Editing Francis Drake

{{Short description|English sailor and privateer (c. 1540 – 1596)}}
{{About|the Elizabethan naval commander}}{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox pirate
| honorific_prefix = [[Vice Admiral]]
| name = Sir Francis Drake
| image = Gheeraerts Francis Drake 1591.jpg
| caption = Portrait by [[Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger|Marcus Gheeraerts]], 1591
| birth_date = {{c.}} 1540
| birth_place = [[Tavistock]], [[Devon]], England
| death_date = {{Death-date and age|28 January 1596|1 January 1540}}
| death_place = off the coast of [[Portobelo, Colón|Portobelo]] (today [[Panama]])
| awards = [[Knight Bachelor]] (1581)
| nickname = El Draque (the Dragon)<ref name="Edmundson2009"/>
| type = [[Privateer]]
| allegiance = [[Kingdom of England]]
| serviceyears = 1563–1596
| rank = [[Vice admiral]]
| base of operations = [[Piracy in the Caribbean|Caribbean Sea]]
| commands = {{ubl|''[[Golden Hind]]'' (previously known as ''Pelican'')|''[[English ship Bonaventure (1567)|Bonaventure]]''|''[[English ship Revenge (1577)|Revenge]]''}}
| battles = {{hidden
|See list
|{{tree list}}
* [[Tudor conquest of Ireland|Anglo-Irish War]]
** [[Rathlin Island massacre]]
* [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585)#Causes|Anglo-Spanish trade war]]
** [[Battle of San Juan de Ulúa (1568)|Expedition of 1568]]
** [[Francis Drake's expedition of 1572–1573|Expedition of 1572–1573]]
** [[Francis Drake's circumnavigation|Expedition of 1577–1580]]
* [[Anglo–Spanish War (1585)|Anglo–Spanish War]]
** [[Capture of Santiago (1585)|Battle of Santiago]]
** [[Battle of Santo Domingo (1586)|Battle of Santo Domingo]]
** [[Battle of Cartagena de Indias (1586)|Battle of Cartagena de Indias]]
** [[Raid on St. Augustine]]
** [[Singeing the King of Spain's Beard|Expedition of 1587]]
** [[Spanish Armada]]
*** [[Naval battle of Gravelines|Battle of Gravelines]]
** [[English Armada|Drake-Norris Expedition]]
*** [[Siege of Coruña]]
*** [[English Armada#Landing at Peniche|Siege of Peniche]]
*** [[English Armada#Attack on Lisbon|Siege of Lisbon]]
*** [[English Armada#Raid on Vigo|Raid on Vigo]]
** [[Battle of Las Palmas]]
** [[Battle of San Juan (1595)|Battle of San Juan]]
** [[Drake's Assault on Panama|Assault on Panama]]
{{tree list/end}}
|-
|headerstyle=background:#dbdbdb
|style=text-align:center;
}}
| wealth = <!-- Est. --> {{Pirate wealth|115|2}}
| spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Mary Newman|July 1569|1581|end=died}}|{{marriage|Elizabeth Sydenham|1585}}}}
| laterwork =
| signature = Francis Drake Signature.svg
}}

'''Sir Francis Drake''' ({{c.}} 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English [[Exploration|explorer]] and [[privateer]] best known for making the [[Francis Drake's circumnavigation|second circumnavigation of the world]] in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (being the first English expedition to accomplish this). Having started as a simple seaman, in 1588 he was part of the fight against the [[Spanish Armada]] as a [[vice-admiral]]. 

At an early age, Drake was placed into the household of a relative, [[William Hawkins (died c. 1554)|William Hawkins]], a prominent sea captain in [[Plymouth]]. In 1572, he set sail on his [[Francis Drake's expedition of 1572–1573|first independent mission]], privateering along the [[Spanish Main]]. Drake's circumnavigation began on 15 December 1577. He crossed the Pacific Ocean, until then an area of exclusive Spanish interest, and laid claim to [[New Albion]], plundering coastal towns and ships for treasure and supplies as he went. He arrived back in England on 26 September 1580. [[Elizabeth I]] awarded Drake a [[Knight Bachelor|knighthood]] in 1581 which he received aboard his galleon the ''[[Golden Hind]]''.

Drake's circumnavigation inaugurated an era of conflict with the Spanish and in 1585, the [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)|Anglo-Spanish War]] began. Drake was in command of an expedition to the Americas that attacked Spanish shipping and ports. When [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]] sent the Spanish Armada to England in 1588 as a precursor to its invasion, Drake was second-in-command of the English fleet that fought against and repulsed the Spanish fleet. A year later he led the [[English Armada]] in a failed attempt to destroy the remaining Spanish fleet.

Drake was a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for three constituencies: [[Camelford (UK Parliament constituency)|Camelford]] in 1581, [[Bossiney (UK Parliament constituency)|Bossiney]] in 1584, and [[Plymouth (UK Parliament constituency)|Plymouth]] in 1593. Drake's exploits made him a hero to the English, but his privateering led the Spanish to brand him a [[pirate]], known to them as El Draque ("The Dragon" in old Spanish).<ref name="Edmundson2009">{{cite book |last1=Edmundson |first1=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WVjCAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |title=A History of the British Presence in Chile: From Bloody Mary to Charles Darwin and the Decline of British Influence |publisher=Springer |year=2009 |isbn=978-0230101210 |page=9 |quote=The fame of his exploits spread to the extent that by the mid-1570s, Philip began to refer to him as ''Draque'', ''Francisco Draque'', ''El Draque'', and even more intimately as ''El Capitán Francisco''. Educated Spaniards called him ''Francisco Draguez'', and Spanish mothers warned their children that if they did not behave, El Draco would come and take them away – a play on words, since ''el drake'' in old Spanish means "the dragon", derived from the Latin ''Draco''.}}</ref> He died of [[dysentery]] after his [[Drake's Assault on Panama|failed assault on Panama]] in January 1596.

