History pages. Page three (continued).

About piracy and pirates.(part 2)

Drake began his pirate adventures in 1567 when he was 26 years old. But from his youth he joined the Hawkins expedition and participated in pirate campaigns. On May 24, 1572, Drake set out from Plymouth aboard his own ship, the Sawan. To his younger brother He instructed John to command another ship called "Pasha`". During this and subsequent campaigns, Drake committed piracy in the waters of the Caribbean off the coast of Cuba and the island of Pinos (now the island of Youth). After countless "exploits" at sea, Drake returned on November 3, 1580 to England. Queen Elizabeth showered honors on the pirate and handed him a sword with the inscription: "If you are hit, Drake, it means we have been hit." The Queen grants him the title of Sir and makes him a Member of Parliament and Admiral of the British Navy.

And all this is on merit. After all, he returned in the fall of 1580, not just from another pirate campaign, but from a trip around the world.

Francis Drake's voyage around the world.

No one instructed Drake to make a trip around the world, and he himself did not plan such a voyage. As was often the case in that era, many geographical discoveries were made by accident, due to unforeseen circumstances. Francis Drake succeeded almost as if in a saying: there would be no happiness, but misfortune helped. Let the readers know what happened.

In the autumn of 1577, with the help of influential patrons, including Queen Elizabeth herself, Drake managed to prepare a pirate campaign on the western, Pacific, coast. South America. The idea of ​​the campaign was simple to the point of genius: on the west coast of America, the Spaniards do not expect an attack either from land or, even more so, from the sea. Therefore, it is possible to plunder their ships and coastal settlements with almost impunity.

At the end of 1577, Drake's flotilla, consisting of four large ships, left Plymouth. In April 1578, the pirates reached the mouth of the La Platie River. After a brief stop, they went south along the coast of Patagonia - a vast area of ​​\u200b\u200bmodern Agrantina, which extends south from the bed of the Rio Negro to the Strait of Magellan. In the south of Patagonia, in the bay of San Julian, Drake's flotilla made a stop. It is known that Magellan wintered in this bay in June-October 1520.

After a stop in San Julian, Drake's flotilla continued to sail already as part of three ships: one ship received a malfunction and was burned on Drake's orders. Soon the pirates entered the Strait of Magellan, the complex and winding fairway of which they hardly passed in twenty days. The sailors of the team suffered greatly from the cold: July is the most cold month in the southern hemisphere. Finally they were in the Pacific Ocean and headed north to the tropics. But then a violent storm began. Of the three ships, one went missing, apparently crashed and sank in the ocean, while the other re-entered the Strait of Magellan and managed to return to England. Only one of Drake's flagships, the Golden Hind, remained. The ship drifted far to the south. Drake saw what ends here Tierra del Fuego, and to the south stretches a boundless ocean. So, essentially by accident, a geographical discovery was made: Tierra del Fuego is an island, but not part of the vast Unknown Land, as navigators previously believed. The strait between South America and Antarctica was later called the Drake Passage.

Finally the ocean calmed down, the weather improved. Drake decided to continue the expedition and sent his now only ship north. The team, anticipating a quick meeting with the subtropics, found a second wind. The hardships of traveling in the region of Tierra del Fuego began to be quickly forgotten when, after the very first attacks on Spanish ships, the holds of the Golden Hind began to be filled with gold and other jewels.

Unless absolutely necessary, Drake did not kill those he robbed. Therefore, Drake's pirate operations almost did not lead to casualties in his team. Drake established almost friendly relations with the Chilean Indians. Rich booty, the availability of food and wine, as well as women from local Indian tribes were a reward to pirates for all the dangers and hardships experienced before. Drake managed to capture a special Spanish galleon (see note), transporting gold and jewelry from the American colonies to the Spanish treasury. Not every pirate had such luck. Wealth had nowhere to ship. I had to return home to England. But how? Drake, of course, could not know about the plans of the Spaniards, but as an experienced captain, he suggested that the Spanish ships, in order to destroy him, would go towards him through the Strait of Magellan. And his guess was absolutely correct. It was necessary to save ourselves, the team and the stolen precious cargo. And Drake went north along west coast America. The length of this path is amazing. From Tierra del Fuego, he went by sea, of course with stops on the coast, along the entire coast of Chile, Peru, past the lands of Central America and Mexico, along the west coast of the current USA, reaching 48 degrees north latitude (border with Canada). This path was at least 20 thousand kilometers - after all, the ship did not go strictly along the meridian, but went around the shores of the continents of both Americas. The coast sloped further and further to the west. Drake, fleeing persecution, was probably ready to go around North America to get into Atlantic Ocean. But it was impossible, because. he did not know if such a path existed. There was no other way out, and Drake turned west, into the endless Pacific Ocean. Turning southwest, he reached the Mariana Islands three months later. After another one and a half to two months, his ship was already making its way between the islands of the Moluccas archipelago. Drake might have encountered Spanish or Portuguese warships in this area, but he somehow managed to avoid such encounters.

