Francis Drake's circumnavigation

• 1. Background And Motivation

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  In 1567, a fleet led by the English privateer Sir John Hawkins conducted a slave trading voyage across the Atlantic to sell enslaved Africans in Spanish and Portuguese colonies. Francis Drake accompanied his cousin on this expedition, but disaster struck when they were attacked by a Spanish squadron at the Battle of San Juan de Ulua. The Spanish became lifelong enemies for Drake, considering him a pirate while he viewed them as oppressors. By 1573, Queen Elizabeth I and King Philip II had signed the Convention of Nymegen, forcing Drake to lay low after stealing nearly 100,000 pesos of loot from previous raids. Despite the treaty, Drake planned another expedition where he knew he could get backing from Queen Elizabeth I. The Protestant Reformation had already caused England to reject the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided the New World between Spain and Portugal under Papal authority. This geopolitical tension set the stage for a covert raiding voyage that would challenge global domination.

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• 2. Fleet Preparation And Crew

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  Queen Elizabeth I invested 1,000 crowns into the venture, making Drake a privateer with secret support from members of her court including Robert Dudley and Christopher Hatton. The command ship was the Pelican, a 150-ton vessel built based on the Biscayan nao Victoria, carrying eighteen guns total. Four other ships joined the fleet: the Elizabeth, Marigold, Benedict, and Swan, bringing the total complement to roughly 164 men. One essential crew member was Diego, a formerly enslaved African who escaped from Spanish control in 1572 and became Drake's interpreter. Diego's fluency in both Spanish and English made him invaluable when capturing Spanish or Portuguese vessels. He received wages like the rest of the crew and assisted with local knowledge while feeding false intelligence to the Spanish. Other notable figures included Thomas Doughty, an attorney who had accompanied Drake before, tensions between whom eventually turned sour. The expedition also employed carpenters, a blacksmith, botanist, musicians, and Francis Fletcher as Walsingham's chaplain and observer. Drake used Abraham Ortelius's map Theatrum Orbis Terrarum to plan their route, telling the crew they were embarking on a trading voyage to Levant rather than revealing true intentions.

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• 3. Atlantic Crossing And Mutiny Trial

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  The fleet set out from Plymouth on the 15th of November 1577 but encountered a storm that damaged masts on the Pelican and Marigold, forcing them to take refuge in Falmouth for nearly a month. They finally left Plymouth on the 13th of December heading south into the Atlantic, stopping at Mogador off Morocco where they lost a man to Moorish raiders. During the crossing, storms scattered the fleet twice, leaving only two ships by May 1578: the Golden Hind (formerly Pelican) and the Elizabeth. On the 17th of May, the fleet anchored in Deseado bay, where tensions boiled over when Thomas Doughty accused Drake of witchcraft after his ship became separated during a severe storm. Drake struck Doughty and ordered him bound to the mast, then held a trial for treachery and incitement to mutiny. Evidence included testimony from carpenter Edward Bright and Doughty's admission of telling Lord Burghley about the voyage's true intent. On the 2nd of July, at Drake's insistence, Doughty was beheaded while Drake held up his severed head stating 'behold the head of a traitor'. This stern example ended any prospect of mutiny within the crew.

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• 4. Pacific Raids And Treasure Capture

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  After passing through the Strait of Magellan in just 16 days, Drake sailed north along South America's Pacific coast, making Mocha Island his first port of call for food and water. He encountered the Native Mapuche people who initially greeted them with pleasantries before turning hostile on day two, killing two Englishmen and capturing two more including Diego who suffered arrow wounds. Drake recovered from his own facial wound and spent weeks raiding settlements like Valparaíso and Callao, plundering church silver and valuable art treasures. On the 5th of December he viewed Valparaíso, a coastal town with houses and a church full of Chilean wine worth 25,000 pesos in gold. The most significant capture came on the 1st of March when Drake sighted the Nuestra Señora de la Concepción off Quito's coast. After firing cannons that damaged rigging and tore off mizzenmast, the English boarded the Spanish galleon which surrendered quickly without resistance. Unloading took six days to reveal 37,000 ducats worth of silver bars replacing the Golden Hind's ballast. The total treasure reached around 360,000 pesos, equivalent to approximately £480 million today. Drake released captives with gifts and safe conduct letters while using Diego to bluff Spanish pursuers about other English ships nearby.

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• 5. Nova Albion And The Northwest Passage

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  Heading north to find the hypothetical Strait of Anián connecting Pacific and Atlantic oceans, Drake navigated beyond where Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo had claimed territory in 1542-1543. On the 5th of June 1579, his ship made landfall at South Cove near Coos Bay or Whale Cove near Depoe Bay gathering fresh water and food before being stopped by foul weather. On the 17th of June, as Drake headed south, his crew found a protected cove landing on what is now Northern California's coast. They stayed twelve days repairing ships and erecting tents ashore while meeting Coast Miwok people who exchanged gifts and provided food. In a significant gesture, Coast Miwok elders placed chains around Drake's neck, gave him a sceptre, and crowned him with feathers as if proclaiming him king. England based its legal authority to the territory upon this seemingly voluntary surrender of sovereignty. Drake claimed the land in name of Holy Trinity for Queen Elizabeth I calling it Nova Albion Latin for 'New Britain'. He chose this name because white banks and cliffs resembled those along English Channel coast and Albion was an archaic name for Great Britain. To document his claim, Drake attached an engraved brass plate containing a sixpence bearing Elizabeth's image to a large post asserting sovereignty.

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• 6. Return Voyage And Global Impact

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  Leaving New Albion on the 23rd of July, the Golden Hind sailed west reaching Caroline Islands by the 13th of October before encountering hostility from natives in hundreds of canoes at Yap or Palau. After killing or wounding twenty natives, they continued westward until reaching Moluccas spice islands where Sultan Babullah warmly welcomed them in Ternate castle. Trading ten tonnes of exotic spices including cloves, ginger, black pepper and nutmeg boosted crew morale through silver rewards. On the 8th of January 1580, the ship ran aground on shoals near Celebes islands forcing them to dump three tons of cargo mostly cloves to free themselves after three days. They navigated Java proving it was not part of Terra Australis continent before entering Indian Ocean with roughly 11,000 miles remaining. Rounding Cape of Good Hope on the 15th of June without stopping, they reached Sierra Leone landing the 22nd of July taking fresh water fruit and provisions while encountering elephants for first time. Arriving English Channel the 26th of September with only 59 surviving crew members aboard, most in England had presumed them lost after John Wynter returned alone with Elizabeth a year prior. Queen Elizabeth knighted Drake aboard Golden Hind in Deptford on the 4th of April 1581 using French diplomat Monsieur de Marchaumont to gain implicit political support. The venture raised enormous money for nation's coffers with investors receiving returns of some 5000 percent while Drake kept £24,000 personally.

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