==Birth and early years==
[[File:sfdrake42.jpg|thumb|[[Portrait miniature]] by [[Nicholas Hilliard]], 1581, inscribed ''Aetatis suae 42, An(n)o D(omi)ni 1581'' ("42 years of his age, 1581 AD")]]
[[File:1583 portrait of Sir Francis Drake.jpg| thumb | 1583 portrait of Sir Francis Drake by Jodocus Hondius I]]
Francis Drake was born at Crowndale Farm in [[Tavistock, Devon]], England.{{sfn|Kelsey|2000|p=3}} His birth date is not formally recorded – such writers as [[E. F. Benson]] have claimed that he was born while the [[Thirty-nine Articles#Six Articles (1539)|Six Articles of 1539]] were in force,<ref name="Benson1927">{{cite book |last1=Benson |first1=Edward Frederic |title=Sir Francis Drake |date=1927 |publisher=Harper & Brothers |page=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zc4gAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA6}}</ref> but British naval historian [[Julian Corbett]], writing of [[William Camden]]'s account, on which this information is based, writes that "As a slip of memory, too, we must put down his difficult assertion that Edmund Drake was driven from [[Devonshire]] during a persecution under the [[Statute of the Six Articles|Six Articles Act of 1539]]."{{sfn|Corbett|1898|p=393}} His birth date is estimated from the wording of texts in contemporary sources such as: "Drake was two and twenty when he obtained the command of the ''Judith''"<ref name="Campbell1841">{{cite book |title=Lives of the British Admirals and Naval History of Great Britain from the Time of Caesar to the Chinese War of 1841 Chiefly Abridged from the work of Dr. John Campbell |last=Campbell |first=John |author-link=John Campbell (author) |year=1841 |publisher=Richard Griffin & Co |location=Glasgow |isbn=978-0665347566 |oclc=12129656 |page=104 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SD3M-bWc6a8C&pg=PA104 |access-date=30 August 2012 |archive-date=25 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125061454/https://books.google.com/books?id=SD3M-bWc6a8C&pg=PA104 |url-status=live }} Direct quote is followed by "this carries back his birth to 1544, at which time the six articles were in force, and Francis Russell was seventeen years of age."</ref> (1566). This would date his birth to 1544. A date of {{c.}} 1540 is suggested from two portraits: one a [[Portrait miniature|miniature]], painted by [[Nicholas Hilliard]] in 1581, when he was allegedly 42, which would place his birth {{circa}} 1539, while the other, painted in 1594 when he was said to be 52,<ref name="DNB1921">1921/22 edition of the ''[[Dictionary of National Biography]]'', which quotes [[John Barrow (English statesman)|Barrow]]'s ''Life of Drake'' (1843) p. 5.</ref> would give a birth year of c. 1541.

He was the eldest of the twelve sons<ref name="ODNB04">[[George Malcolm Thomson (1899–1996)|Thomson, George Malcolm]] (1972), 'Sir Francis Drake', William Morrow & Company Inc. {{ISBN|978-0436520495}}</ref> of Edmund Drake (1518–1585), a [[Protestant]] farmer, and his wife, Mary Mylwaye. The first son was said to have been named after his [[Godparent|godfather]], [[Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford]].<ref name="Froude1896">{{cite book|last=Froude|first=James Anthony|author-link=James Anthony Froude|title=English Seamen in the Sixteenth Century|place=New York|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|year=1896|url=https://archive.org/details/englishseamenins00frou/page/n8}} Quote: "He told [[William Camden|Camden]] that he was of mean extraction. He meant merely that he was proud of his parents and made no idle pretensions to noble birth. His father was a tenant of the [[John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford|Earl of Bedford]], and must have stood well with him, for Francis Russell, the heir of the earldom, was the boy's godfather."</ref>

Due to religious persecution during the [[Prayer Book Rebellion]] in 1549, the Drake family fled from [[Devon]] to [[Kent]]. There Drake's father obtained an appointment to minister to the men in the King's Navy. He was ordained [[deacon]] and was made vicar of [[Upchurch]] Church on the [[Medway]].{{sfn|Whitfield|2004|p=12}}

==Early career at sea==
At an early age, Drake was placed into the household of a relative, sea-captain [[William Hawkins (died 1589)|William Hawkins]] of Plymouth, and began his seagoing training as an apprentice on Hawkins' boats.{{sfn|Loades|2007}} By 18, he was a [[purser]], according to the English chronicler [[Edmund Howes]],{{sfn|Kelsey|2000|p=11}} and in the 1550s, Drake's father found the young man a position with the owner and master of a small [[barque]], one of the small traders plying between the Medway River and the Dutch coast. Drake likely engaged in commerce along the coast of England, the Low Countries and France.{{sfnp|Sugden|2006|pages=8–9}} The ship's master was so satisfied with the young Drake's conduct that, being unmarried and childless at his death, he bequeathed the barque to Drake.<ref name="Best2021">{{cite book |last1=Best |first1=Brian |title=Elizabeth's Sea Dogs and their War Against Spain |date=2021 |publisher=Frontline Books |isbn=978-1526782885 |page=45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qv0hEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA45}}</ref>

===Slave trade===
[[File:Thomas Cavendish (1560-92), Sir Francis Drake (1540?-96) and Sir John Hawkins (1532-95) RMG BHC2603.tiff|thumb|[[John Hawkins (naval commander)|Sir John Hawkins]] (left) with Sir Francis Drake (centre) and Sir [[Thomas Cavendish]]]]

In 1562, the West African slave trade was a duopoly dominated by the Portuguese and the Spanish. [[John Hawkins (naval commander)|Sir John Hawkins]] devised a plan to break into that trade, and enlisted the aid of colleagues and family to finance his first slave voyage. Drake was not part of that group of financiers,{{sfn|Whitfield|2004|p=20}} though his presence as one of hundreds of seamen on Hawkins's first two slaving voyages has been assumed.{{sfn|Whitfield|2004|p=21}} There is some anecdotal evidence to support Drake serving as a common seaman on the first two voyages, and good evidence of his presence for the last two of four slaving voyages made by Hawkins' ships between 1562 and 1569.{{sfn|Loades|2007}}{{sfn|Whitfield|2004|p=17}}<ref name="RoyalMuseumsGreenwich2023">{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated-->|title=John Hawkins {{!}} Admiral, Privateer, Slave Trader |url=https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/john-hawkins-admiral-privateer-slave-trader |website=www.rmg.co.uk |publisher=Royal Museums Greenwich |access-date=19 February 2023}}</ref>

[[File:AnthonyRoll-6 Jesus of Lübeck.jpg|thumb|''[[Jesus of Lübeck]]'', flagship of Sir John Hawkins]]

In 1562, Hawkins sailed to the coast of the Sierra Leone, seized Portuguese slave ships, and sold the Africans in the Spanish Indies.<ref name="Sauer1975">{{cite book|first=Carl Ortwin |last=Sauer|title=Sixteenth Century North America: The Land and the People as Seen by the Europeans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EWXU6sjN9ZUC&pg=PA235|year=1975|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0520027770|page=235}}</ref> It was highly profitable, so for his second slave voyage in 1564, Hawkins gained Queen Elizabeth I's support. She lent him one of her ships, ''[[Jesus of Lübeck]]'', which served as his flagship.<ref name="Bradford2014">{{cite book |last1=Bradford |first1=Ernle |title=Drake: England's Greatest Seafarer |year=2014 |publisher=Open Road Media |isbn=978-1497617155 |page=22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bbAfAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT22}}</ref> Hawkins attacked an African native town and sold many of its inhabitants in Spanish ports on the Caribbean mainland, making another large profit for himself, the Queen and the consortium of investors from her court.{{sfn|Whitfield|2004|p=21}}<ref name="Sauer1975"/> Sources vary on the dates and the age of Drake at the time;{{sfn|Whitfield|2004|p=13}} Harry Kelsey says he was twenty years old, "[a]ccording to Howes" (in reference to the English chronicler Edmund Howes writing in 1615).{{sfn|Kelsey|2000|pp=11–13}} Drake was not a member of that consortium, but the crew would have received a small share of the profits.{{sfnp|Sugden|2006 |page=9}}{{sfn|Kelsey|2000|p=43}} Based on this association, scholar [[Kris Lane]] lists Drake as one of the first English slave traders.{{sfn|Lane|2015 |p=29}}