The next stage of his voyage was also unique in its kind. Drake's ship from the island of Java took a course across the Indian Ocean directly to the Cape of Good Hope. Rounding the Cape of Good Hope, the travelers moved north around the western coast of Africa, passed the Iberian Peninsula, entered the Bay of Biscay, and arrived in Plymouth in early November 1580. The journey, which lasted almost three years, turned out to be around the world.

Francis Drake became the second captain after Ferdinand Magellan to circumnavigate the world. At the same time, Drake was much more successful than Magellan. It is known that Magellan was not destined to personally bring his ships to Portugal. He died in the Philippine Islands in a skirmish with the natives. The only one of the five ships of Magellan's flotilla, a year and a half after his death, was brought to Lisbon by the few surviving members of Magellan's team.

In a long and dangerous voyage, Drake managed to save his life and the lives of most of the sailors of the crew of his flagship, the Golden Doe, and personally brought this ship to the English port of Plymouth. The ship carried a large cargo of gold and other valuables.

Captain Drake from a simple pirate immediately turned into an admiral of the British Navy and received other honors from the Queen of England.

The wide strait between Tierra del Fuego and the South Shetland Islands bears the name of the pirate Drake. To an ignorant person it may seem that this is some kind of historical curiosity or misunderstanding. But now that we know the circumstances of the case, we can say that everything is correct here, because Drake did a lot for geographical science and for their homeland.

* * *

Several years passed, and Drake resumed his raids on America, but with a huge flotilla of corsairs, which consisted of 30 ships and 2,300 soldiers and sailors. On the orders of Drake, soldiers level the city of Santo Domingo (on the island of Haiti), then besiege Cartagena (the northern coast of Colombia), threatening this city complete destruction. As a result, Drake receives 110,000 ducats of ransom (the ducat is a large monetary unit of that time). He returns to England with booty totaling 600,000 pounds.

During another raid on the Spanish colonies, Drake fell ill with dysentery and died. Like his teacher Hawkins, he was buried at sea with honors. From the manuscripts left by Drake, it is clear that he was everywhere, so to speak, without interruption from his main work - piracy, was engaged in the natural sciences. The Portuguese pilot Nuno da Silva testifies that Drake had works by English, French and Spanish authors in his ship's library. He drew well. On his sketches, he depicted birds, seals, trees, Indians, and in general everything that attracted his attention during his travels.

After Drake's death, Thomas Baskerville assumed command of the expedition. Before returning to England, he brought his fleet to the Isle of Pinos (now Youthud) for repairs and rest. By this time, King Philip II of Spain managed to send here a large naval squadron under the command of Bernandino Avellaneda, who was ordered to destroy the British. Baskerville took refuge in Siguanea Bay. But the ships of Baskerville were discovered by Aveland. Avellanda forced them to fight. The British took up defensive positions and then tried to flee. As a result, only eight of the thirty ships that put to sea from Plymouth in September 1595 reached England.

© Vladimir Kalanov,
"Knowledge is power"

Sir Francis Drake(Eng. Francis Drake; c. 1540 - January 28, 1596) - English navigator, slave trader, prominent political figure of the era of Elizabeth I, a successful pirate, the second after having made a round-the-world trip, vice-admiral, reputed to be a thunderstorm of the seas.

First Englishman to circumnavigate the world (1577-1580).

Childhood and youth

The future "Iron Pirate" of Queen Elizabeth, the first English navigator around the world, was supposedly born in 1540 in the English town of Crowndale, Devonshire.

Francis was the first child in a farmer's family. When 11 more children were born one after another, the father, Edmund Drake, became a rural preacher to feed a large family. In 1549, the family, having rented out their land, moved to the south-east of England, to the county of Kent (eng. Kent). This move had a huge impact on the fate of the boy. At the age of 13, Francis, who from childhood dreamed of long-distance sea voyages, fame and fortune, became a cabin boy on his uncle's merchant ship (barque), who fell in love with the hardworking, persistent and prudent young man so much that he bequeathed the ship after his death to his nephew. Thus, after the death of his uncle at the age of 16, Francis became the full captain of his own ship.

Life full of adventure

In 1567, Drake set out on his first serious voyage to the West Indies, commanding a ship on a slave trading expedition of his relative, Sir John Hawkins. During this expedition, near Gulf of Mexico the British ships were attacked by the Spaniards, and most of the ships were sunk. Only two sailboats survived - Drake and Hawkins. The British demanded from the Spanish king that he pay them for the destroyed ships. The king, of course, refused, then Drake "declared war" on the Spanish crown.

In 1572, the navigator set off on his own repeated campaign to the Spanish possessions in the West Indies, as a result of which he captured the city of Nombre de Dios (Spanish: Nombre de Dios), then several ships near the harbor near the Venezuelan city (Spanish. Cartagena).

