Cavendish, Thomas (c. 1560-92), English buccaneer and the third circumnavigator of the earth.
Cavendish sailed with Sir Richard Grenville on Grenville's voyage to America in 1585. On his return to England, he started planning a circumnavigation of the globe modeled on Sir Francis Drake's voyage.
Cavendish sailed from Plymouth, England, with three boats in 1586. He generally followed Drake's route of 1577-80 and reached the Cape Verde Islands before heading west. He discovered Port Desire (now Puerto Deseado) in Argentina. After passing through the Strait of Magellan, he looted Spanish settlements and ships as far north as California, before crossing the Pacific.
Cavendish stopped in the Philippines, the Moluccas and Java, before crossing the Indian Ocean. He rounded the Cape of Good Hope and arrived back in Plymouth in the fall of 1588 with only one ship left, but loaded with great booty. Cavendish had circumnavigated the world in 26 months, seven months less than it took Drake.