The Spanish and Portuguese were aggrieved that the English had entered into the slave trade and were selling slaves to their colonies despite being forbidden from doing so. Queen Elizabeth I, under pressure to avoid an armed conflict, forbade Hawkins from going to sea for a third slave voyage. In response, he set up a slave voyage with a relative, [[John Lovell (slave trader)|John Lovell]], in command in 1566.{{sfn|Whitfield|2004 |p=21}} Drake accompanied Lovell on this voyage.{{sfn|Whitfield |2004 |p=21}} The voyage was unsuccessful, as more than 90 enslaved Africans were released without payment.{{sfnp|Sugden|2006|pages=19–22}}

In 1567, Drake accompanied Hawkins on their next and last joint voyage.<ref>{{cite book|first=Anthony|last=Benezet|author-link = Anthony Benezet|title=Some historical account of Guinea, : its situation, produce, and the general disposition of its inhabitants, with an inquiry into the rise and progress of the slave trade, its nature and lamentable effects|year=1788|page=49|place=London|publisher=J. Phillips|url=https://archive.org/details/somehistoricalac1788bene/page/n6}}</ref> The crew attempted to capture slaves around [[Cape Verde]], but failed. Hawkins allied himself with two local kings in [[Sierra Leone]] who asked for help against their enemies in exchange for half of any captives they took. Attacking from both sides, they took several hundred prisoners, though Kelsey says the kings kept "the larger share of slaves and dared Hawkins to do anything about it".{{sfn|Kelsey|2000|p=32}}

Events worsened for the fleet as it faced storms, Spanish hostility, armed conflict, and finally a hurricane that separated one ship from the rest, and it had to find its own way home.{{sfn|Whitfield|2004|p=22}} The remaining ships were forced into the port of [[San Juan de Ulúa]] near [[Veracruz (city)|Vera Cruz]] so they could make repairs. Soon afterward the newly appointed viceroy of New Spain, [[Martín Enríquez de Almanza]], arrived with a fleet of ships. While still negotiating to resupply and repair, Hawkins' ships were attacked by the Spanish ships in what became known as the [[Battle of San Juan de Ulúa (1568)|Battle of San Juan de Ulúa]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Strickrodt |first1=Silke |title=The British Transatlantic Slave Trade (4 vols.) |journal=The English Historical Review |date=1 February 2006 |volume=CXXI |issue=490 |pages=226–230 |doi=10.1093/ehr/cej026 }}</ref> The battle ended in an English defeat with all but two of the English ships lost. The Spanish launched a fireship against Hawkins' flagship ''Jesus of Lübeck'', and the crew of ''Minion'' in panic and fear cut the lines securing them to ''Jesus''. Hawkins was among those who jumped from the flagship's bulwarks to ''Minion'''s decks.<ref name="Childs2009">{{cite book |last1=Childs |first1=David |title=Tudor Sea Power: The Foundation of Greatness |year=2009 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |isbn=978-1848320314 |page=83 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qe_RAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA83}}</ref> Drake, by this time the captain of ''Judith'', fled leaving Hawkins behind. Hawkins escaped on ''Minion'' and limped back to England with dozens of his men dying along the way,{{sfn|Sugden|2012|p=37}} and arriving with a crew of just 15.<ref name="RobertsRobertsBisson2016">{{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=Clayton |last2=Roberts |first2=F. David |last3=Bisson |first3=Douglas |title=A History of England, Volume 1: Prehistory to 1714 |year=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1315510002 |page=175 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C4uTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA175 |language=en}}</ref> Hundreds of English seamen were abandoned.{{sfn|Sugden|2012|p=36}}

After arriving back in England, Hawkins accused Drake of desertion and of stealing the treasure they had accumulated. Drake denied both accusations asserting he had distributed all profits among the crew and that he had believed Hawkins was lost when he left.{{sfn|Kelsey|2000|p=43}}{{sfn|Whitfield|2004|p=24}} The bitter end of the fourth voyage turned Drake's life in a different direction: thereafter he would not pursue trading and slaving but would, instead, dedicate himself to attacking Spanish possessions wherever he found them.{{sfn|Whitfield|2004|p=25}} Drake's hostility towards the Spanish is said to have started with the battle and its aftermath.<ref name="Sims2022">{{cite book |last1=Sims |first1=Jennifer E. |title=Decision Advantage: Intelligence in International Politics from the Spanish Armada to Cyberwar |chapter-url=https://academic.oup.com/book/44620/chapter-abstract/378612109 |year=2022 |doi=10.1093/oso/9780197508046.003.0003 |chapter=Gaining Decision Advantage in the Anglo-Spanish War |pages=51–C3.P124 |isbn= 978-0197508077 |quote=Hawkins's motives, like Drake's, went back to that Spanish deceit in the Mexican port of San Juan de Ulúa.}}</ref>

The voyage of 1567–1569 was Drake's last association with slaving. In total, approximately 1,200 Africans were enslaved on these four voyages,<ref name="Morgan2007">{{cite ODNB |last1=Morgan |first1=Basil |title=Hawkins, Sir John (1532–1595), merchant and naval commander |date=4 October 2007 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/12672 |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-12672}}</ref> and an estimated three times as many Africans were killed (based on the contemporaneous accounts of slavers).<ref name="RoyalMuseumsGreenwich2023" /> On the issue of slaving, scholar John Sugden writes that "Drake was in his twenties and did not question what his elders accepted", but must share some culpability for his participation.{{sfn|Sugden|2006|p=26}}

===Expedition of 1572–1573===

{{main article|Francis Drake's expedition of 1572–1573}}

In 1572, Drake embarked on his first major independent enterprise. He planned an attack on the [[Isthmus of Panama]], known to the Spanish as part of [[Tierra Firma|Tierra Firme]] and to the English as part of the [[Spanish Main]].<ref name="Sauer1966">{{cite book |last1=Sauer |first1=Carl Ortwin |title=The Early Spanish Main |year=1966 |publisher=University of California Press |pages=2–4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H6IimGc3OqIC&pg=PA2 |quote=Tierra Firme continued to be the common name for the south side of the Caribbean. It was translated into English as the Spanish Main, the ports of which were raided by English ships.}}</ref> This was the point at which the silver and gold treasure of Peru had to be brought ashore and transported overland to the [[Caribbean Sea]], where galleons from Spain would take it aboard at the town of [[Nombre de Dios, Colón|Nombre de Dios]]. Drake left Plymouth on 24 May 1572, with a crew of 73 men in two small vessels, ''Pascha'' (70 tons) and ''Swan'' (25 tons), to capture Nombre de Dios.<ref name="Dean2014">{{cite book |last1=Dean |first1=James Seay |title=Sea Dogs: Life Aboard an English Galleon |year=2014 |publisher=The History Press |isbn=978-0750957380 |page=89 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MUMTDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT89}}</ref>{{sfn|Whitfield|2004|p=29}}

