Drake Francis (c. 1540-1596), English navigator.

Born in the town of Tayvistoke (Devonshire) into a farmer's family. In his youth he sailed on coasting ships that entered the Thames. After his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, Drake received a position as captain of a ship in J. Hawkins' squadron. In 1567, he participated in Hawkins's naval expedition to capture the ships of Spanish slave traders and plunder Spanish possessions in the West Indies.

Since 1570, Drake carried out pirate raids every summer in the Caribbean Sea, which Spain considered its own. He captured Nombre de Dios in Mexico, plundering caravans transporting silver from Peru to Panama.

In December 1577, Drake set out on his most famous expedition. It was equipped with money from private investors, which Drake was able to obtain thanks to the patronage of the Earl of Essex, the favorite of Elizabeth I. Later, the navigator mentioned that the queen herself invested 1000 crowns. Drake was tasked with sailing through the Strait of Magellan, finding suitable sites for colonies and returning back the same way. It was also assumed that he would carry out raids on Spanish possessions in America.

Drake sailed from Plymouth on December 13, 1577. He commanded the ship "Pelican" (later renamed "Golden Hind") of 100 tons; there were four more small ships in the squadron. Having reached 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 a strait that was later named after him. The storm damaged the ships. One of them returned to England, the others drowned. The captain only had the “Golden Hind” left. Moving along the coast of South America, Drake robbed ships and harbors off the coasts of Chile and Peru. On March 1, 1579, he captured the ship Cacafuego, loaded with gold and silver bars. In July of the same year, the ship commanded by Drake crossed the Pacific Ocean. In 1580 he returned to Plymouth. Thus, the navigator made a trip around the world (the second after F. Magellan), which brought him not only fame, but also wealth.

Having received his share of the spoils (at least 10 thousand pounds sterling), Drake bought an estate near Plymouth. Queen Elizabeth granted him the title of knight in 1581. In 1585, Drake was appointed commander-in-chief of the English fleet heading to the West Indies. This marked the beginning of the war with Spain.

In March 1587, Drake unexpectedly captured the port city of Cadiz in southern Spain, destroyed it and captured about 30 Spanish ships. And again, in addition to military glory, the “pirate of Queen Elizabeth” received huge amounts of money - his personal share of the captured wealth amounted to more than 17 thousand pounds sterling.

Drake, Francis
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Sir Francis Drake (English Francis Drake; about 1540 - January 28, 1596) - English navigator and corsair of the times of Elizabeth I. The first Englishman to circumnavigate the world (in 1577-1580) defeated the Spanish fleet (Invincible Armada) in the Battle of Gravelines 1588 Owned the Buckland Abbey estate in Yelverton.

Biography

Childhood and youth
Francis Drake was born at Crowndale, near Tayvistoke, in Devonshire, the son of a farmer (father Edmund Drake), who later became a priest. In total, there were twelve children in the Drake family, Francis was the eldest. In 1549 the Drake family moved to Kent. At the age of 13 he became a sailor, was an assistant captain, and at the age of 16 he took command of a ship - a small barque. The first voyages were in the North Sea.

Adult life
In 1567 he set sail to Guinea and the West Indies, commanding a ship on the slave trading expedition of his relative John Hawkins. During this expedition, the British ships were attacked by the Spaniards, and most of them were sunk. According to various sources, from one (Drake's ship) to three ships survived.

In 1572, he went on his own expedition to the Spanish possessions in the West Indies, captured the city of Nombre de Diaz on the Isthmus of Panama, captured ships in the harbor of Cartagena, and burned Portobello. During this raid, Drake crossed the Isthmus of Panama several times overland and captured the Spanish "Silver Caravan" (about 30 tons of silver). On August 9, 1573, Drake returned to Plymouth famous.

On November 15, 1577, Drake was sent by Queen Elizabeth on an expedition to the Pacific coast of America. The official purpose of the trip was to discover new lands, in particular Australia. In fact, Drake was supposed to loot as much Spanish gold as possible and return to England with this cargo. Francis set out on this journey on the 100-ton flagship Pelican, which was accompanied by four other ships. Without entering the Strait of Magellan, Drake was the first to bypass Tierra del Fuego, thereby finding out that it was not part of the southern continent (although Drake's primacy is disputed).