During this expedition, an English corsair attacked in the area of ​​the Isthmus of Panama on a Spanish squadron heading from Panama to Nombre de Dios, called the "Silver Caravan", in the holds of which there were approx. 30 tons of silver. August 9, 1573 Drake returned to Plymouth (Eng. Plymouth) a rich man, fanned by the glory of a successful corsair, "thunderstorm of the seas."

On November 15, 1577, the English Queen Elizabeth I ordered her faithful privateer to go on an expedition to the Pacific coast of America. On December 13, 1577, Francis Drake on the flagship Pelican (Pelican) with a displacement of 100 tons left Plymouth on his most famous campaign at the head of a flotilla consisting of 4 large ones (Elizabeth, Sea Gold, Swan, "Christopher") ships and 2 small auxiliary vessels. By that time, he was already surrounded by the halo of glory of the "iron pirate", an experienced navigator and a talented naval tactician.

The official purpose of the voyage was to discover new lands, however, in fact, Drake was supposed to rob Spanish ships, replenishing the treasury of England with Spanish gold.

Francis went south to (Spanish: Estrecho de Magallanes), which the squadron passed successfully, but at the exit from it fell into a fierce storm, scattering the ships of the squadron. One ship crashed against the rocks, another was thrown back into the strait, and its captain decided to return to England.

The flagship "Pelican", the only one of all the ships "made its way" to the Pacific Ocean, where it was renamed the "Golden Doe" (Eng. Golden Hind) for its excellent seaworthiness. After a storm, he anchored among the previously unknown islands, calling them "Elizabeth".

Involuntarily, Drake made an important geographical discovery: it turned out that (Spanish: Tierra del Fuego) is not part of the unknown southern mainland, but just a large island, beyond which the open sea continues. Subsequently, the wide one between Antarctica and Tierra del Fuego was named after him.

His further journey consisted of robberies off the coast and, for which the Viceroy of Peru sent 2 ships to capture the pirate. He escaped the pursuit to the northwest, robbing jeweled ships and capturing prisoners along the way. It is impossible to establish the exact number of ships that became victims of the pirate today, but it is known that the booty was fabulous. A particularly large jackpot was waiting for the "sea wolf" in (Spanish: Valparaiso) - the pirates seized a ship that was in the harbor, loaded with gold and expensive goods, and a large supply of golden sand was stored in the city. But the main thing is that on the Spanish ship there were secret nautical charts with a detailed description of the western coast of South America.

The Spanish cities and settlements on the coast did not expect the British to attack and were not ready for defense. Moving along the coast, the pirates captured city after city, filling the holds with gold. Not far from the Isthmus of Panama, they managed to board the large Spanish ship Carafuego, which contained more than 1.6 tons of gold and a huge amount of silver bars. In the Mexican harbor of Acapulco (Spanish Acapulco), Drake captured a galleon loaded with spices and Chinese silk.

The privateer passed along the South American Pacific coast to the north, and then explored the coast far north of the Spanish colonies, approximately to modern Vancouver (Eng. Vancouver; a city on the west coast of Canada). June 17, 1579 the ship moored to unknown shore, presumably in the San Francisco area (eng. San Francisco), and according to another version, in modern Oregon (eng. Oregon). The pirate declared these lands an English possession, calling them "New Albion" (eng. New Albion).

Map of the movements of the Drake flotilla (1572-1580)

Then he crossed the Pacific Ocean and went to Mariana Islands(Eng. Mariana Islands). After repairing the ship and replenishing provisions, he headed for the Cape of Good Hope (Eng. Cape of Good Hope), then, bypassing Africa from the south, on September 26, 1580 moored at Plymouth, having completed the 2nd circumnavigation of the world after Magellan in 2 year 10 months and 11 days. At home, the pirate was greeted as a national hero, he was awarded an honorary knighthood by the Queen.

From the circumnavigation of the world, Drake brought to England not only treasures worth a huge amount of 600 thousand pounds sterling (this was 2 times the size of the annual income of the kingdom), but also potato tubers - descendants are especially grateful to him for this.

It should be mentioned that his campaign caused a major international scandal, since there was no official state of war during this period between Spain and England. The Spanish king even demanded that the Queen of England punish Drake for piracy, compensate for material damage and apologize. Of course, Elizabeth was not going to punish anyone or compensate for the damage, on the contrary, from now on, Francis Drake rested on his laurels. He was awarded the post of mayor of Plymouth, became an inspector of the naval Royal Commission, which controlled the state of the fleet, and in 1584 was elected a member of the House of Commons of the British Parliament. Since the knighthood required to have his own castle, Sir Francis bought an estate in Buckland (Eng. Buckland Abbey, Devon).

However, the famous adventurer was clearly burdened by land life. When in the mid 80's. relations between the two countries escalated, Drake offered his services to the Queen and was ordered to form a fleet to attack Spain.