Drake's first raid was late in July 1572. Drake captured Nombre de Dios, but he was badly wounded when the Spanish arrived from Panama, and his forces had to retreat without the gold, silver, pearls and jewels stored in the royal treasury. Rather than sacking Nombre de Dios again, Drake raided Spanish galleons along the coast<ref name="Lindsay2014">{{cite book |last1=Lindsay |first1=Ivan |title=The History of Loot and Stolen Art: from Antiquity until the Present Day |year=2014 |publisher=Andrews UK Limited |isbn=978-1906509576 |page=17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TsG7BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA17-IA44}}</ref> and with his [[Cimarron people (Panama)|Cimarrón]] (African slaves who had escaped from their Spanish owners)<ref name="Laviña2020">{{cite book |last1=Laviña |first1=Javier |editor1-last=Tomich |editor1-first=Dale W. |title=Atlantic Transformations: Empire, Politics, and Slavery during the Nineteenth Century |date=2020 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-1438477862 |pages=183–184 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BO_cDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA183 |chapter=Atlantization and the First Failed Slavery: Panama from the Sixteenth to the Seventeenth Century}}</ref> allies looted the mule trains that transported gold, silver and trade goods from Panama City.<ref name="Schwaller2021">{{cite book |last1=Schwaller |first1=Robert C. |editor1-last=Schwaller |editor1-first=Robert C. |title=African Maroons in Sixteenth-Century Panama: A History in Documents |year=2021 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0806176765 |page=103 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZlkmEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA103}}</ref> One of these men was Diego, who later became a [[Free people of color|free man]] after years of service under Drake.<ref name="Kaufman2017">{{cite book |last1=Kaufmann |first1=Miranda |author-link=Miranda Kaufmann|title=Black Tudors: The Untold Story |year=2017 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1786071859 |pages=74–75 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7D-9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT74}}</ref>

Among Drake's adventures along the Spanish Main, his capture of the Spanish silver train at Nombre de Dios on 1 April 1573{{sfnp|Sugden|2006|pp=72–73}} made him rich and famous.<ref name="Rodger2004">{{cite book |last1=Rodger |first1=N. A. M. |title=The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain 660–1649 |date=2004 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-0141912578 |page=lxxxiii |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FNKKupCv4VwC&pg=PR73}}</ref> Near Cabo de Cativas he encountered a French privateer, [[Guillaume Le Testu]], who was in command of the 80-ton warship ''Havre'', and joined forces with him in a combined fleet. Drake had determined to intercept the mule train at the Campos River, two leagues from Nombre de Dios, and instructed the captains of his pinnaces to meet them at the Francisca River on 3 April to carry them off after the raid. The combined English and French raiding parties marched through the forest towards the trail, to within a mile of the city while the Cimarróns performed reconnaissance. The next morning, 1 April, they surprised the mule convoy and seized more than 200,000 pesos' worth of treasure.{{sfnp|Sugden|2006|pp=72–73}}

After their attack on the richly laden [[mule]] train, Drake and his party found that they had captured around 20 tons of silver and gold. They buried much of the treasure, as it was too much for their party to carry, and made off with a fortune in gold.<ref name="Marley2008">{{cite book|first=David |last=Marley|title=Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the Western Hemisphere, 1492 to the Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DkgGVTOr2EsC&pg=PA103|year=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1598841008|pages=103–104}}</ref><ref name="Konstam2011">{{cite book|first=Angus |last=Konstam|title=The Great Expedition: Sir Francis Drake on the Spanish Main 1585–86|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UKyHCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT29|date=2011|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1780962337|page=29}}</ref> (An account of this may have given rise to subsequent stories of pirates and buried treasure).<ref name="Little2010">{{cite book |last1=Little |first1=Benerson |title=How History's Greatest Pirates Pillaged, Plundered, and Got Away With It: The Stories, Techniques, and Tactics of the Most Feared Sea Rovers from 1500–1800 |date=2010 |publisher=Quarto Publishing Group USA |isbn=978-1610595001 |pages=59–60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dD-HBxNLkdsC&pg=PA59}}</ref> Badly wounded, Le Testu was captured and beheaded. The small band of adventurers dragged as much gold and silver as they could carry back across some {{Convert|18|mi}} of jungle-covered mountains to where they had left the raiding boats. When they got to the coast, the boats were gone. Drake and his men, downhearted, exhausted and hungry, had nowhere to go and the Spanish were not far behind.<ref name="Best202152">{{cite book |last1=Best |first1=Brian |title=Elizabeth's Sea Dogs and their War Against Spain |year=2021 |publisher=Frontline Books |isbn=978-1526782885 |page=52 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qv0hEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA52}}</ref>

At this point, Drake rallied his men, buried the treasure on the beach, and built a raft to sail in a heavy swell with four men twelve miles along the coast to where they had left two [[pinnace (ship's boat)|pinnace]]s.<ref name="Best202152" /> When Drake finally reached them, his men were alarmed at his bedraggled appearance. Fearing the worst, they asked him how the raid had gone. Drake could not resist a joke and teased them by looking downhearted.<ref name="Herman2005">{{cite book |last1=Herman |first1=Arthur |title=To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World |date=2005 |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=978-0060534257 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dF2W7BAo4x0C&pg=PA59}}</ref> Then he laughed, pulled a quoit of Spanish gold from his clothes and said, "Our voyage is made."{{sfnp|Sugden|2006|p=75}} By the second week of August 1573, he had returned to Plymouth.<ref name="Bradford201448">{{cite book |last1=Bradford |first1=Ernle |title=Drake: England's Greatest Seafarer |year=2014 |publisher=Open Road Media |isbn=978-1497617155 |pages=48–49 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bbAfAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT48}}</ref>

It was during this expedition that on 11 February Drake and his lieutenant [[John Oxenham]] climbed a high tree in the central mountains of the [[Isthmus of Panama]] and thus became the first Englishmen to see the [[Pacific Ocean]], mirroring the achievement of the Spaniard [[Vasco Núñez de Balboa]] in 1513. The Cimarróns had cut steps into its trunk, on which Drake and the Cimarrón leader Pedro ascended to a platform at the top of the giant tree, where they were joined by Oxenham.<ref name="Bradford201444">{{cite book |last1=Bradford |first1=Ernle |title=Drake: England's Greatest Seafarer |date=2014 |publisher=Open Road Media |isbn=978-1497617155 |pages=44–45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bbAfAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT44}}</ref> The Englishmen vowed when they saw the Pacific Ocean that one day they would sail its waters<ref name="Morison1986">{{cite book |last1=Morison |first1=Samuel Eliot |title=The Great Explorers: The European Discovery of America |year=1986 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195042221 |page=675 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JnotvLHX80gC&pg=PA675}}</ref> – which Drake would do years later as part of his circumnavigation of the world.{{sfn|Cummins|1997|p=287}}