After the flagship “Pelican” was the only one of all the ships that “made its way” to the Pacific Ocean, it was renamed the “Golden Hind”. Drake sailed along the Pacific coast, attacking Spanish ports such as Valparaiso, and explored the coast well north of the Spanish colonies, to approximately modern Vancouver. On June 17, 1579, Drake allegedly landed in the San Francisco area (according to another hypothesis, in modern Oregon) and declared this coast an English possession (“New Albion”).

After replenishing provisions and repairs, Drake crossed the Pacific Ocean and reached the Moluccas. Having circumnavigated Africa, Drake returned to England on September 26, 1580, bringing treasures worth 600,000 pounds. For this expedition Drake was awarded a knighthood. In 1588, he was one of the English admirals who defeated the Spanish "Invincible Armada". After this, Drake suggested that Elizabeth I of England attack Lisbon. The English, led by Drake, would have captured Lisbon, but he had no siege engines. After this he lost the queen's favor. Died of dysentery, at dawn, January 28, 1596.

Drake and the World Map
Drake is also famous in geography. The strait between Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica is named after him.

The strait between Antarctica and Tierra del Fuego, the strait connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, is named after Francis Drake, a 16th-century pirate. And this is one of the reasons why he can be called the most famous real-life pirate. Drake became famous for circumnavigating the world (the second in history!) and taking an active part in the defeat of the Spanish fleet, which was then called the Invincible Armada. At one time, Drake was very useful to the British crown, and therefore, in the end, he was even able to receive the titles of knight and admiral. There were indeed many sharp storms and turns in the life of Her Majesty's pirate...

Drake as a slave trader and his first adventures

Francis Drake was born into the family of a ship's chaplain in 1540 or 1541. While still a child (between the ages of 10 and 13), he was recruited as a cabin boy on a merchant ship. The old captain was impressed by the young man’s diligence in maritime affairs, and therefore decided to bequeath his ship to Drake. Thus, already in 1561 Drake had his own ship.

And when Francis became a little older, a relative, the then famous sailor John Hawkins, took him on his voyage. Hawkins and Drake wanted to profit from the smuggling slave trade. The “business” scheme was simple: take slaves in Africa, and then transport them in holds and sell them in one of Spain’s colonies in the West Indies (on the Caribbean islands).

One of the expeditions led by Hawkins, in which Drake participated, took place in 1567. And so it happened that, near the coast of Mexico, English ships were subjected to a treacherous attack by the Spaniards. A significant part of these ships sank to the bottom; only two ships - Drake and Hawkins - were able to escape. The British authorities subsequently demanded from the king of the Spanish Empire (then Philip II) that he compensate for the lost ships, but were refused. Upon learning of this, Drake said that he himself would take everything he could from the Spanish crown.

That is, Drake in many cases was driven not only by the thirst for profit, but also by the desire for revenge. Soon he begins to act no longer as a slave trader, but as a pirate - he sinks and robs dozens of merchant ships flying Spanish flags, simultaneously bringing destruction to coastal ports.

Drake's journey for the treasures of the "Silver Caravan"

The Drake expedition of 1572–1573 is quite well known and described in detail by contemporaries. The pirate visited Spanish possessions in the West Indies, captured the port of Nombre de Dios, which was located on the territory of modern Panama, and sank a number of ships near the harbor of Cartagena (the port of Cartagena in the Caribbean Sea now belongs to Colombia).

In addition, on the Isthmus of Panama, he managed to intercept the Spanish squadron “Silver Caravan” - this squadron was so called because it was transporting about thirty tons of silver. Moreover, during the operation to seize wealth from the Silver Caravan, Drake showed remarkable ingenuity. For example, he and his team managed to break through the cordon of ships of the colonial authorities that patrolled the coast on an ordinary wooden raft. Drake hid the treasures on the shore in advance and returned for them the next night. It was a real success for the English “gentleman of fortune.”

On August 9, 1573, Drake returned to Plymouth. And as a result, he became a corsair known throughout England (that’s what pirates were called in those days, who had a kind of license from the state to capture and plunder enemy ships). Drake's financial situation has improved significantly - he is now rich and no longer dependent on sponsors and shipowners.