Soon, having received the rank of vice admiral, he prepared 21 ships for the campaign. In 1585, an impressive squadron went to sea, but the captain did not dare to go to the coast of Spain, heading for the Spanish possessions in America, which he thoroughly plundered, capturing a number of large cities, including Santo Domingo (Spanish Santo Domingo), Cartagena (Spanish: Cartagena) and San Augustine (Spanish: San Augustine).

In 1587, Drake launched his exceptionally audacious attack on the most important Spanish port of Cadiz (Spanish: Cadiz): with 4 warships, he broke into the port, sank and burned more than 30 Spanish ships. As Francis himself put it, he deftly "burned his beard Spanish King". And on the way back, the corsair off the Portuguese coast destroyed about 100 enemy ships. However, the richest booty was brought to the corsair by a Portuguese ship sailing from India with a cargo of spices, which was of such value that every sailor of the flotilla already considered his fate "arranged."

In 1588, Sir Francis, along with other English admirals, defeated the Spanish "Invincible Armada". In 1589, he commanded the combined forces of the fleet ("English Armada"), under his command there were over 150 warships.

Drake's "English Armada"

The corsair tried to capture the Portuguese Lisbon, but due to the lack of siege weapons, he suffered a crushing defeat. It seems that this time Drake's luck left, he could not take the city, and out of 16 thousand people only 6 thousand survived. In addition, his military campaign cost the English treasury 50 thousand pounds sterling, which the stingy Queen could not endure , and the Iron Pirate lost her favor.

The next expedition to the shores of America for new treasures was the last for the corsair (1595-1596). Failures pursued the squadron, in addition, the weather was disgusting and diseases spread among the crews. Drake took the ships to an unfavorable place near the island of Escudo le Veragua (Spanish: Escudo de Veraguas). Food was running out, people were dying of dysentery and tropical fever. Sir Francis himself soon fell ill, and on January 28, 1596, at the age of 56, he died of dysentery near Puerto Bello (modern Portobelo in Panama). According to tradition, the famous navigator was buried under the volleys of ship guns in the ocean, putting the body in a lead coffin. The remnants of the squadron under the command of Thomas Baskerville returned to Plymouth without their admiral.

Drake's famous ship - the Golden Hind galleon

If you briefly characterize this person, then his fate is very unusual. In his youth, he became a ship captain, and later a successful sea pirate. Then he became a navigator and made the second circumnavigation of the world after Ferdinand Magellan. And after all this, he was promoted to admiral and defeated the invincible Spanish armada. We are talking about the legendary Francis Drake, an English navigator and vice admiral.

Admiral Francis Drake

Francis Drake was born in England in the village of Tavistock, Devonshire in the family of a farmer in 1540. From childhood, the boy dreamed of long-distance sea voyages and fame. Francis began the road to his dreams at the age of 13 by hiring as a cabin boy. The young man turned out to be a smart sailor and soon he became a senior assistant to the captain. Later, when Francis was 18 years old, he bought a small barque, on which he began to transport various cargoes. But ordinary sea transportation did not bring much wealth, which cannot be said about piracy and the slave trade. They gave more profit, and therefore Francis Drake in 1567, as a ship commander in the flotilla of his distant relative John Hawkins, set off on a long voyage to Africa for slaves and from there to the West Indies, where sailors traded in robbery and capture of Spanish ships. During this voyage, the young navigator gained vast experience in plundering and attacking merchant ships of the Spanish crown. Returning to England, they immediately started talking about him as a successful captain.

Soon, in November 1577, Francis Drake left the port of Plymouth on a ship and headed an expedition to the Pacific Ocean to the shores of America, the goal was to bring new lands under the English crown and also to seize Spanish ships and their valuable cargo. This time there were already five ships under Drake's command. Drake ship called "Pelican" was armed with 18 guns and had three masts. In terms of sailing armament, a hundred-ton ship belonged to a galleon. With a relatively small size, Drake's ship had good seaworthiness. Historians say that even Queen Elizabeth herself blessed these ships and presented memorable gifts.

The sea trip started well. By the end of January 1578, Drake's ships arrived on the coast of Morocco, where the British captured the city of Mogadar. Having received a large number of various valuable goods as a reward, sea pirates headed for the shores of America, where they engaged in robbery. During this, several of Drake's ships were in mutiny. Some sailors decided to take up piracy themselves. However, the rebellion was put down. Leaving the two most lean ships, and re-forming the team, Francis Drake went to the Strait of Magellan. Having successfully passed the strait, the sailboats entered the open ocean, where they immediately fell into a strong storm. Drake's scattered ships were no longer able to gather in a squadron. One ship crashed against the rocks, the other was dragged into the strait again, and its captain decided to return to England on his own. And Drake's ship, which by that time had received a new name for its excellent seaworthiness, was carried far to the south.