When Drake returned to Plymouth after the raids, the government signed a temporary truce with King Philip II of Spain and so was unable to acknowledge Drake's accomplishment officially. Drake was considered a hero in England and a pirate in Spain for his raids.{{sfn|Cummins|1997|p=273}}

===Rathlin Island massacre===
Drake was present at the 1575 [[Rathlin Island massacre]] in Ireland. [[John Norris (soldier)|Sir John Norris]] (or ''Norreys'') and Drake, acting on the instructions of Sir Henry Sidney and the [[Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex|Earl of Essex]], Robert Devereux, laid siege to [[Rathlin Castle]]. Despite its surrender, Norris' troops killed all the 200 defenders and several hundred more men, women and children of Clan MacDonnell.{{sfn|Sugden|2006|p=85}} Meanwhile, Drake was given the task of preventing any Gaelic Irish or Scottish reinforcements reaching the island. Therefore, the remaining leader of the Gaelic defence against English power, [[Sorley Boy MacDonnell]], was forced to stay on the mainland. Essex wrote in his letter to Queen Elizabeth's secretary that following the attack Sorley Boy "was likely to have run mad for sorrow, tearing and tormenting himself and saying that he there lost all that he ever had."<ref>{{cite book|first=Hugh|last=Forde|title=Sketches Of Olden Days in Northern Ireland: Including Portrush, Dunluce Castle, Dunseverick Castle, Ballycastle, Giant's Causeway, Rathlin Island, Coleraine, Derry, Inishowen, Tory Island|publisher=MC'aw, Stevenson and Orr Ltd|place=Belfast|year=1923|url=https://www.libraryireland.com/sketches/toc.php|access-date=16 June 2019|archive-date=16 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616133647/https://www.libraryireland.com/sketches/toc.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Circumnavigation (1577–1580)==
{{further|Francis Drake's circumnavigation}}
Following the success of the Panama isthmus raid, Drake's so-called "Famous Voyage" – an expedition against the Spanish along the Pacific coast of the Americas – was organized and financed by a private syndicate that included [[Francis Walsingham]], [[Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester]], John Hawkins, [[Christopher Hatton]], and Drake himself.<ref name="Bradley1999">{{cite book |last1=Bradley |first1=Peter T. |title=British Maritime Enterprise in the New World: From the Late Fifteenth to the Mid-eighteenth Century |year=1999 |publisher=Edwin Mellen |isbn=978-0773478664 |page=348 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hfL2AMHsJXEC&pg=PA348}}</ref> Drake acted on the plan authored by Sir [[Richard Grenville]], who in 1574 had received a royal patent for that purpose; just a year later this patent had been rescinded after [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] learned of Grenville's intentions against the Spanish.<ref name="KinneySwainHillLong2000">{{cite book |last1=Appleby |first1=John C. |editor1-last=Kinney |editor1-first=Arthur F. |editor2-last=Swain |editor2-first=David W. |editor3-last=Hill |editor3-first=Eugene D. |editor4-last=Long |editor4-first=William A. |title=Tudor England: An Encyclopedia |date=2000 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1136745300 |page=307 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nHasAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA307}}</ref> Elizabeth likely invested in Drake's voyage to South America in 1577, but never issued him a formal commission.<ref name="Parry1984">{{cite book |last1=Parry |first1=John H. |editor1-last=Thrower |editor1-first=Norman J.W. |title=Sir Francis Drake and the Famous Voyage, 1577–1580: Essays Commemorating the Quadricentennial of Drake's Circumnavigation of the Earth |year=1984 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0520048768 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPJVxZu8btoC&pg=PA3 |chapter=Drake and the World Encompassed |pages=3–4}}</ref><ref name="Black2019">{{cite book |last1=Black |first1=Jeremy |title=England in the Age of Shakespeare |year=2019 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0253042323 |page=145 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lx7UDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT145}}</ref> This would be the [[List of circumnavigations|first circumnavigation in 58 years]].{{sfn|Kraus|1970}}

Diego was once again employed under Drake; his fluency in Spanish and English would make him a useful interpreter when Spaniards or Spanish-speaking Portuguese were captured. He was employed as Drake's servant and was paid wages like the rest of the crew.<ref name="Kaufman2017" /> Drake and the fleet set out from Plymouth on 15 November 1577, but bad weather threatened him and his fleet. They were forced to take refuge in [[Falmouth, Cornwall]], from where they returned to Plymouth for repair.{{sfnp|Sugden|2006|p=102}}

After this major setback, Drake set sail again on 13 December aboard ''[[Golden Hind|Pelican]]'' with four other ships and 164 men. He soon added a sixth ship, ''Mary'' (formerly ''Santa María''), a Portuguese merchant ship that had been captured off the coast of Africa near the [[Portuguese Cape Verde|Cape Verde Islands]].<ref name="Best202157">{{cite book |last1=Best |first1=Brian |title=Elizabeth's Sea Dogs and their War Against Spain |year=2021 |publisher=Frontline Books |isbn=978-1526782885 |page=57 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qv0hEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA57}}</ref> He also kidnapped its captain, [[:pt:Nuno da Silva|Nuno da Silva]], a man with considerable experience navigating in South American waters.<ref name="Moreno-Madrid&Salomoni2022">{{cite journal |last1=Moreno Madrid |first1=José María |last2=Salomoni |first2=David |title=Nuno Da Silva's Third Relation : An Unknown Report on Francis Drake's Voyage (1577–1580) |journal=Terrae Incognitae |date=2 January 2022 |volume=54 |issue=1 |page=68 |doi=10.1080/00822884.2022.2048246 |s2cid=247908624 |language=English, Spanish|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Drake's fleet suffered great attrition; he scuttled both ''Christopher'' and the [[flyboat]] ''Swan'' due to loss of men on the Atlantic crossing. He made landfall at the gloomy bay of [[Puerto San Julián]], in what is now [[Argentina]]. [[Ferdinand Magellan]] had called there half a century earlier, where he put to death some mutineers. Drake's men saw weathered and bleached skeletons on the Spanish [[gibbet]]s. Following Magellan's example, Drake tried and executed his own "mutineer" [[Thomas Doughty (explorer)|Thomas Doughty]]. The crew discovered that ''Mary'' had rotting timbers, so they put the vessel ashore, stripped it, and abandoned it. Drake decided to remain the winter in San Julián before attempting the [[Strait of Magellan]].{{sfn|Kelsey|2000|pp=104–106}}