The beginning of the English corsair's voyage around the world

Over the years, Drake's reputation as an "iron pirate" and, at the same time, a skilled naval tactician, only grew stronger. It is not surprising that in preparation for a naval war with Spain, Francis Drake was called in for consultations. He said that a good option in this case would be an attack on Spanish territories and lands in America. Some time after this, Drake was invited to a secret audience with Queen Elizabeth I. Their meeting took place in mid-November 1577 - the pirate and the royal lady found something to say to each other.

Queen Elizabeth I, who tacitly supported the pirate Drake

As a result, Elizabeth I gave the go-ahead to the corsair for an expedition to the Pacific coast of South America. In addition, behind the scenes, Her Majesty, like a number of other respectable gentlemen, became a sponsor of this expedition. It is also known that during the audience the queen gave Drake a silk scarf with parting words embroidered in gold.

Soon a luxurious flotilla of five ships was built for Drake. The flagship ship was the Pelican, with a displacement of one hundred tons. It was here that Francis' cabin was located, which was also very richly furnished. In general, Drake, even when traveling, preferred to lead a luxurious lifestyle - he ate from silver dishes, and during the meal he was entertained by musicians. In addition, there was always a page nearby, ready to fulfill any order.

On December 13, 1577, Drake's flotilla set out from Plymouth and set off on a long, long journey. First, Drake and his crew (a total of about 160 people on all ships) committed several robberies against Spanish and Portuguese ships with valuable cargo off the African coast. On top of that, the team managed to capture a Portuguese pilot who knew the safe sea routes to South America well.

In June 1578, Drake's flotilla approached San Julian Bay, located relatively close to the Strait of Magellan. During the winter here, a riot broke out on one of the ships, which was supported by some of the crew. But this rebellion was suppressed, and Drake eventually even ordered the execution of the instigator named Doughty - for treason.

After the winter and before heading directly to the Strait of Magellan, Drake's team dragged everything valuable from the two smallest ships of the flotilla, which were severely damaged, to other ships - it was decided to leave them in the port.

The further journey presented another unpleasant surprise. At the exit from the Strait of Magellan, all three ships of Drake's flotilla were caught in a storm - as a result, one of them ran into rocks and drowned, and the second was thrown back into the strait (its captain subsequently chose to sail back to England). And only the Pelican, by some miracle, was able to make its way to the Pacific Ocean, after which it was carried very far to the south. Thus, by the way, Drake’s team managed to find out that Tierra del Fuego is an island, and not part of some unknown continent.

In honor of the fact that the Pelican managed to survive such a strong storm, Drake renamed it the Golden Hind. And he also ordered the figurine on the bow of the ship to be replaced.

"Golden Hind" goes north

So, the pirate had only one ship left at his disposal. But Drake, like a true adventurer, decided not to retreat and continued the mission. The ship headed north to the coast of Chile.

And then Drake begins to have very good luck as a pirate. In the ports on the west coast of South America, he encountered virtually no resistance (the Spaniards simply did not think anyone could get there), and this made it easy to obtain loot.

In particular, the port of Valparaiso (located in the territory of modern Chile) was plundered. In this port, the pirates got a particularly big jackpot - a ship loaded with gold and expensive items. And in the city itself, a substantial reserve of gold was also discovered.

But still, after some time, a reaction to Drake’s actions followed: the ruler of Peru sent two ships in pursuit of the Golden Hind. A patrol was also posted in the Caribbean Sea in case Drake and his team tried to cross the Isthmus of Panama. But all this did not help - Drake left his possible pursuers to the north, and there he continued to rob ships with jewelry. It is impossible to accurately determine the number of ships that fell under the hot hand of the corsair, but it is clear that the booty was truly enormous.

Drake's plan was to find a strait somewhere in the north leading to the east, and through this strait to get to the Atlantic. However, Drake soon realized that it was unlikely that he would be able to return home the same way. The further the ship sailed, the more worried the crew became. The coastline kept deviating and deviating to the northwest - a passage to the east was never discovered.

The deteriorating weather conditions corresponded to the gloomy mood of the sailors. It was getting colder, and the sky began to rain and snow more often. At a certain point, the rigging even became covered with a layer of ice, and this complicated control of the ship.

