Sir Francis Drake, the most famous English seaman of the Elizabethan Age, is best known for his exploits against the Spanish and his circumnavigation of the world. Drake was born in Devonshire about 1541 to a poor, staunchly Protestant farming family. He went to sea as a youth, aided by his relations, the Hawkins family of Plymouth. In 1567, he sailed under John Hawkins on an expedition that was attacked by the Spanish at San Juan de Ulua (Vera Cruz, Mexico); only the ships commanded by Hawkins and Drake escaped to return to England. Drake scouted the Panama region in 1570 and returned there the next year, when he bombarded several coastal cities and captured much gold and silver. Temporary duty in Ireland followed.
The deterioration of relations with Spain led Queen Elizabeth I to back an expedition to sail around the world, a feat that had been accomplished only once before, by a Spanish expedition under Ferdinand Magellan. Drake was placed in charge of five small ships and about 160 men and left Plymouth in December 1577. The voyage was a difficult one. Drake had to put down a mutiny off the Patagonian coast and abandoned two small storeships. It took 16 days to pass through the Strait of Magellan; one ship abandoned the quest and returned to England and another disappeared during a storm. Thus, by the time he reached the Pacific, Drake was left with only one ship, the Golden Hind. He traveled up the coasts of Chile and Peru raiding Spanish shipping and sailed far to the north before returning south to touch land in the San Francisco area; he claimed the surrounding region for England and named it New Albion. Drake then set off across the Pacific; he traded in the Spice Islands (Moluccas) and signed treaties with local rulers. He returned to England via the Indian Ocean and the Cape of Good Hope, reaching Plymouth on Sept. 20, 1580, laden with treasure and spices. For his accomplishments, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I.
Drake served as mayor of Plymouth for some years. In 1585, however, he was given command of a large fleet that sacked Vigo, in Spain, then crossed the Atlantic to capture and plunder Cartagena and Santo Domingo and to destroy St. Augustine, in Florida. In 1587 he led a raid on Cadiz that destroyed the stores and many of the ships of the Spanish fleet. This exploit delayed the attack of the Spanish Armada for a year. Drake played a major role in the successful English defense against the armada in 1588 and was acclaimed as England's hero. But his forces were defeated at Lisbon in 1589, and for some years he remained in Plymouth. A final voyage to the West Indies, begun in 1595, was totally unsuccessful; Drake died off the coast of Panama on Jan. 28, 1596.
