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. It's about 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, went to long hike to Africa for slaves and from there to the West Indies, where sailors hunted by 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, another was dragged into the strait by the current, 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 caracques 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 Alburg shipyard, and both weapons (sailing and artillery) were installed in her hometown 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 did important discovery. It turned out that Tierra del Fuego is not at all a ledge of the famous southern mainland, but there is only a large island, beyond 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 with a description of 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 a lot 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 path through South ocean and the weather favored him. 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.

The content 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 sailed at first on coasters 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 position as captain of a ship in John Hawkins' squadron, which was engaged in the slave trade and delivered them from Africa to the Spanish colonies in the West Indies. The 1566–1567 voyage ended in failure as the Spanish launched a treacherous attack on English shipping off 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 Treasurer of the Navy J. Gaukins and Captain F. Drake.

Trip around the world.

For several years, Drake made pirate raids in the Caribbean, which Spain considered its territory, captured Nombre de Dios in central Panama, robbed caravans carrying silver cargo from Peru to Panama on mules. His activities attracted the attention of Elizabeth I and a group of courtiers, including the State Treasurer Lord Burghley and Home Secretary Francis Walsingham. Funds were raised for an expedition that lasted from 1577 to 1580. Originally planned to search for the supposed southern mainland, it resulted - perhaps at the direction of the queen (although England and Spain were not yet at war) - in the most successful in history a pirate raid that brought in £47 for every pound invested.

Drake sailed as the captain of the ship "Pelican" (later renamed the "Golden Doe") with a displacement of 100 tons . In addition, there were four smaller ships, which, however, never completed their journey. After putting down a mutiny on a ship off the coast of Patagonia in 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 about 57 ° S, and as a result, Drake discovered between Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica the strait that now bears his name (although he himself probably never saw Cape Horn). On his way north, he plundered ships and harbors off the coast of Chile and Peru, and seems to have intended to return through the proposed Northwest Passage. Somewhere at the latitude of Vancouver (no ship's logs survived), due to bad weather, Drake was forced to turn south and anchor a little north of modern San Francisco. The site, which he called New Albion, was established in 1936 thanks to the discovery of a copper plate with the date June 17, 1579, about 50 km northwest of the Golden Gate (now Drake's Bay). An inscription is engraved on the plate, declaring this territory the possession of Queen Elizabeth. Drake then crossed the Pacific Ocean and reached the Moluccas, after which he returned to England.

Drake sailed around the world, demonstrating the skill of navigation. The queen granted him a knighthood as the first captain to circumnavigate the globe (Magellan's claims were disputed, since he died during the voyage in 1521). The account of Drake's voyages, compiled by the ship's chaplain Francis Fletcher and published by Hakluth, is still very popular. After receiving his share of the booty, 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 bound for the West Indies, which marked the beginning of open war with Spain. His skill in the tactics of combined sea and land operations made it possible 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 valley of the Roanoke River (Virginia). Thus, the first colony in America, founded by Walter Raleigh, ceased to exist, which was not just a settlement, but also a strategic base for pirate raids in the Caribbean.

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

Thanks to skillful maneuvering, the English fleet broke into the sea and turned the Armada back. When the week-long pursuit of the Armada began in the English Channel, Drake was appointed commander of the fleet on the Revenge (a ship with a displacement of 450 tons with 50 guns on board), but he rejected this offer, 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 A Coruna 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 continued to be actively involved in local affairs as Mayor of Plymouth and Member of Parliament for that city. In addition, he founded an asylum in Chatham for wounded sailors. In 1595 he was again called to the navy to lead an expedition to the West Indies together with J. Gaukins. The expedition ended in failure, Hawkins died off the coast of Puerto Rico, and Drake himself died of a fever on January 28, 1596 off the coast of Portobelo.

Added: 05/17/2011

At the beginning of the journey

Francis Drake was born in 1540 (in 1543 according to other sources) on a farm near Tavistock in Devonshire (Tavistock, Devonshire). He was the eldest of 12 children in the family of a poor country priest Edmund Drake (Edmund Drake). Apparently, Edmund Drake was somehow connected with the sea - most likely, he served as a ship's priest.

Already at the age of 9-10, Francis Drake entered as a cabin boy on a merchant ship that sailed to continental Europe. At a young age, Drake proved himself so well that already in 1561 he inherited his first ship, the 50-ton Judith (Judith), from the old captain.