===Execution of Thomas Doughty===
{{Main|Thomas Doughty (explorer)}}
On his voyage to interfere with Spanish treasure fleets, Drake had several quarrels with his co-commander Thomas Doughty and on 3 June 1578, accused him of witchcraft and charged him with [[mutiny]] and [[treason]] in a shipboard trial.{{sfn|Coote|2005|p=133}} Drake claimed to have a (never presented) commission from the Queen to carry out such acts and denied Doughty a trial in England. The main pieces of evidence against Doughty were the testimony of the ship's carpenter, Edward Bright, who after the trial was promoted to master of the ship ''Marigold'', and Doughty's admission of telling [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|Lord Burghley]], a vocal opponent of agitating the Spanish, of the intent of the voyage. Drake consented to his request of [[Eucharist|Communion]] and dined with him,{{sfn|Kelsey|2000|p=109}} of which [[Francis Fletcher (priest)|Francis Fletcher]] had this account:

{{blockquote|And after this holy repast, they dined also at the same table together, as cheerfully, in sobriety, as ever in their lives they had done aforetime, each cheering up the other, and taking their leave, by drinking each to other, as if some journey only had been in hand.{{sfnp|Barrow|1843|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=zo0xAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA102 102]}}<ref name="Hampden1972">{{cite book |last1=Hampden |first1=John |title=Francis Drake, Privateer: Contemporary Narratives and Documents |year=1972 |publisher=Eyre Methuen Limited |isbn=978-0413284303 |page=150 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zmNnAAAAMAAJ&q=%22holy%20repast%22}}</ref>}}

Drake had Thomas Doughty beheaded on 2 July 1578. In January 1580, when Drake became stranded upon a reef off the Celebes Sea, the ship's chaplain, Francis Fletcher, in a sermon suggested that the woes of the voyage were connected to the unjust demise of Doughty, Drake chained the clergyman to a hatch cover and pronounced him excommunicated.{{sfnp|Sugden|2006|page=143}}

===Entering the Pacific (1578)===
[[File:Golden Hinde, Londres, Inglaterra, 2014-08-11, DD 107.JPG|thumb|A replica of the ''[[Golden Hind]]'' at [[Bankside]] in London]]
The three remaining ships of his convoy departed for the Magellan Strait at the southern tip of South America. A few weeks later in September 1578 Drake made it to the Pacific, but violent storms destroyed one of the three ships, ''Marigold'' (captained by John Thomas) in the strait and caused another, ''Elizabeth'', captained by [[John Wynter]], to return to England,<ref name="MontanezUrbina2019">{{cite book |last1=Montanez-Sanabria |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Urbina Carasco |first2=María Ximena |editor1-last=Rojo |editor1-first=Danna A. Levin |editor2-last=Radding |editor2-first=Cynthia |title=The Oxford Handbook of Borderlands of the Iberian World |year=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0197507704 |page=727 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vCy7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA727 |chapter=The Spanish Empire's Southernmost Frontiers: From Arauco to the Strait of Magellan}}</ref> leaving only ''Pelican''. After this passage, ''Pelican'' was pushed south and discovered an island that Drake called [[Elizabeth Island (Cape Horn)|Elizabeth Island]]. Drake, like navigators before him, probably reached a latitude of 55°S (according to astronomical data quoted in [[Richard Hakluyt]]'s ''The Principall Navigations, Voiages and Discoveries of the English Nation'' of 1589) along the Chilean coast.<ref name="Wagner2006">Wagner, Henry R., ''Sir Francis Drake's Voyage Around the World: Its Aims and Achievements'', Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2006, {{ISBN|1428622551}}.</ref> 

In the Magellan Strait Drake and his men engaged in skirmishes with local indigenous people, becoming the first Europeans to kill indigenous peoples in southern Patagonia. During their stay in the strait, crew members discovered that an infusion made of the bark of ''[[Drimys winteri]]'' could be used as remedy against [[scurvy]]. Captain Wynter ordered the collection of great amounts of bark – hence the scientific name.<ref name="Martinic1977">{{cite book |last=Martinic |first=Mateo |author-link=Mateo Martinic |year=1977 |title=Historia del Estrecho de Magallanes |language=es |url=http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-10441.html |location=Santiago |publisher=Andrés Bello |pages=67–68 |access-date=28 January 2016 |archive-date=15 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315073421/http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-10441.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Historian [[Mateo Martinic]], who examined records of Drake's travels, credits him with the discovery of the "southern end of the Americas and the oceanic space south of it".<ref name="Martinic2019">{{cite journal |last1=Martinic B. |first1=Mateo |author-link1=Mateo Martinic |title=Entre el mito y la realidad. La situación de la misteriosa Isla Elizabeth de Francis Drake |trans-title=Between myth and reality. The situation of the mysterious Elizabeth Island of Francis Drake |language=es |journal=Magallania |date=2019 |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=5–14 |doi=10.4067/S0718-22442019000100005 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The first report of his discovery of an open channel south of [[Tierra del Fuego]] was written after the 1618 publication of the voyage of [[Willem Schouten]] and [[Jacob le Maire]] around Cape Horn in 1616.{{sfn|Kelsey|2000|p=135}}

=== Raids on Spanish American west coast ===
Drake pushed onwards in his lone flagship, now renamed ''[[Golden Hind]]'' in honour of Sir [[Christopher Hatton]] (after his [[coat of arms]]). ''Golden Hind'' sailed north along the Pacific coast of South America, attacking Spanish ports and pillaging towns. Some Spanish ships were captured, and Drake used their more accurate charts to inform his navigation. Before reaching the coast of [[Peru]], Drake visited [[Mocha Island]] off the coast of what is now Chile, where he and his manservant Diego were seriously injured by hostile [[Mapuche]] who shot them with arrows.<ref name="Kaufman201767">{{cite book |last1=Kaufmann |first1=Miranda |title=Black Tudors: The Untold Story |date=2017 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1786071859 |page=67 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7D-9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT67}}</ref> Later he sacked the port of [[Valparaíso]] further north in Chile, where he also captured a ship full of [[Chilean wine]].<ref name="Orich2005">{{cite journal |last1=Cortés Olivares |first1=Hernán F |title=El origen, producción y comercio del pisco chileno, 1546–1931 |trans-title=The origin, production and trade of Chilean pisco, 1546–1931 |language=es |journal=Universum |date=2005 |volume=20 |issue=2 |doi=10.4067/S0718-23762005000200005 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Lévi Alvarès1849">{{cite book |last1=Lévi Alvarès |first1=David Eugène |title=Manual de la historia de los pueblos antiguos i modernos; obra elemental para el estudio de la historia ... Traducida por D. F. Sarmiento |year=1849 |page=76 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uNprdVMuHQoC&pg=PA76 |language=es |quote=Sir Francis Drake tomó en Valparaiso un navío cargado con vino i 60,000 pesos; los habitantes que eran solo nueve familias abandonaron la poblacion i los. Ingleses saquearon a Valparaiso. English: "Sir Francis Drake took in Valparaiso a ship loaded with wine and 60,000 pesos; the English sacked Valparaiso, whose inhabitants, only nine families, had abandoned the town.}}</ref>