Drake's ship the Golden Doe

Galleons as a type of vessel originated in the 17th century in Spain, when clumsy carracks and small caravels were no longer suitable for long-distance sea voyages. The English galleon, which was Drake's ship, was more spacious and had more powerful weapons. The stern superstructures were high, but more elegant due to the shape, which was very narrowed towards the top. Often, exits to open galleries were made from the aft rooms. The transom, as a rule, was created straight. The stern of the galleons often had luxurious decoration in the form of a gilded ornament. The stem also had its own decorations. The galleon's rigging consisted of two rows of straight sails on the first two matches and a large latin sail on the mizzen mast. On the bowsprit, as a rule, a straight sail called a blind was installed. For the first time, ships like Drake had gun decks below the main deck. The hull of the ship was somewhat narrower than that of its predecessor, the karakki, and the contours of the ship were smoother, which contributed to improved maneuverability and increased speed.

Drake ship Pelican was built at the Alburgh shipyard, and both weapons (sailing and artillery) were installed in his hometown of Plymouth. The sailing ship had a length of 21.3 m, a width of 5.8 m, a draft of 2.5 m and a displacement of 150 tons. Before long sea voyages, Drake's ship took on the coloring of the Spanish galleon, consisting of an ornament of red and yellow diamonds. Originally there was a drawing of a pelican at the stern of the ship, but after the renaming, a figure of a fallow deer appeared on the bow, completely cast in gold.

But back to the great geographical discoveries of Francis Drake. So, having successfully passed the Strait of Magellan, Drake's ship moved south. Without realizing it, he made an important discovery. It turned out that Tierra del Fuego is not at all a ledge of the famous Southern continent, but only a large island, behind which the open ocean continues. Subsequently, this strait between Antarctica and South America was named after him.

Drake's ship then headed north, plundering and capturing coastal towns along the way. A particularly successful "treasure" was waiting for the English corsairs in Valparaiso. In this port, the robbers attacked the one in the harbor, loaded with gold and the rarest goods. But the most important thing on the Spanish ship was an unknown sea ​​chart describing the western coast of North America.

Drake not only plundered the Spanish colonies, he went along the coast of America much north of the Spaniards. In mid-June Drake's ship moored ashore for repairs and resupply. And in the meantime, he decided to explore the area where the city of San Francisco is now located, declaring it the possession of the English queen, and called it New Albion.

The journey along the western coast of America proved to be very successful. When Drake's ship was overloaded with large amounts of gold and jewels, the captain considered returning to his homeland. However, he did not dare to proceed through the Strait of Magellan, realizing the presence of Spanish ships there. Then Drake decided to go on an unknown journey through the Southern Ocean and the weather favored him in this. Soon Drake's ship reached the Marianas. After standing for repairs for several days in the Indonesian Celebes, the captain continued sailing.

On September 26, 1580, Drake and his ship arrived safely at the port of Plymouth. Here he was received with honors. Even Queen Elizabeth herself came to the ship and knighted the fearless navigator right there. And this award was well-deserved, because the corsair brought "booty", which was several times higher than the annual income of the British treasury.

In addition to the title of Francis Drake, he was appointed mayor of Plymouth, became the inspector of the royal commission, which conducted regular inspections of the ships of the British navy. And in 1584 he was elected an honorary member of the House of Commons.

Between 1585 and 1586, Sir Francis Drake again commanded an armed British fleet against the Spanish colonies in the West Indies. It was thanks to the prompt and skillful actions of Drake that the entry into the sea of ​​the Spanish fleet of King Philip II was postponed for a year. And in 1588, he put his heavy hand to the final defeat of the invincible Spanish armada. Unfortunately, this was the end of his fame.

Francis Drake - Corsair of Her Majesty Elizabeth of England

Francis Drake (Francis Drake) Years of life: ~1540 - 28.1.1596

Francis Drake - corsair, navigator, vice admiral of the English fleet. The second after Magellan and the first among the British circumnavigated the world in 1577-1580. A talented naval commander and organizer. He was one of the main figures in the defeat of the Invincible Spanish Armada by the English fleet. For his services he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I and became known as Sir Francis Drake.

The name Francis Drake is associated primarily with the word corsair. Many books and films have been written about his exploits and adventures. Meanwhile, the scale of this historical figure is much higher than the image of an ordinary sea robber.

In the era of colonial conquests, almost all settlers and colonizers were bandits, robbers and slave traders. Francis Drake was no exception. He was just luckier and bigger than the others.

The beginning of the biography of F. Drake

", BGCOLOR, "#ffffff", FONTCOLOR, "#333333", BORDERCOLOR, "Silver", WIDTH, "100%", FADEIN, 100, FADEOUT, 100)" face="Georgia">Francis Drake was from the middle class, his parents owned a farmstead. His father's name was Edmund and he had more than a dozen children, Francis was the eldest child. Already at the age of 12, Francis got acquainted with the sea. He is a cabin boy on a merchant ship of his distant relative. The boy managed to prove himself and liked the owner of the ship so much that he left Drake this ship as a legacy. Thus, at the age of eighteen, Drake becomes the owner and captain of his own ship. Fate itself connected him with the sea.