In 1561-1567, Drake, as the captain-owner of the ship, conducts trading activities, including the slave trade (at that time, the business itself was quite legal). In 1567 he takes part in the expedition of John Hawkins (John Hawkins) to the West Indies. The enterprise ended in disaster. In the harbor of San Juan de Uloa (modern Mexico near Veracruz), where the British went to recover from a strong storm, they were locked and defeated by the Spanish squadron. Of the five English ships, only Judith Drake returned to England.

(However, Hawkins also survived - he will still play a role in the fate of Drake).

It should be noted here that this expedition of Hawkins was not in itself a pirate expedition in the present sense of the word. The British brought slaves to the West Indies for sale. But since the Spaniards considered the New World to be their fiefdom, they could not like such activities.

One way or another, the defeat at San Juan de Uloa was a landmark event for Francis Drake. He becomes an implacable enemy of the Spaniards.

Royal corsair.

In the late 60s, early 70s of the 16th century, Drake on two small ships - Pasha and Swan hunts for Spanish caravans and robs Spanish ships in the Caribbean (and at the same time collects information about the Spaniards and gains experience)

July 4, 1569 Drake married Mary Newman. This marriage was childless. Mary Newman died 12 years later.

In 1572, Drake undertook the first land operations to capture and plunder settlements on the Isthmus of Panama from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast (and along with land caravans). These enterprises did not bring any special income to Drake, but his name is becoming widely known.

In 1572, Francis Drake received a license from Queen Elizabeth for private activities.

In 1573, in cooperation with the French pirate Guillaume Le Testu, Drake raided a Spanish silver caravan. During the sortie, the pirates lost more than thirty people, including Drake's brothers - John and Joseph. But the booty was very significant. This allowed Drake to purchase the estate upon his return home and become the shipowner of three ships.

Iron Pirate.

On the advice of John Hawkins, Francis Drake enters the royal service, participates in the pacification Irish rebellion 1575, acquires the necessary contacts and connections, at the same time Drake was recommended to Secretary of State Francis Walsingem (Francis Walsingem) and presented to the Queen. He had the opportunity to present to Elizabeth I his plan for an expedition to the west coast of America and received support.

Of course, the participation of the English queen, as well as other "powerful" sponsors of the Drake expedition, was carefully hidden.

December 13, 1577 Francis Drake, at the head of a squadron of 5 ships on the flagship Pelican (Pelican), left Plymouth on his most famous campaign. By this time, he was already surrounded by the glory of the "iron pirate", an experienced navigator and an excellent naval tactician.

It is not known for certain what the main goals were set for Drake's expedition by the court of Elizabeth I - England was at peace with Spain, and the participation of the state in Drake's enterprise was not advertised.

But the results of this voyage are well known.

September 26, 1580 Golden Hind (Golden Hind), having completed its round-the-world passage, anchored in Plymouth. In addition to purely material booty (and this is almost 2 annual budgets of England), there were other equally important historical and political results of this voyage. Queen Elizabeth I knighted Francis Drake on April 4, 1581 aboard the Golden Hind.

According to historian J. M. Trevelyan (G. M. Trevelyan.) “This was the most important knighthood ever bestowed by an English sovereign, for it was a direct challenge to Spain and a call to the people of England to turn to the sea and seek their strength there”

Sir Francis Drake bought an estate in Buckland (Buckland Abbey, Devon) - a knighthood obliged him to have his own castle, was elected mayor of Plymouth, appointed inspector of the royal naval commission, and in 1584 became a member of the House of Commons of the British Parliament.

In February 1585, Drake married 20-year-old Elizabeth Sydenham, who came from a wealthy and noble family. However, this marriage was also childless.

Admiral of the Royal Navy

In 1585 - 1586 Drake commanded a large formation of 21 ships. Under his command were 2300 soldiers and sailors. Drake's Vice Admiral was the famous Captain Sir Martin Frobisher. The campaign in the West Indies, the sack of Cartagena and San Augustin in Cuba brought England more than 300 thousand pounds. Art. and about 240 guns.

