Sir Francis Drake facts
Sir Francis Drake, a British-born 16th century explorer and politician, is well renowned for his fruitful travels to the Americas and his circumnavigation of the globe. His exact birth date is contested, but he is believed to have been born in the early 1540’s in Devon, England. His father was a Protestant preacher and a father to twelve sons. Although Drake was not of noble birth, he was related to royalty through his cousins and was a distant relative of Sir Walter Raleigh.
Drake was young when he first started seafaring. When he was a teen, he joined the staff of a coastal freight vessel responsible for transporting bark across the English Channel. After proving himself through much hard work, the owner left the boat to Drake. Eventually, Drake moved to ships that transported slaves from West Africa. At age 23, he went on his very first voyage to the New World with his cousin, John Hawkins and his cousin’s fleet of ships. While on one voyage, he was imprisoned by the Spanish for a brief amount of time, which left him with a long-held grudge.
In time, Drake married Mary Newman and gained a reputation for being an expert seafarer. Queen Elizabeth assigned him to the task of sailing to the Americas. He did this successfully in 1572. After invading the Spanish-occupied southern tip of South America – particularly the Nombre de Dios – he returned to England with an impressive amount of Spanish treasures. Queen Elizabeth was so impressed with his work that she sent Drake to circumnavigate the world in 1577. Drake departed from Plymouth in late 1577. After a few failed attempts and revisions of ship and crew numbers, Drake left Plymouth with six total ships and 164 men. His ship was initially named The Pelican, but after taking a few hits and its leader being inspired by a famous politician, Sir Francis Drake renamed it The Golden Hind. This ship and the remaining team sailed up the Pacific Coast of South America, taking Spanish settlements along the way. Eventually Drake and his crew reached the coast of California, where ship repairs were made and Drake established the English settlement of New Albion. Because he wanted to ensure that the Spaniards did not know where this settlement was, to this date no one is sure just where on the Pacific Coast of the United States New Albion is.
Sir Francis Drake continued his journey westward, sailing through the islands of the Pacific, going through the land of present-day Indonesia. He sailed around Africa and ended up back in England in 150. In 1581, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth aboard The Golden Hind. He decided to take some time off from seafaring and became mayor of Plymouth, but his antagonism toward the Spanish did not end.
The late 1580’s brought more visits to The New World by Sir Francis Drake. By 1588, he was named vice admiral of the fleet of ships responsible for defeating the Spanish Armada. Although England was outnumbered by the Spanish’s larger vessels, England claimed victory against the Armada on August 8. Drake did not end his career on the Atlantic until 1595, when he died aboard the Defiance at about age 55.