Why Drake decided to become a corsair

At the age of 27, Drake makes the first long-distance ocean voyage to African Guinea, then to the West Indies (as the lands discovered by Columbus were then called). He was the captain of one of the ships in the flotilla of his relative John Hawkins, and they were engaged in the slave trade. When the ships with black goods were already off the coast of Mexico, they were attacked by Spanish warships and sank almost all of them. Only Hawkins and Drake managed to escape. This was in 1567. Legend has it that the British demanded compensation from the Spaniards (how?). They, of course, refused. Then Drake publicly announced that he would take from the Spanish crown whatever he saw fit. And then it began.

In 1572, when Drake was 32 years old, he organized the first aggressive expedition to the shores of the New World, and began to rob Spanish ships and settlements. The main success of this campaign was the capture of the Spanish "Silver Caravan" with thirty tons of silver. Chronicles state that Drake returned to England in wealth and glory.

It is appropriate to recall here that Drake was not a pirate, he was a corsair (). That is, he had a state patent for robbing enemy ships, was “under the roof” of the English crown and, accordingly, gave a significant part of the booty to the state treasury.

After Francis Drake proved himself not only an outstanding sea wolf, but also a patriot, he was treated kindly by Queen Elizabeth I, whom he served faithfully all his life, proving his devotion to concrete deeds for the good of England.

", BGCOLOR, "#ffffff", FONTCOLOR, "#333333", BORDERCOLOR, "Silver", WIDTH, "100%", FADEIN, 100, FADEOUT, 100)"> Under Elizabeth I (reigned 1559-1603), England embarked on the path of war for the redivision of the world and the seizure of new lands. This was the beginning of the formation of the British colonial empire and everything that would later make England "mistress of the seas."

The Queen instructs Drake to lead an important reconnaissance and conquest expedition to the New World. The official purpose of the expedition was research. In fact, Drake was instructed to conduct reconnaissance of the entire American Pacific coast, strike at Spanish settlements, rob as many valuables as possible and stake out new lands for the English crown, if any were discovered.

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Drake brilliantly coped with the task. An expedition of six ships started on November 15, 1577 from the English coast, descended to the south of the American continent, passed, and entered the Pacific Ocean. Here she was caught by a terrible storm, which threw the ships south of the islands of Tierra del Fuego.

And then Drake made the discovery that between South America and (still undiscovered) Antarctica there is a waterway. This strait subsequently received his name. So it is called to this day - the Drake Passage.

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During this storm, all the ships of the squadron went missing, only the flagship Pelican remained. After a miraculous rescue, the captain decided to rename it the Golden Doe. This is perhaps the only case in history of renaming a ship during a voyage.

The Golden Hind Completes Drake's Circumnavigation

Luck accompanied Drake on this campaign as well. He rose north along the western coast of South America, attacking all the Spanish ports, plundering everything and everyone along the way. How he managed it with one ship, God knows.

", BGCOLOR, "#ffffff", FONTCOLOR, "#333333", BORDERCOLOR, "Silver", WIDTH, "100%", FADEIN, 100, FADEOUT, 100)"> Drake on the "Golden Hind" rose much north of the Spanish colonies, to the shores of modern California and Canada. Documentary evidence of his stay has not been preserved, but researchers believe that he reached the place where Vancouver is now located. The Pacific coast of the current USA and Canada was then completely “wild”, not explored and not captured by anyone. Drake, as expected, staked out new lands for the English crown.

Drake crosses the Pacific

After rest, repairs and replenishment of supplies, the expedition went west and reached the Moluccas (the famous Spice Islands). From there, Drake's ship headed home, rounded and on September 26, 1580 returned to the English shores.

Loot from Francis Drake's circumnavigation

According to British scientists, researchers, Drake brought in the holds of the "Golden Hind" gold, silver, spices and all the stolen good worth six hundred thousand pounds! They (British scientists) claim that this amount was twice the then annual budget of the kingdom!

Drake was greeted as a national hero. Queen Elizabeth knighted him. From that moment he received the right to be called sir Francis Drake.

In addition to gold and various junk, Drake brought potato tubers from America, which took root well on European soil and, one might say, radically changed the diet of Europeans. For which the British and residents of other countries are very grateful to Drake, and not to Columbus at all, as is commonly believed in our country.

Drake continued his robbery work for the benefit of his native country. He attacked not only the colonial possessions of Spain, but also its European ports, in particular, Cadiz. The same Cadiz from which it started.

With his skillful and decisive actions, Drake caused significant damage to Spanish rule on the seas. He played a key role in the defeat of the famous Spanish "Invincible Armada" in 1588. This event, we repeat, was the starting point in the formation of England as a great maritime power.