Near [[Lima]], Drake captured a Spanish ship with 25,000&nbsp;[[Spanish dollar|pesos]] of Peruvian gold, amounting in value to 37,000&nbsp;[[ducat]]s of Spanish money (about £7m by modern standards). Drake also discovered news of another ship, ''[[Nuestra Señora de la Concepción]]'', which was sailing west towards [[Manila]]. It would come to be called ''Cacafuego''. Drake gave chase and eventually captured the treasure ship, which proved his most profitable capture.{{sfnp|Sugden|2006}}

Aboard ''Nuestra Señora de la Concepción'', Drake found {{convert|80|lb|order=flip}} of gold, a golden [[crucifix]], [[gemstone|jewels]], 13&nbsp;chests of [[Spanish real|silver reals]] and {{convert|26|LT|kg|order=flip}} of silver. Drake was naturally pleased at his good luck in capturing the galleon, and he showed it by dining with the captured ship's officers and gentleman passengers. He offloaded his captives a short time later, and gave each one gifts appropriate to their rank, as well as a letter of [[safe conduct]].{{sfnp|Sugden|2006}}

Drake continued north, raiding more Spanish settlements and ships as he went. His last stop in this phase of the voyage was in the town of Guatulco, where he and his crew stayed from 13 to 16 April, looting provisions and other materials. From here, Drake began to consider how best to return to England.{{Sfn|Sugden|2006|p=130}} One possibility was to sail back south, along the Spanish coast, and return to the Atlantic Ocean via the Strait of Magellan (or possibly Cape Horn); this route was ruled out, however, to avoid the dangerous weather near the strait and presumed Spanish resistance all along the coast. This left two possible routes – continue north up the American coast, and return to the Atlantic by the rumored [[Strait of Anián]]; or, sail across the Pacific, making for the [[East Indies]], and from there return to England by completing a circumnavigation of the world.{{Sfn|Sugden|2006|p=132}}

===Coast of California: Nova Albion (1579)===
{{Main|New Albion|Drake in California}}
[[File:Drake CA 1590.jpg|thumb|250px|Drake's landing in California, engraving published 1590 by [[Theodor de Bry]]]]
In May, Drake's two ships passed the [[Baja California peninsula]] and continued north. Prior to Drake's voyage, the western coast of North America had only been partially explored in 1542 by [[Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo]] who sailed for Spain.<ref>{{Citation| last = Davis | first = Loren |display-authors=etal | title = Inventory and Analysis of Coastal and Submerged Archaeological Site Occurrence on the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf | journal = U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management| page = 188|date = November 2013}}</ref> So, intending to avoid further conflict with Spain, Drake navigated north-west of Spanish presence and sought a discreet site at which the crew could prepare for the journey back to England.{{sfnp|Sugden|2006|page=188}}<ref name="Gough1980">{{cite book |last1=Gough |first1=Barry M. |title=Distant Dominion : Britain and the Northwest Coast of North America, 1579–1809 |year=1980 |publisher=Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press |isbn=978-0774801133 |page=15 |url=https://archive.org/details/distantdominionb0000goug}}</ref> The northernmost extent of this leg of the expedition has been the subject of much scholarly debate,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Keddie |first=Grant |date=20 June 2017 |title=Francis Drake on the Northwest Coast of America. Introductory Notes. Part 1. |url=https://staff.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/2017/06/20/francis-drake-on-the-northwest-coast-of-america-introductory-notes-part-1/ |access-date=27 March 2023 |website=Royal BC Museum |language=en |archive-date=27 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327172658/https://staff.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/2017/06/20/francis-drake-on-the-northwest-coast-of-america-introductory-notes-part-1/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sir Francis Drake, 1540?–1596 |url=https://lib-dbserver.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/pacific/drake/drake.html |website=Princeton Library |access-date=27 March 2023 |archive-date=20 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220204553/https://lib-dbserver.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/pacific/drake/drake.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Kelsey1990">{{cite journal |last1=Kelsey |first1=Harry |title=Did Francis Drake Really Visit California? |journal=The Western Historical Quarterly |date=1990 |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=445–462 |doi=10.2307/969250 |jstor=969250 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/969250 |issn=0043-3810}}</ref> but most sources agree that Drake reached a latitude of at least 48° north before turning back and heading south.{{Sfn|Sugden|2006|p=133}}{{Sfn|Bawlf|2003|p=270}}

On 5 June 1579, the ship briefly made first landfall at what is now South Cove, Cape Arago, just south of [[Coos Bay, Oregon]], and then sailed southward.<ref name="Gough1980" /><ref name="Morison1986700">{{cite book |last1=Morison |first1=Samuel Eliot |title=The Great Explorers: The European Discovery of America |year=1986 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195042221 |page=700 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JnotvLHX80gC&pg=PA700}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cassels |first1=Simon |title=Where Did Drake Careen The Golden Hind in June/July 1579? A Mariner's Assessment |journal=The Mariner's Mirror |date=January 2003 |volume=89 |issue=3 |page=263 |doi=10.1080/00253359.2003.10659292 |s2cid=161710358 }}</ref> On 17 June, Drake and his crew found a protected cove when they landed on the Pacific coast of what is now Northern California.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cassels |first1=Sir Simon |title=Where Did Drake Careen the Golden Hind in June/July 1579? A Mariner's Assessment |journal=The Mariner's Mirror |date=1 January 2003 |volume=89 |issue=3 |pages=260–271 |doi=10.1080/00253359.2003.10659292 |s2cid=161710358 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Gough | first = Barry | year = 1980 | title = Distant Dominion: Britain and the Northwest Coast of North America, 1579–1809 | url = https://archive.org/details/distantdominionb0000goug | url-access = registration | publisher =Univ. of British Columbia Press | location = Vancouver | isbn = 0774801131 | page = 15}}</ref> While ashore, he claimed the area for Queen Elizabeth I as Nova Albion or [[New Albion]]. To document and assert his claim, Drake posted an engraved [[Drake's Plate of Brass|plate of brass]] to claim sovereignty for Elizabeth and every successive English monarch. After erecting a fort and tents ashore, the crew laboured for several weeks as they prepared for the circumnavigating voyage ahead by [[careening]] their ship, ''Golden Hind'', to effectively clean and repair the hull.{{sfnp|Sugden|2006|pp=135–137}} Drake had friendly interactions with the [[Coast Miwok]] and explored the surrounding land by foot. When his ship was ready for the return voyage, Drake and the crew left New Albion on 23 July and paused the journey the next day when anchoring the ship at the [[Farallon Islands]] where they hunted sea lions<ref name="Morison1986702">{{cite book |last1=Morison |first1=Samuel Eliot |title=The Great Explorers: The European Discovery of America |year=1986 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195042221 |page=716 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JnotvLHX80gC&pg=PA716}}</ref> or seals.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rick |first1=Torben |last2=Braje |first2=Todd |last3=Wake |first3=Thomas |last4=Sanchez |first4=Gabriel |last5=DeLong |first5=Robert |last6=Lightfoot |first6=Kent |title=Seventy Years of Archaeological Research on California's Farallon Islands |journal=California Archaeology |date=3 July 2019 |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=183–203 |doi=10.1080/1947461X.2019.1652043 |s2cid=210268051 }}</ref>