Drake's meeting with the Indians and return home

Drake's expedition, apparently, still managed to reach the 48th parallel of northern latitude - and not a single European ship had ever been to these places in North America before. But here Drake realized that there was no point in going further. Therefore, the Ship turned back south and descended back to warmer latitudes.

In June 1579, in the region of 38° north latitude (that is, not far from present-day San Francisco), the crew of the Golden Hind landed on shore to rest and repair the ship. Here they were met by local Indians. Moreover, the natives did not show any hostility - they mistook the strange aliens for gods. Realizing this, the “gods” were not at a loss and exchanged some things from the “Golden Doe” for food and water.

The British spent several more weeks here. And the Indians, the more they communicated with travelers, the more they believed that they had met the gods. According to the description of the ship's priest, at some point the Indian leader, without any violence, transferred power to the “chief of the gods” - Drake.

The pirate wanted to annex the land he had discovered to the United Kingdom. He gave it the name "New Albion". To confirm the right to own land, a special copper plate with the corresponding text was made. The plate was fixed on a pole, and instead of a seal, Drake allegedly left a silver coin with a portrait of the queen.

After resting and weighing the pros and cons, Drake decided to sail west. Moreover, even off the coast of Nicaragua, the team managed to take with them Spanish maps of the Pacific Ocean as booty.

From the shores of America, the ship "Golden Hind" sailed west in July 1579. And everything turned out, in general, as planned. Drake's team first stopped in the Philippines, then in the Mollucan archipelago, and then on the island of Java. Then there were relatively familiar places - the ship rounded the Cape of Good Hope and made only one more stop on the way home - in Sierra Leone.

So, in September 1580, Drake arrived triumphantly in Plymouth. His ship was filled with treasures worth 600,000 pounds, which was equal to the income of the British kingdom for two years. The Queen immediately awarded Drake a knighthood. In fact, Drake became the first person to circumnavigate the world from start to finish (Magellan, as we know, died on the way).

Drake as an admiral and his last years of life

Having become a nobleman, Drake acquired a cozy estate for himself and got married - his wife was a girl from a wealthy family. He also served at one time as mayor of Plymouth and sat in parliament. But still, he didn’t really like the measured life. Therefore, he organized several more expeditions to the Caribbean.

And in 1588, Drake was already a British admiral. In the victory over the Invincible Armada, he played a role that is difficult to overestimate. Strictly speaking, Sir Francis Drake introduced very effective innovations in the tactics of naval battles. He relied primarily on the speed of the ships, and therefore was able to defeat the Spanish fleet, which was generally armed with more powerful guns. The new tactics of the British looked like this: first, the sails of the enemy ship were spoiled with clips - this immobilized it and turned it into a standing target, and then they used all the means available in the arsenal to destroy it.

Drake distinguished himself, among other things, in the Gravelines naval battle, in which the Invincible Armada lost

And in 1589, Drake practically commanded the combined forces of the English fleet; he had more than 150 warships at his disposal - an amazing career for a former corsair pirate!

But even after this he did not calm down - he wanted to make another expedition to the islands of Central and South America for gold and treasures. The legendary corsair set off on this voyage in 1595, and, unfortunately, it became fatal for him.

The expedition did not go well from the very beginning: the weather outside was disgusting, and dysentery and tropical fever began to spread among the crew members of the ships (and under the leadership of Drake, by the way, there was a whole squadron). In addition, Drake brought the ships to an unfavorable place due to the strong winds around the island of Escudo le Veragua. As time passed, food supplies on the ships began to run out, and this, of course, also did not add joy to the sailors...

And then Sir Drake contracted dysentery. He could no longer cope with this illness. The legendary pirate died on January 28, 1596 - the ship was en route at that time. The famous “sea wolf” was buried under cannon fire right in the sea, in a special lead coffin. The squadron (or rather, what was left of it) returned to Plymouth without a captain.

Myths and attractions associated with Drake's personality

As those who knew Francis Drake testify, he was an irritable, greedy, power-hungry and very superstitious person. And already during his lifetime, a Spanish legend appeared that in his youth Drake sold his soul to the devil and in return received luck in sea battles and adventures. There was also a belief that it was Drake who brought terrible storms on the “Invincible Armada,” and supposedly the witches with whom he had been in close contact since childhood helped him in this. Of course, these are just rumors and myths.