", BGCOLOR, "#ffffff", FONTCOLOR, "#333333", BORDERCOLOR, "Silver", WIDTH, "100%", FADEIN, 100, FADEOUT, 100)"> Fate has been kind to Francis Drake all his life. And only slightly spoiled the picture at the very end - Drake did not die in battle, as a knight should, but died of dysentery during his last predatory campaign in the West Indies in 1596. But our hero is buried in the sea, as befits a real sea wolf.

And further. God did not give Drake children, and all his fortune passed to his nephew. But the name of an interesting and extraordinary person, a brave sea robber and a great patriot of his homeland, for which he tried all his life, remained in history.

Travelers of the Age of Discovery

Russian travelers and pioneers

History of the most successful pirate Francis Drake

Sir Francis Drake (born July 13, 1540 - death January 28, 1596) - English navigator, pirate, vice admiral (1588). First Englishman to circumnavigate the world (1577-1580). Active participant in the defeat of the Spanish fleet (Invincible Armada) (1588)

The life story of Francis Drake abounded in the most incredible adventures. He was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world. This happened in 1577-1580, when his "Golden Doe" passed three oceans and returned to England with full holds of gold and jewelry, Drake fought against the Spanish squadrons and stormed coastal forts, crossed the Strait of Magellan, engaged in robberies in the South and North America. For his exploits, he, who was essentially a real pirate, was awarded a knighthood. Queen Elizabeth laid a sword on him right on the deck of the ship. Along with this, the name of Drake became famous in Spain, where he was cursed by everyone from young to old.

Pirate Francis Drake

Francis Drake - the strait at the southern tip of South America is even named after this pirate traveler.

The 16th century was marked by the illustrious voyages of a whole galaxy of famous English captains. Frobisher and Hawkins, Raleigh and Davis, Drake and many other brilliant sailors plied the waves of the North Atlantic and Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Polynesia. Alas, this period of time was at the same time the heyday of the pirate industry. Therefore, all the captains listed above became famous primarily as "gentlemen of fortune."

The most famous Englishman of the 16th century, without a doubt, was Sir Francis Drake, a pirate and slave trader, a round-the-world navigator and a talented naval commander who played a decisive role in the defeat of the Spanish Invincible Armada.

Being a close relative of the famous pirate and human trader John Hawkins, Francis sailed on his ships to the shores from the age of 23. West Africa returning from there with holds full of slaves.

Pirate and Queen Elizabeth

Then Drake decided to do his own pirate craft. He began to attack Spanish ships carrying treasures. So, 12 years have passed in robber labors and worries. During this time, Captain Drake had accumulated considerable seafaring experience and some capital, which allowed him to propose to the queen and her entourage the daring project of a pirate expedition to the Spanish colonies on the Pacific coast of America. Here, no one expected an attack by the British, and the booty could be largely greater than in the ports of the Caribbean, which were plucked by pirates.

The Queen of England favorably reacted to Drake's plans and even deigned to contribute to the financial support of the expedition in the amount of 1000 crowns. A more significant contribution was made by high-ranking royal officials: the Earl of Essex, Walsingham and Burghley. However, the venerable lords did not intend to remain at a loss and in fact did not miscalculate. On Drake's return, they received their share of the booty, and their profits amounted. 5,000% on invested capital. But all this will happen later. And we want to tell you about world tour pirate captain...

Drake's voyage around the world (1577-1580)

Francis Drake's ship Golden Doe

1577, December - 5 ships of the Drake flotilla left the port of Plymouth and headed south. Drake himself commanded the flagship Pelican, which he later renamed the Golden Hind. The crew of the entire flotilla consisted of only 160 people. Having first robbed off the African coast, Drake captured and robbed more than a dozen Spanish and Portuguese ships with rich cargo. In addition, another prey fell into his hands - a Portuguese pilot who used to go to South America.

1578, June - Drake's flotilla approached the bay of San Julian, located relatively close to the Strait of Magellan. This bay, notorious for the riot that occurred during the stay here of the expedition of Magellan, and this time justified its notoriety. A mutiny broke out on one of the ships, spreading to the crew. It all ended with the fact that Drake executed one of the captains - Doughty, accusing him of sedition and betrayal. Leaving two heavily damaged ships in the bay, the depleted flotilla moved on.

However, at the entrance to the Strait of Magellan, a strong storm hit the ships and drove them south for 50 days. The result was Drake's discovery that Tierra del Fuego is an island, and not a protrusion of the South American mainland, as previously thought. The wide strait separating this island from Antarctica is now named after Drake.

The storm caused serious damage to the flotilla: one ship sank, and the other was forced to return to England due to damage. But Drake wasn't used to backing down. On the one remaining ship - the Golden Hind - he headed north to the coast of Chile. Then begins a strip of active and successful pirate adventures of Drake.