Another significant campaign was made by Drake in April 1587. At the head of a squadron of 13 ships, he suddenly attacked the Spanish Cadiz, where the famous Invincible Armada was formed. Drake's flotilla sank and burned 30 of the 60 Spanish ships, including a 40-gun 1000-ton Spanish galleon, another large Spanish galleon was boarded in the inner harbor of Cadiz. At the end of this campaign, the Sagrish castle was destroyed, about 50 small caravels and other small ships were sunk and captured, and the San Felipe caracca, returning from the East Indies with a rich cargo, was captured.

Admittedly, this campaign by Drake delayed the attack of the Invincible Armada on England for at least a year, which undoubtedly allowed the latter to be better prepared for the Spanish invasion.

Of course, Sir Francis Drake was a direct and active participant in the defeat of the Invincible Armada (132 ships!) In 1588. On his ship Revenge, he participated in battles at Plymouth, at Portland, at the Isle of Wight, near Calais and at Gravelines.

The outstanding role of Francis Drake in the confrontation with Spain was noted even by the opponents and enemies of England. Pope Sixtus V wrote: “Did you hear how Drake and his fleet forced the fight on the Armada? With what courage! Do you think he showed any fear? He is a great captain!"

Apparently, after this, luck turned away from Sir Francis Drake. His subsequent campaigns and enterprises were either unsuccessful or simply a failure.

Sir Francis Drake made his last voyage with Hawkins to the West Indies. However, trained and learned a lot for last years The Spaniards managed to repulse the British. special success this swim had not. Moreover, the British squadron suffered from tropical fever and dysentery.

In November 1595, on the roadstead of San Juan (Puerto Rico), John Hawkins died after a serious illness. And on January 28, 1596, in Nombre de Dios (where he was wounded in the leg in 1572), Francis Drake himself died of dysentery.

The chronicler writes that, having felt the approach of death, the "iron pirate" put on armor in order to accept death as it should be for a warrior and a knight.

Under volleys of ship guns, the lead coffin with the body of Sir Francis Drake sank to the bottom of the sea.

The most successful corsair in history often took desperate risks. And he almost always won. What was it? Sober calculation or miracles of exceptional luck?

By the middle of the 16th century, an unusual situation had developed in the Atlantic - in the Caribbean Sea and off the coast of Europe. Literally in a matter of years, in these waters, which were previously dangerous except for their storms, a new terrible danger has appeared - pirates! And the first violin in this concert immediately began to play the British. Why exactly them? England was late to the division of the American and Asian colonies. AT XVI century, the Spaniards and the Portuguese confidently settled there. This means that it was difficult for English men to become new conquistadors. Where to go to a young, brave, strong guy who wants to get rich quick? Well, of course, the pirates! And given the fact that piracy was almost officially encouraged by the British government, sea robbery became, in the truest sense of the word, the national idea of ​​Britain.

And the most prominent pirates became national heroes. Sir became such a specific hero Francis Drake – one of the greatest pirates that English soil has ever produced.

Of course, at birth, Drake was no sir at all. This is then the queen , satisfied with the very profitable (for the treasury) activity of the pirate, will grant him a knighthood. And about 1540 when in the family of a Devonshire farmer Edmund Drake a boy was born, who was named Francis, no one could have imagined that he would become sir, vice admiral and thunderstorm of the Spanish crown.

However, one should not consider the small English landowners (yeomen), from which the parents of the future pirate came, as representatives of the lowest classes. So, young Francis received a very good (at that time) education.

He could both read and write. And not only in English, but also in French. From his father, who in his declining years moved from "agricultural workers" to preachers, Drake inherited the art of persuasion - an indispensable quality for any leader (including the leader of sea robbers).

When Francis was still a teenager, his father apprenticed him to the skipper of a merchant barge. It is unlikely that Drake Sr. dreamed of seeing his son as a robber. Rather, he wanted to provide the boy with a secure job in adulthood. And in England the second half XVI centuries, the most sought-after professions were those that were somehow connected with the sea.

So, Francis becomes a cabin boy on a ship. The ship is a trading ship and sails only in coastal waters. It's not even a school, but Kindergarten for every English sailor. But it must be passed in order to step higher. And the school specifically for Francis has already become a service with John Hawkins famous sailor of the Elizabethan era. Hawkins was eight years older than Drake. And most importantly, he was a nobleman with connections. Therefore, Hawkins quickly became an influential leader, and the son of commoners Drake at first only worked for him.

What did Drake do with Hawkins? Oh, then it was the most demanded (just appeared, but promised great prospects) business - slave trade!