On the other hand, it is obvious to many expert historians that the “greedy” Drake did not undertake risky expeditions only for the sake of countless treasures. Like all great navigators, he was attracted by uncharted lands, the desire to visit places where no one had ever been before. And the sailors of subsequent generations owe many significant clarifications on the world map to this corsair.

By the way, there is a version that it was Drake who first brought potatoes to Europe, but most likely it is not true. This was probably done earlier by the Spaniards. However, in the German town of Offenburg, in the middle of the 19th century, a stone statue of the great corsair with a potato flower in his palm was erected - its author was the sculptor Andre Friedrich.

Today, Drake is most revered and remembered, of course, in Britain. His portrait even appeared on one of the stamps of the United Kingdom in 1973.

And there are especially many memorable places associated with Drake in the city of Plymouth. Here stands his monument and the Drake Museum. And in London, on the south bank of the Thames, you can see the recreated ship "Golden Hind" - today it is a tourist attraction. However, like the manor house in which Drake once lived - Buckland Abbey.

This house has long been turned into a museum. And one of its most important exhibits is the Drake drum. They say that it begins to sound on its own on days of significant and fateful events for Great Britain...

Documentary film “Francis Drake. Conquest of the Seven Seas"

The life path of this man is amazing: at the age of 16, he was a ship captain, a successful pirate who was the second after Magellan to circumnavigate the world, an English sir and admiral who became a true thunderstorm of the seas and defeated the “Invincible Armada.” And it all began in the middle of the 16th century in the town of Tavistock in the English county of Devonshire, where the first-born, named Francis, was born into a farmer’s family around 1540. Subsequently, the family added 11 more children, and the father, Edmund Drake, became a preacher in order to feed his large family and in 1549 moved to Kent, renting out his lands.

Since childhood, Francis dreamed of long sea voyages, fame and wealth. He began the path to realizing his dream at the age of 13, hiring himself as a cabin boy on a small ship. The guy turned out to be a smart sailor, and soon became the captain's mate, and at the age of 16 (according to other sources, 18) he bought a small bark on which he began to transport goods. But ordinary trade voyages provide little profit, whether it is pirate fishing or the slave trade. And Francis in 1567, commanding a ship in the squadron of his distant relative John Hawkins, set off on a long voyage to the shores of Africa for slaves, and then to the West Indies, where he could plunder the coast and capture Spanish ships.

This campaign, although it ended in failure, gave the young captain experience of long voyages. When Hawkins' storm-battered ships were undergoing repairs in the port of Veracruz, on the east coast of Mexico, they were blocked by a Spanish squadron. Only a few ships managed to escape in battle, including the ship under the command of Drake. Returning to England, Drake began to prepare for new campaigns.

He made several successful voyages to the West Indies, where he robbed ships in the Caribbean, burned several coastal towns and villages, and captured Spanish ships in the harbor of Cartagena. His most successful landings were on the Isthmus of Panama, where the pirates managed to defeat several Spanish caravans delivering mined silver to the coast.

Now the successful captain was well known in England, and in November 1577 Drake was sent on an official expedition to the coast of America in the Pacific Ocean. He was entrusted with the discovery and bringing new lands under the rule of the English queen, and most importantly, the plunder of Spanish territories and ships transporting silver and gold. To confuse the Spaniards, a rumor was spread that Drake's squadron was heading to Alexandria.
This time, Drake already had five ships under his command; he raised his flag on the 100-ton flagship Pelican. Drake's ship carried 18 cannons and had three masts - a foresail and a mainsail with straight sails and a mizzen with a slanting sail. It was something between a carrack and a galleon. Despite its relatively small size, the ship had excellent seaworthiness.

It is worth noting that Queen Elizabeth took part in the preparation of the campaign, who, in the hope of a solid profit, even presented Drake with gifts: an embroidered sea cap, a silk scarf on which the words “May God always protect and guide you” were embroidered in gold, as well as exquisite foods, sweets and incense.

The voyage started well. By the end of January 1578, the ships approached the coast of Morocco, where they captured the city of Mogadar, receiving a large number of various goods as ransom. Then they went to the shores of America, where they began robberies. Here, a conspiracy matured on several ships; their crews decided to separate from Drake and engage in independent piracy. But the plot was discovered and brutally suppressed, Drake even had to hang one captain. Having reorganized the teams and abandoned the two most damaged ships, Francis headed south to the Strait of Magellan.

