Heading back west across the Pacific in July , he stopped in the Philippines and bought spices in the Molucca Islands.
Despite complaints from the Spanish government about his piracy, Drake was honored as the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe and became a popular hero. Several months after his return, Queen Elizabeth personally knighted him aboard the Golden Hind. In , with hostilities heating up again between England and Spain, the queen gave Drake command of a fleet of 25 ships.
On the return voyage, he picked up a failed English military colony on Roanoke Island off the Carolinas.
In , Drake served as second-in-command to Admiral Charles Howard in the English victory over the supposedly invincible Spanish fleet. After a failed expedition to Portugal, Drake returned home to England for several years, until Queen Elizabeth enlisted him for one more voyage, against Spanish possessions in the West Indies in early The expedition proved to be a dismal failure: Spain fended off the English attacks, and Drake came down with fever and dysentery.
But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Diego ran headlong through the gunfire toward the boats on the beach. He had to get on board. He had heard there were no slaves in England, and if he joined the English they might take him there.
He knew some of their countrymen traded in Sir Walter Raleigh was an English adventurer, writer and nobleman. After growing close to Elizabeth I during his time in the army, Raleigh was knighted in and became captain of the guard.
He also had a secret agreement with Queen He continued north, hoping to find a route across to the Atlantic, and sailed further up the west coast of America than any European. Unable to find a passage, he turned south and then in July , west across the Pacific.
He arrived back in England in September with a rich cargo of spices and Spanish treasure and the distinction of being the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. Seven months later, Elizabeth knighted him aboard the Golden Hind, to the annoyance of the king of Spain. In , Drake sailed to the West Indies and the coast of Florida where he sacked and plundered Spanish cities. On his return voyage, he picked up the unsuccessful colonists of Roanoke Island off the coast of the Carolinas, which was the first English colony in the New World.
In , war with Spain was imminent and Drake entered the port of Cadiz and destroyed 30 of the ships the Spanish were assembling against the British.
In , he was a vice admiral in the fleet that defeated the Armada. Drake's last expedition, with John Hawkins, was to the West Indies. The Spanish were prepared for him this time, and the venture was a disaster. Drake died on 28 January of dysentery off the coast of Portobelo, Panama. That year he also was appointed mayor of Plymouth and became a member of the House of Commons. Between and , relations between England and Spain grew worse. 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. There, Drake contracted dysentery and, on January 28, , died of a fever. He was buried in a lead coffin at sea near Portobelo. Divers continue to search for the coffin. We strive for accuracy and fairness.
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