Slave Trade: Young Sailor's School

So, if coastal (coastal) navigation was Drake's kindergarten, then John Hawkins' slave trading expeditions became his school.

Sharp-witted, with a well-suspended tongue, sailor Drake quickly attracted the attention of the owner. A promising young man receives a bark under his command "Judith". Very quickly, Drake becomes the right hand of John Hawkins.

However, in 1568 the growing business of Hawkins-Drake suffered an unexpected fiasco. During another visit to the New World with a batch of slaves, near the Mexican fortress of San Juan de Ulua, Hawkins' squadron was attacked by the Spaniards, who had long been suspicious of the visits of English ships to their colonies. Madrid believed that trade with the Spanish colonies, including slaves, should be carried out by Spanish merchants, and not at all by foreigners.

Having abandoned the flagship with all the valuables, Hawkins managed to escape from the Spaniards on the light ship Minion. Escaped from the ring of Spanish ships and Drake on his Judith. The rest of the English ships sank or were captured.

Outraged slave traders Drake and Hawkins arrived in England, where through official channels they demanded that the Spanish king compensate for the losses incurred as a result of such a blatant "violation of international law". The fact that, before its defeat, Hawkins' squadron, in addition to the slave trade, also managed to plunder some coastal Mexican settlements, the plaintiffs modestly passed over in silence.

King of Spain Philip II Of course, this complaint was ignored. Then Drake decided that " do not expect favors from Spain, it is our task to take them from her". So the world was no longer a slave trader, but the pirate Drake ...

Drake's first pirate raid

Drake's first pirate raid 1572 glorified his name throughout England. Equipped partly with his own, partly with state funds, several ships, he went to the Caribbean Sea. There, after a series of mediocre successes, Francis was waiting for a big success of the "Silver Fleet" of the Spanish crown ...

Every year in the spring, a flotilla of dozens of ships sailed from the coast of America to Spain. She carried whole mountains of silver, mined in the famous Bolivian silver mines in Potosi. Therefore, this flotilla was nicknamed the "Silver Fleet".
Of course, for Drake and his small squadron, there was no question of capturing the entire "Silver Fleet", which consisted of several dozen cargo and military (security) ships with a large and well-trained crew. But the fact is that the "Silver Fleet" was formed in Havana (the starting point of the journey to Spain).
Spanish ships arrived at the main port of Cuba from all over South and Central America, carrying silver and other valuables mined or looted in subject territories. From these mini-squadrons, the mighty “Silver Fleet” was then formed, and there was nothing to think about attacking which in full force.

But Drake was just lucky to intercept such a Spanish mini-squadron carrying valuable cargo to Havana. The extraction of the British was colossal - 30 tons of silver. Drake returned to England a rich man and a famous pirate throughout the country.

Pirate and Queen: Secret Additional Agreement

Drake's second outing was even more successful than the first. In November 1577 Drake went on an expedition to the Pacific coast of America. The squadron sailed with the full official support of the Queen Elizabeth , which was convinced of the talents of the ambitious captain and the incredible profitability of such events for the treasury. However, formally the purpose of the trip was the discovery of new lands.

However, everyone understood that Drake was not going on a hike for educational purposes. A secret contract was attached to the official instructions., according to which the queen, at her own expense, equips Drake with a squadron of six ships, and in return he undertakes to hand over 50% of the valuables captured during the “journey” to the royal treasury.

The results of the campaign exceeded all wildest expectations. Drake swept the Pacific coast with fire and sword, attacking Spanish cities and towns. But these were all small things compared to the main prize - manila galleon. Every year, on the other side of the planet, a galleon left Manila (in the Spanish Philippines), which carried to the metropolis all the loot on these Asian islands for the whole year.

But to the west across the Indian Ocean, skirting the Cape of Good Hope, the Spaniards were afraid. They feared (and quite rightly) Asian, Arab, African and, of course, European sea robbers, which were found in abundance in the waters of the Indian and Atlantic oceans.

Therefore, the Spaniards chose a different path. East, in a straight line across the Pacific to the port of Acapulco in Spanish Mexico. There, the values ​​​​of the Manila galleon were unloaded, transported by land to the opposite (Atlantic) coast, where they were again loaded onto ships and sent to Spain itself. This path was rather laborious, but shorter and, most importantly, safer ...