The squadron passed through the strait successfully, but after it it found itself in a fierce storm that scattered the ships, which were no longer destined to be assembled. One ship crashed on the rocks, another was washed back into the strait and its captain decided to return to England on his own. And Drake’s ship, which by this time he had renamed the “Golden Hind” for its excellent seaworthiness, was carried far to the south. Involuntarily, Drake made an important geographical discovery; it turned out that Tierra del Fuego is not a protrusion of the unknown Southern continent, but just a large island, beyond which the open sea continues. Subsequently, the wide strait between Antarctica and Tierra del Fuego was named after Drake.

Drake did not dare to sail further south and went north, capturing and plundering coastal cities along the way. A particularly big jackpot awaited him in Valparaiso. Here the pirates got hold of a ship in the harbor, loaded with gold and expensive goods, and in the city there was a large supply of gold sand. But the main thing is that the Spanish ship contained secret nautical maps with a detailed description of the west coast of America.
The Spanish cities on the coast did not expect an attack from the British and were not prepared to repel it. Walking along the coast, Drake's corsairs captured city after city, filling the hold with gold. And not far from the Isthmus of Panama they managed to board the large Spanish ship Carafuego, which contained more than 1.5 tons of gold and a large amount of silver.

Drake not only plundered the Spaniards, he walked along the coast of America well north of Spanish territories. In mid-June, he landed on shore for repairs and replenishment of provisions, and at the same time explored the region in the area of ​​modern San Francisco, declaring it an English possession and giving it the name “New Albion.” In 1936, in this place, called Drake's Cove, a copper plate was found with the date June 17, 1579 and the inscription that this territory is.
The raid along the west coast of America turned out to be unusually successful. Francis Drake's ship was overloaded with rich booty, it was time to think about returning to England. But the captain did not dare to go to the Strait of Magellan, realizing that Spanish ships were already waiting for him there. Deciding to deceive the Spaniards, Drake set off on an unknown journey across the Pacific Ocean.

He was lucky, the weather was favorable for sailing, and he soon reached the Mariana Islands. In Indonesia, near the island of Celebes, they had to make a long stop to repair the ship before a long raid along the coast of Africa. Further voyage went smoothly, and on September 26, 1580, the Golden Hind entered the port of Plymouth. Thus ended the second circumnavigation of the world after Magellan, accomplished by the pirate and adventurer Francis Drake. A solemn meeting awaited the captain in Plymouth. Queen Elizabeth arrived on the Golden Hind and knighted Francis Drake right on deck. And the queen had something to reward him for, because Drake brought booty that was almost twice the annual income of the English treasury. By the way, in England at that time only about 300 people had the rank of knight. It is worth considering that formally Drake became the first captain to organize and sail around the world, since Magellan died before the end of the voyage, and only the remnants of his crew - only 21 people - reached the shores of Spain.

Drake's campaign caused a major international scandal, since there was no official state of war between England and Spain during this period. The Spanish king even demanded that the Queen of England roughly punish Drake for piracy, compensate for the damage and apologize. Naturally, Queen Elizabeth was not going to punish Drake or compensate for the damage. The Spanish king was told that he could not “prevent the English from visiting the Indies, and therefore the latter can travel there, running the risk of being captured there, but if they return without harm to themselves, His Majesty cannot ask Her Majesty to punish them.” .

Drake could now rest on his laurels. He received the post of mayor of Plymouth, became inspector of the royal commission examining the state of the fleet, and in 1584 was elected a member of the House of Commons. But life on land was clearly a burden for Francis Drake. When relations between England and Spain worsened in the mid-80s, he offered his services to the queen and received an order to form a large fleet to strike Spain.
In a short time, Drake, who received the rank of admiral general, managed to prepare 21 ships for the campaign. In 1585, Drake's squadron went to sea. It was an impressive force, but Drake did not dare to go to the shores of Spain, and thoroughly plundered the Spanish possessions on the islands and in America, capturing a number of large cities, including Santo Domingo and Cartagena. True, he had to take away English colonists from America, who were threatened with destruction after the squadron left. Drake returned to Plymouth again with rich booty.

