580.
