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This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Find out more about page archiving. Sir Francis Drake c. World War One Centenary. However, Drake didn't 'discover' these lands, as indigenous populations were settled long before Drake landed. Drake became the first Englishman to navigate the Straits of Magellan, a sea route at the southern tip of South America linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
He discovered that Tierra del Fuego, the land south of the Magellan Strait, was not another continent as Europeans believed, but instead a group of islands. This meant that ships could sail between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans around the bottom of South America later known as the Cape Horn route. Drake also sailed further north along the coast of the Americas than any other European had before.
Francis Drake was born in Tavistock, Devon, around The eldest of 12 sons, he first went to sea as an apprentice aged While Drake is considered a hero in England, he is remembered as a pirate in Spain. He attacked Spanish ships carrying treasures from their colonies in South America, and also raided Spanish and Portuguese ports in the Atlantic Ocean. Hawkins lost four of six ships, and he and Drake narrowly escaped death. This event was a catalyst for Drake's hatred of Spain and preceded the many battles he waged against the Spanish.
It was during his fourth trans-Atlantic voyage, in , that Drake is said to have climbed a tree on the Isthmus of Panama and first glimpsed the Pacific. Captivated by this view, he swore to sail an English ship to those waters.
Drake made good on this oath when he sailed from Plymouth in with a fleet of five ships and headed south and west amidst storms and mutiny. Passing through the Straights of Magellan, Drake reached the Pacific in September of , and continued north, seeking the Northwest Passage. As he headed north, he continued striking at ships and ports along the western coast of South America, a significant source of Spain's colonial wealth.
His ship, the Golden Hind which had originally been named the Pelican , was soon filled with gold and silver, chests of rare porcelains from China, spices, and silks. He ultimately gave up his search for the Northwest Passage and is believed to have spent six weeks at a "convenient and fit harbourgh" in what is now Point Reyes National Seashore in California, repairing the Golden Hind and preparing for a long voyage west across the Pacific. While "The Voyage of Circumnavigation," is one of Drake's most famous maritime exploits, after serving as Mayor of Plymouth and a Member of Parliament in the early s, he returned to sea in to raid Spanish settlements in the Caribbean.
Queen Elizabeth I unleashed Drake on the Spanish in a series of raids that captured several cities in North and South America, taking treasure and inflicting damage on Spanish morale. He ordered the construction of a vast armada of warships, fully equipped and manned.
In a preemptive strike, Drake conducted a raid on the Spanish city of Cadiz, destroying more than 30 ships and thousands of tons of supplies. The English fleet sailed out to meet them, relying upon long-range cannon fire to significantly damage the armada over the ensuing days. The next evening, Lord Howard and Drake organized fire ships to sail right into the Spanish fleet. They did little damage, but the ensuing panic caused some of the Spanish captains to cut anchor and scatter.
Strong winds carried many of the ships towards the North Sea, and the English followed in pursuit. At the Battle of Gravelines, the English began getting the better of the Spaniards.
With the armada formation broken, the lumbering Spanish galleons were easy targets for the English ships, which could quickly move in to fire one or two well-aimed broadsides before scurrying off to safety.
By late afternoon, the English pulled back. Due to weather and the presence of enemy forces, Medina Sidonia was forced to take the armada north around Scotland and back to Spain. As the fleet sailed away from the Scottish coast, a strong gale drove many ships onto the Irish rocks. Thousands of Spaniards drowned, and those who reached land were later executed by English authorities. Less than half of the original fleet returned to Spain, sustaining huge casualties.
In , Queen Elizabeth I ordered Drake to seek out and destroy any remaining ships of the armada and help Portuguese rebels in Lisbon fight against Spanish occupiers. The expedition instead sustained major losses in terms of lives and resources. Drake returned home, and for the next several years busied himself with duties as mayor of Plymouth. After the defeat at Nombre de Dios, Drake's fleet moved farther west and anchored off the coast of Portobelo, Panama.
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