The rivalry between England and Spain at sea grew, and the Spanish king decided to launch a pre-emptive strike by preparing a large fleet with a landing party - the “Invincible Armada”. He hoped to completely destroy the English fleet and force the queen to agree to a truce on terms favorable to himself. He could not even imagine that all his plans would be thwarted by Drake, and England, thanks to the former pirate, would soon become the “Mistress of the Seas.”

In preparation for a strike on England, the Spaniards concentrated about 150 ships and transport vessels in Cadiz and Lisbon. But the preparation of the ships and landing force was delayed, and the British struck first. On April 19, 1587, Drake with a small squadron of 13 ships suddenly attacked Spanish ships in the port of Cadiz. The ratio of 60 to 13 did not frighten the former pirate. His sailors acted boldly, harmoniously and boldly. They managed to sink 30 ships right in the bay, and captured some of the ships, including a powerful 1200-ton galleon, and took them with them. Drake's squadron even launched a raid on Lisbon, but did not dare to attack the city, in the harbor of which there were warships, limiting itself to ravaging the surrounding area and capturing merchant ships.
The Spanish fleet was dealt a serious blow, but its power had not yet been undermined, and England began to prepare for defense. Contrary to forecasts, in 1588 the queen appointed Lord Howard as commander-in-chief of the English fleet, not Drake (who actually prepared the fleet), and instructed Francis to be his chief adviser. Despite the blockade that had begun, the English fleet broke out into the sea and inflicted several painful defeats on the Armada, seriously battered by the storm, forcing it to begin a retreat.

During the pursuit, Drake, who commanded part of the squadron, defeated most of the remnants of the Spanish fleet at Gravelines on July 29. But then he made a serious miscalculation when, lacking siege weapons, he began a blockade of Lisbon, where the remnants of the Armada had taken refuge. He failed to take the city, and he lost most of his forces. The relative failure angered the Queen and Drake was removed from naval affairs, but continued to serve as Mayor of Plymouth and Member of Parliament. In order not to be completely cut off from the fleet, during this period he founded a shelter and hospital for wounded sailors in Chatham.

In 1594, England again needed an experienced admiral to lead the defense of the island against another Spanish expedition. Admiral Drake acted successfully this time too; the Spaniards were repulsed. And the next year he led a small squadron of 6 ships and two dozen merchant ships to the shores of America. But this time Drake's fortunes changed. His landing on the Canary Islands was repulsed, and attempts to capture San Juan were also unsuccessful. Drake was able to sink several Spanish ships and plunder the villages on the coast, but failed to achieve more.
Failures plagued the squadron, and illnesses spread among the crews. Drake also developed a fever. He was no longer destined to cope with the disease. Near Porto Bello on the morning of January 28, 1596, the admiral died. According to tradition, Francis Drake was buried at sea after placing his body in a lead coffin. The remnants of the squadron under the command of Thomas Baskerville returned to Plymouth without their admiral.

In England, the memory of Admiral Francis Drake is honored. A monument to him was erected in Plymouth, a museum was created in his name, and the recreated ship “Golden Hind”, on which he circumnavigated the world, again took the same route and is now a tourist attraction.

Contents of the article

DRAKE, FRANCIS(Drake, Francis) (c. 1540–1596), English navigator, pirate. Born near Tavistock in Devonshire between 1540 and 1545, his father, a former farmer, became a preacher in Chatham, south of London. Drake probably first sailed on coasting ships that entered the Thames. The Drake family was related to the wealthy Hawkins family of Plymouth. Therefore, after a little-known first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, Drake received a place as captain of a ship in John Hawkins's squadron, which was engaged in the slave trade and delivered them from Africa to the Spanish colonies in the West Indies. The voyage of 1566–1567 ended unsuccessfully as the Spanish launched a treacherous attack on English shipping at the fortress of San Juan de Ulúa in the port of Veracruz on the east coast of Mexico. Revenge for this attack became one of the motives for the subsequent pirate activities of the Navy Paymaster J. Hawkins and Captain F. Drake.

Travel around the world.