Yes, it was safer that way. By the English pirates in the Caribbean have already become accustomed to and kept against them military squadrons. But in the Pacific Ocean they have not yet been seen. And they did not provide serious protection.

And so, having rounded South America through the Strait of Magellan, Drake's pirates broke into the operational (Pacific) space ...

Defeated Leviathan

spring 1579, approaching the harbor of the Mexican port of Acapulco (on the Pacific coast of Mexico), Drake saw the silhouette of a huge ship in the roadstead. It was the same Manila galleon!

This ship could not be confused with any other. The fact is that Spanish entrepreneurs, dissatisfied with competition with suppliers of inexpensive Asian products (primarily textiles), convinced the king to issue a special decree. It was decided that only one cargo ship per year could be sent from the Philippines to Spain. So the Castilian weavers wanted to limit the influx of cheap Asian fabrics.

But Spanish traders and merchants in the Philippines found a way out. They began to build this one and only legal vessel of such a size that it could hold all the necessary goods at once. For its era, it was truly a giant ship..

The sailing fleet had never seen such a hulk before. Some of the Manila monsters had a displacement of 2000 tons (for comparison: the largest ship in Drake's squadron did not even reach 300 tons). And Drake saw such a leviathan in the harbor of Acapulco, where the galleon, apparently, had just arrived with a cargo.

Drake didn't hesitate. He had the surprise factor and a desperate team of thugs on his side. The Spaniards were taken by surprise, most of the team was on the shore. The resistance of the small guard was quickly broken. Countless treasures (and not only Chinese silk, but also spices, porcelain, and precious stones were brought from the Philippines) fell into the hands of pirates.

It should be noted that the Manila galleons at the time of Drake did not yet have guns, so they could not give an artillery rebuff to the daring invaders. The Spaniards used to calmly sail across the Pacific Ocean, where there were no serious pirates. Why then guns?

However, after the Drake raid, and also after 1587 another british gentleman of fortune, Thomas Cavendish , captured the Manila galleon "Saint Anna", the Spaniards revised their maritime safety rules. Manila galleons are now equipped with cannons, the military team on the galleons has been significantly increased. After these innovations, the attack became a very problematic task.

But Drake was lucky. He was the first, and therefore hit such a fat jackpot.

"Golden Doe" brings two state budgets

When in September 1580, after a three-year absence, Drake's only surviving ship is his famous flagship "Golden Doe"- Entered Plymouth Harbor, treasures worth £600,000 were buried in the holds of the ship. This was twice the annual budget of the entire English kingdom!

Drake was greeted as a national hero. The queen was delighted. At one stroke, dear Sir Francis (he became sir because he was knighted immediately upon his return) brought her a fantastic gift. Under a secret additional agreement, the queen was entitled to half of the entire booty, that is, in this case, to 300,000 pounds sterling.

The next, third in a row, Drake's raid on the Spanish colonies was also effective. AT 1586 the pirate managed to get from Cartagena, one of largest cities Spanish America, an unheard-of ransom of 107,000 gold pesos at the time. True, in order to achieve this impressive result, Drake initially had to burn about a quarter of the city for warning (which, by the way, Queen Elizabeth, who was thirsting for "Spanish blood" at that time, was pretty happy about).

Then there was a daring raid already on the Spanish coast itself (on Cadiz in 1587), in order, as the pirate captain himself jokingly put it, "to burn the beard of the king of Spain."

Along the way, near the Azores, Drake captured the San Filipe carrack, which was coming from India with a large cargo of gold, spices and silk (the production amounted to 114,000 pounds; the queen, as before, received her share).

And in 1588 Sir Francis Drake took an active part in the defeat of the Spanish Invincible Armada. In England, he turned into a national hero, and for the Spanish king he became the embodiment of universal evil.

Drake's last case

Drake made his last pirate expedition to the West Indies (America) in 1595-1596 in company with John Hawkins - a man to whom he owed much of his enchanting career.

Having tied up with the slave trade, John Hawkins also became a pirate. Although here he had to yield the palm to his former protégé (Drake), nevertheless the Spaniards trembled before his name. Starting another military action against the hated England, the Spanish king was interested in the first thing: where are Drake and Hawkins now, what are they doing, what are they doing? That is, the long absence of these gentlemen gives at least some hope of success.