1578, December 5 - the British attacked the port of Valparaiso, as a result of which they captured a ship with valuable cargo and plundered the coast. 1579, February 5 - a raid on the port of Arica and new trophies. Then - an attack on the Peruvian city of Callao. A galleon with a cargo of gold and silver left from under Drake's nose. A furious chase followed, and on 1 March the galleon was captured after a cannon fire. Precious ingots migrate to the hold of the Golden Doe.

Pirate Drake completed his tasks. His booty was enormous. However, returning home the same way became impossible. Rumors of brazen attacks and robberies reached the Spanish authorities, and Spanish warships guarded the Golden Doe to get even with the pirate for all his atrocities.

Then Drake went north, attacked the Mexican port of Guatulco, plundered it, at the same time replenished the supply of provisions. Then he sent the Golden Doe even further north, hoping to find a strait connecting the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic. Drake's ship has reached 49 degrees north latitude! So far north along the Pacific coast has not yet been climbed by any navigator! But no signs of the strait could be found, and the English pirate was forced to turn south. And then luck smiled at him: off the coast of Nicaragua, the British seized a ship on which they found maps of the Pacific Ocean and the Philippine Islands. This gave the pirate the idea to return to Europe via the Pacific and Indian oceans.

1579, July - "Golden Doe" headed west. Having made only 4 stops along the way (in the Philippines, the Moluccas archipelago, the island of Java and Sierra Leone), Drake returned to England in triumph in 1580. So, 60 years after Magellan's journey, another ship managed to go around the world. At the same time, Francis Drake became the first captain to command a ship around the world from start to finish.

Knightly title for a pirate

Francis Drake's voyage around the world - itinerary

But for the dignitaries who met the Golden Doe in Plymouth, this was not the main thing. Drake's ship had gold and jewels worth two years of the entire royal treasury! The queen ordered her captain to personally arrive in London with the most spectacular jewels and honored him with a six-hour conversation. Soon Elizabeth granted Francis Drake a knighthood.

Having become a nobleman, the robber and robber became a respected member of society. He bought himself an estate and married a wealthy heiress. Drake was elected Mayor of Plymouth and Member of Parliament. But the sailor clearly did not like the quiet life. He organized two more pirate expeditions to the Caribbean, and in the interval between them he managed to take part in the war with Spain. Also, more than once he went to the shores of America to rob the "Golden Fleet" of the Spaniards. Then he boldly robbed in Europe, right under the nose of the King of Spain, Philip II. As Drake himself said - "scorched his beard."

Vice Admiral of the British Navy (1588)

Sir Francis Drake, appointed Vice-Admiral of the British Navy, is the main merit in the triumphant battle with the "Invincible Armada" sent by Philip II against the British. Despite the double superiority in the number of ships and guns, the Spaniards lost 60 ships out of 130 and were forced to retreat.

Death of Sir Francis Drake

Departing in 1596 to the shores of Panama, Sir Francis Drake fell ill with yellow fever, or simply dysentery, and died on board his ship. As befits sailors, his body, in accordance with the will of Drake himself, was placed in a lead coffin and lowered into the Caribbean Sea, which witnessed the first exploits of the famous English "gentleman of fortune."

Died at sea and "Golden Doe". But not from a storm or enemy nuclei. Its wooden body was turned into dust by a tiny worm - a toredo.

After death

But relatively recently, the reputation of the legendary English pirate received an unexpected blow. The British Ministry of Defense did not finance the operation to retrieve his coffin from the bottom of the Caribbean Sea. And the British Royal Mail refused to release the series postage stamps dedicated to the 400th anniversary of his death.

How did the authorities motivate their unwillingness to honor their fellow countryman? The postal workers explained their refusal by the fact that in 1973 stamps with the profile of Sir Francis were already being issued. The military also referred to the high cost of the upcoming operation to remove the coffin. But most likely, the British do not want to offend the feelings of the Spaniards, whose ancestors suffered at the hands of Drake, as well as the Americans: after all, it was from Drake that slavery began on the North American continent, where he regularly supplied "black gold".

Or perhaps the British remembered how the Latin American countries opposed the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America, with whose name many are associated with the beginning of the brutal extermination of the South American peoples.

Francis Drake who sold his soul

According to Spanish legend, Sir Francis Drake sold his soul to the devil in exchange for good luck on the seas. Surprisingly, this legend was immediately adopted by compatriots who idolized Drake, while talking about Drake's deal with undisguised delight, being the vast majority of true believers. It was said that Drake was able to bring the most severe storms to the Spanish "Armada" with the support of the Divonian witches, with whom he was supposedly friends with early childhood and who always helped him.

Even today, more than four centuries later, the British firmly believe that those ancient "Drake" witches guarding the passage to Devonport can still be seen dark night at Cape Devil. There is a belief that the devil was so pleased with Drake's exploits that, as a reward for everything he had done, he built his favorite house in Buckland-eby in just three days. Drake's house stands to this day, and every curious person can, having personally looked around the apartments of the legendary pirate admiral, feel the charm of his personality.