For several years, Drake carried out pirate raids in the Caribbean Sea, which Spain considered its territory, captured Nombre de Dios in central Panama, and robbed caravans transporting silver loads on mules from Peru to Panama. His activities attracted the attention of Elizabeth I and a group of courtiers, including the Treasurer of State, Lord Burghley, and the Home Secretary, Francis Walsingham. Funds were raised for the expedition, which lasted from 1577 to 1580. The expedition was originally planned to search for the supposed Southern Continent, but it turned out - perhaps at the direction of the Queen (even though England and Spain were not yet at war) - the most successful in history a pirate raid that yielded a return of £47 for every pound invested.

Drake sailed as captain of the 100-ton ship Pelican (later renamed the Golden Hind). . In addition, there were four other smaller ships, which, however, never completed the voyage. After quelling a mutiny on a ship off the coast of Patagonia, Argentina, when one of his officers, Thomas Doughty, was punished, Drake entered the Pacific Ocean through the Strait of Magellan. Then his flotilla was carried south to approximately 57° S, and as a result, Drake discovered the strait between Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica that now bears his name (although he himself probably never saw Cape Horn). On his way north, he plundered ships and harbors off the coasts of Chile and Peru and seemed to intend to return through the supposed Northwest Passage. Somewhere in the latitude of Vancouver (no ship's logs have survived), due to bad weather, Drake was forced to turn south and anchor somewhat north of modern San Francisco. The site, which he named New Albion, was established in 1936 thanks to the discovery of a copper plate with the date June 17, 1579, approximately 50 km northwest of Golden Gate (now Drake Bay). The plate bears an inscription declaring this territory the possession of Queen Elizabeth. Drake then crossed the Pacific Ocean and reached the Moluccas Islands, after which he returned to England.

Drake sailed around the world, demonstrating his mastery of navigation. The Queen knighted him as the first captain to circumnavigate the world (Magellan's claim was disputed as he died during the voyage in 1521). The account of Drake's sea voyages, compiled by the ship's chaplain Francis Fletcher and published by Haklut, is still very popular. Having received his share of the spoils, Drake purchased Buckland Abbey near Plymouth, which now houses the Francis Drake Museum.

War with Spain.

In 1585, Drake was appointed commander-in-chief of the English fleet heading to the West Indies, which meant the beginning of open war with Spain. His skill in the tactics of combined sea and land operations allowed him to capture successively Santo Domingo (on the island of Haiti), Cartagena (on the Caribbean coast of Colombia) and St. Augustine (in Florida). Before returning to his homeland in 1586, he took with him the colonists (at their request) from the Roanoke River valley (Virginia). Thus, the first colony in America, founded by Walter Raleigh, which was not just a settlement, but also a strategic base for pirate raids in the Caribbean, ceased to exist.

Meanwhile, in Spain the preparation of the Invincible Armada for an attack on England was successfully completed, so in 1587 Drake was sent to Cadiz on the southern Atlantic coast of Spain. Boldness combined with superior power allowed Drake to destroy the ships in this port. Everyone expected Drake to command the fleet at Plymouth to defend England from the attack of the Spanish Armada in 1588. However, the Queen felt that due to Drake's low birth and independent nature, Drake could not be appointed commander-in-chief. Although Drake himself was personally involved in preparing and equipping the fleet, he dutifully yielded leadership to Lord Howard of Effingham and remained his chief adviser on tactical matters throughout the campaign.

Thanks to skillful maneuvering, the English fleet broke through to the sea and turned back the Armada. When the week-long pursuit of the Armada began in the English Channel, Drake was appointed fleet commander on the Revenge (a ship displacing 450 tons with 50 guns on board), but he rejected this offer and captured the damaged Spanish ship Rosario. and brought him to Dartmouth. The next day, Drake played a decisive role in the defeat of the Spanish fleet at Gravelines (northeast of Calais).

Drake's expedition against Spain and the siege of the city of La Coruña on its northwestern coast, undertaken in 1588 to destroy the remnants of the Armada, turned out to be a complete failure, mainly due to miscalculations in the logistics of the campaign. Drake fell into disgrace, although he remained active in local affairs as mayor of Plymouth and member of parliament for that city. He also founded a shelter for wounded sailors in Chatham. In 1595 he was again called into the navy to lead an expedition to the West Indies along with J. Hawkins. The expedition ended in failure, Hawkins died off the coast of Puerto Rico, and Drake himself died of fever on January 28, 1596 off the coast of Portobelo.