But towards the middle 1590s Hawkins felt guilty towards the queen. On his previous expedition, he brought much less gold than he himself expected, and much less than the queen expected. For this, the 60-year-old sea wolf was given a real scolding in the palace.

Wanting to justify himself, Hawkins wrote a penitential letter to the queen, in the biblical spirit: they say, man proposes, but God disposes.

The pious queen, this time (as in every other time when it came to pounds sterling), did not heed the religious arguments of her ward. In her hearts she said to those close to her:

"This fool went out to sea as a warrior, and returned as a priest!"

Hawkins realized that God-fearing rhetoric will not catch the Queen. Red Bess (Red Beth - Elizabeth's nickname) must be given what she most desires, namely gold. For help, he turned to his old companion - Drake. By the way, the queen also cooled somewhat towards Francis. And all for the same reason: for a long time there were no new chests with gold from him.

Two old friends decided to improve their reputation in the eyes of the royal court and went on another expedition to the shores of Spanish America. Alas, this voyage was the last for both of them.

Hawkins died in November 1595 off the coast of Puerto Rico. And after two months, January 28, 1596, near Puer to Bello(now Portobelo in Panama) Francis Drake died of dysentery. The famous pirate was buried in the ocean in a lead coffin.

Francis Drake - navigator, discoverer and favorite corsair of the Queen of England. His exploits and travels forced many to strive for the boundless expanses of the ocean. However, only a few managed to achieve the level of wealth and fame that Francis Drake possessed.

Biography

The future navigator was born in Middle England, the son of a wealthy farmer. Drake Francis was the eldest child in a large family. As the eldest son, he was destined for his father's work, but the heart of young Francis belonged to the sea. Already at the age of 12, he becomes a cabin boy on a merchant ship of one of his many relatives. diligent and fast learning maritime sciences singled him out from his peers. The owner liked the young Drake Francis so much that, dying, he left the ship as a legacy to the former cabin boy. So at the age of 18, Drake becomes the captain of his own ship.

First voyages

At first, like all captains of merchant ships, Drake Francis carried various commercial cargoes to the British kingdom. In 1560, Drake's uncle, John Hawkins, drew attention to the catastrophic shortage of labor on New World plantations. The idea to involve American natives in forced labor was not crowned with success - the Indians did not want to work, were not afraid of torture and death, and their relatives had an unpleasant habit of taking revenge on white people for the kidnapped and tortured redskins.

Another thing is the slaves. They could be imported from the Black Continent, bought for trinkets, sold or exchanged. For us, living in the 21st century, these words sound blasphemous. But for a 16th century Englishman, it was just a business - just like any other.

Trade in live goods

The laws of the New World allowed only those slaves that were supplied by the Trading House of Seville to be traded. But the demand for slaves greatly exceeded the capacity of this commercial organization, and the colonists suffered heavy losses. The owners of tea, coffee, cotton and tobacco plantations were willing to pay good money for cheap labor.

Hawkins decided to take a chance. He shared his idea with several trading enterprises, and they gave him money to start work. Already the first flight to the New World with live goods more than paid off the funds invested in the enterprise. Although it was believed that there was nothing reprehensible in Hawkins's actions, the old sailor resorted to cannons and guns when any governor disagreed with his methods of work. Taxes from the enterprise were regularly paid into the treasury of England. Several voyages from Africa to the New World made Hawkins and his patrons very wealthy.

Hawkins-Drake Enterprise

On the third voyage, Hawkins took his nephew and, as usual, headed for the shores of Africa for live goods. By this time, Drake Francis was an experienced captain, sailing in and crossing the Atlantic with veteran smuggler John Lovel. The joint expedition ended tragically - the ships of the corsairs were caught by a storm, the squadron went astray, and the flagship suffered more than the others. John Hawkins decided to get repaired and headed to the port of San Juan de Ulua, located in Honduras. Francis Drake followed suit. What he discovered was the extremely unfriendly reception that this town gave to two sailors. The cannons of the port gave an unequivocal warning that it was very dangerous to approach, and negotiations with the local authorities were unsuccessful. At this time, the sails of the Spanish coastal squadron appeared on the horizon. The smugglers had to engage in an unequal battle. Francis Drake's ship, the Swan, was less damaged during the storm, and the corsair managed to escape from his pursuers, leaving his companion to the mercy of fate.

Having reached the English coast, Drake told everyone that his uncle had died in an unequal battle. But after a few weeks, an unpleasant meeting awaited the corsair: as it turned out, Hawkins managed to survive, and he, with several surviving sailors, was able to escape from the Honduran trap. It is not known what the uncle and nephew were talking about, but after a few years they organized a new expedition and began to raid the New World again.

Pirate Francis Drake

After this incident, Drake swore revenge on the Spanish crown for the unsuccessful Honduran raid. He constantly pursued Spanish ships, causing considerable damage to the crown. How concerned the Spaniards were by Drake's constant attacks is evidenced by the fact that a reward of 20,000 ducats was placed on the head of an English pirate. His first retaliatory expedition left the Portsmouth Docks in 1572. On two ships - "Swan" and "Pasha" - went to the New World and managed to capture the Colombian port of Nombre de Dios. Here he managed to rob several Spanish ships and capture rich booty. Drake then crossed the Isthmus of Panama to see the Pacific Ocean.

Probably, the view of the vast space prompted the pirate to create certain plans, which he was able to carry out a few years later.

War with Ireland

At this time, a war broke out in the homeland of the brave captain. Ireland made another attempt to gain its independence. Drake agrees to enter the service of the Earl of Essex and takes part in naval battles against the Irish. In his squadron were three government frigates, with which he attacked coastal Irish villages and sank enemy ships. For his service in the government fleet, Drake Francis was presented to the Queen as the best of the captains.

Destination - South America

It is not known whether at the first meeting the impudent captain outlined his plans to Queen Elizabeth or it happened during one of the subsequent meetings. Drake stressed that Spain's hegemony in the New World needed to be destroyed, and the coast of the South American continent was ideally suited for this purpose. He was going to destroy the Spanish colonies located in this part of the world and lay down huge booty at the feet of Elizabeth. The Queen of England found Drake's proposal very interesting and even gave him five government ships.

World expedition

In December 1577, Francis Drake (1577 - 1580) began his three-year expedition. His ships headed for South America. After the battle near the Rio de la Plata, he went further south and sailed around Patagonia in two ships. After several skirmishes with the natives, he managed to reach the Strait of Magellan, which was opened in 1520. During a storm, he lost sight of his second ship, which, in the end, returned to the English shores on its own. And the flagship "Golden Doe" continued its journey around the world.

Other shores

On the Pacific shores South America Drake thoroughly plundered the rich ports of Peru and Chile, capturing merchant ships and loaded with booty. His greatest success was the capture of the magnificent Spanish ship "Nuestra Señora de Concepción" - the best ship Spanish squadron. The ship captured by Drake was carrying a rich cargo of gold and silver bars, which was estimated at 150,000 pounds - fabulous money at that time. Realizing that the angry Spaniards would be waiting for him on the usual routes, Drake decided to go around the Pacific Ocean and return home by a new route. After replenishing his supplies in 1579, he moved west.

During the voyage, Drake mapped islands and coastlines, established relations with the natives, thereby laying the foundation for England's trade with Asian countries.

Meeting in England

Nearly a three-year voyage has come to an end. In September 1580, Drake arrived in Plymouth. He brought to the port not only his ship, but also a captured Spanish ship, renamed the Kakafuego. The queen received Drake very warmly, because his pirate attacks significantly replenished her treasury. solemnly boarded the Golden Hind and knighted Captain Drake. So the pirate received the title of Sir Francis Drake, and, according to contemporaries, he won the personal favor of the queen and was her favorite.

The corsair's career did not end after such a triumph. The year 1585 found him in the Caribbean, where he commanded a fleet of 25 Her Majesty's ships. He captures the rich city of San Domingo and brings tobacco and potatoes to the English coast. Captain Drake's career ended in 1595 after an unsuccessful attempt to capture Las Palmas. In that battle, Drake's uncle, John Hawkins, died, and the captain himself, ill with malaria, went home. But, unfortunately, the disease progressed, and the famous pirate died in Portobello. His death was a happy day in Spain, where the news of Drake's death was greeted with bells.

It is difficult to overestimate the contribution that Sir Francis Drake made to history. What he discovered can be found on any map of the world. Among the many images he painted of coastlines and small islands, there is a large strait between South America and Antarctica. This strait on all maps of the world bears the name of Francis Drake - famous pirate and Her Majesty's corsair.