===Across the Pacific and around Africa===
Drake left the Pacific coast, heading south-west to catch the winds that would carry his ship across the Pacific, and a few months later reached the [[Maluku Islands|Moluccas]], a group of islands in the western Pacific, in eastern modern-day [[Indonesia]]. Harry Kelsey maintains, against scholarly consensus, that because of the contrary prevailing winds and currents, it is much more probable that Drake careened his ship on the shore of [[Magdalena Bay]] in [[Baja California peninsula|Lower California]], and sailed to the Moluccas and Spice Islands from there.<ref name="Kelsey2016">{{cite book |last1=Kelsey |first1=Harry |title=The First Circumnavigators: Unsung Heroes of the Age of Discovery |year=2016 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0300217780 |pages=131–132 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3tJDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA131}}</ref> At this time Diego died from wounds he had sustained earlier in the voyage; ''Golden Hind'' later became caught on a reef and was almost lost. Afterwards, the sailors waited three days for convenient tides and had dumped cargo. Befriending Sultan [[Babullah of Ternate]] in the Moluccas, Drake and his men became involved in some intrigues with the Portuguese there.<ref name="Lessa1984">{{cite book |last1=Lessa |title=Sir Francis Drake and the Famous Voyage, 1577–1580: Essays Commemorating the Quadricentennial of Drake's Circumnavigation of the Earth |editor1-last=Thrower |editor1-first=Norman J. W. |year=1984 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0520048768 |pages=70–74 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPJVxZu8btoC&pg=PA70 |chapter=Drake in the South Seas}}</ref> He made multiple stops on his way toward the tip of Africa, eventually rounded the [[Cape of Good Hope]], and reached [[Sierra Leone]] by 22 July 1580.

===Return to Plymouth (1580)===
[[File:Francis Drake by Henry Bone.jpg|thumb|1829 portrait of Drake wearing the [[Drake Jewel]]]]
[[File:Sir Francis Drake, 1540-96 RMG BHC26622.jpg|thumb|upright=1.02|The  Drake Jewel as painted by [[Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger]] in a 1591 portrait of Drake]]
On 26 September 1580, ''Golden Hind'' sailed into Plymouth with Drake and 59&nbsp;remaining crew aboard, along with a rich cargo of spices and captured Spanish treasures. The queen's half-share of the cargo surpassed the rest of the crown's income for that entire year. Drake was hailed as the first Englishman to circumnavigate the Earth, and his was the second such voyage arriving with at least one ship intact, after [[Elcano]]'s in 1520.<ref name="Shields2010">{{cite web |url=http://oieahc.wm.edu/uncommon/118/drake.cfm |title=The Drake Jewel |last1=Shields |first1=David S. |publisher=Oieahc.wm.edu |access-date=25 February 2010 |archive-date=11 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611163003/http://oieahc.wm.edu/uncommon/118/drake.cfm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Queen Elizabeth declared that all written accounts of Drake's voyages were to become the queen's secrets of the Realm,<!--first publication date is needed here--> and Drake and the other participants of his voyages on the pain of death sworn to their secrecy; she intended to keep Drake's activities hidden from the eyes of rival Spain.<ref name="Shields2010"/>

Drake presented the queen with a jewel token commemorating the circumnavigation. Taken as a prize off the Pacific coast of Mexico, it was made of enamelled gold and bore an African diamond and a ship with an ebony hull.<ref name="Shields2010"/>

To show her gratitude the queen gave him the [[Drake Jewel]], a valuable pendant surrounded by diamonds, rubies and pearls. It was an unusual gift to bestow upon a commoner, and one that Drake wore in a 1591 portrait by [[Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger|Marcus Gheeraerts]]. On one side of the pendant is a state portrait of Elizabeth by the miniaturist [[Nicholas Hilliard]], on the other a [[sardonyx]] cameo of double portrait busts, a regal woman and an African male. The Drake Jewel is a rare documented survivor among sixteenth-century jewels; it is conserved at the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], London.<ref name="Shields2010"/>

===Knighthood and arms===
Queen [[Elizabeth I|Elizabeth]] awarded Drake a knighthood aboard ''Golden Hind'' in Deptford on 4 April 1581; the [[Accolade|dubbing]] being performed by a French diplomat, Monsieur de Marchaumont, who was negotiating for Elizabeth to marry the King of France's brother, [[Francis, Duke of Anjou]].{{sfn|Cummins|1997|p=127}}<ref name="Moseley2011">{{cite web|url=http://www.plymouthdata.info/PP-Drake.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401142540/http://www.plymouthdata.info/PP-Drake.htm|archive-date=1 April 2012|website=The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History|title=Sir Francis Drake (c. 1541–1596)|publisher=Plymouthdata.info|orig-year=2004|date=26 February 2011|last=Moseley|first=Brian|access-date=12 February 2015}}</ref> By getting the French diplomat involved in the knighting, Elizabeth was gaining the implicit political support of the French for Drake's actions.<ref>{{cite book |first=Mary E. |last=Hazard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wtFtcD-u6YoC&pg=PA251 |title=Elizabethan silent language |page=251 |publisher=U of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0803223974 |date=August 2000 |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=30 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151130092216/https://books.google.com/books?id=wtFtcD-u6YoC&pg=PA251 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Maria |last=Perry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ifnFBjfo1UIC&pg=PA182 |title=The Word of a Prince: A Life of Elizabeth I from Contemporary Documents |page=182 |publisher=Boydell Press |year=1990 |isbn=978-0851156330 |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112061723/https://books.google.com/books?id=ifnFBjfo1UIC&pg=PA182 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Hakluyt|first=Richard|title=The Tudor Venturers|publisher=The Folio Society Ltd.|year=1970|isbn=1443704709|location=London|page=166}}</ref> During the Victorian era, in a spirit of nationalism, the story was promoted that Elizabeth I had done the knighting.<ref name="Moseley2011"/>
[[File:Coat of arms of Francis Drake.svg|thumb|left|Sir Francis Drake's new heraldic [[Achievement (heraldry)|achievement]], with motto: ''Sic Parvis Magna''<ref name="von Einsiedel2012"/>]]
After receiving his knighthood Drake unilaterally adopted the [[coat of arms]] of the ancient Devon family of Drake of Ash, to whom he claimed a distant but unspecified kinship. The right to use the arms was disputed in court<ref name="Prince1701">{{cite book|first=John |last=Prince|title=Danmonii orientales illustres: or, The worthies of Devon|year= 1810|orig-year=1701|page=[https://archive.org/details/danmoniioriental00prin/page/329 329]|url=https://archive.org/details/danmoniioriental00prin}}</ref> so Queen Elizabeth awarded Drake his own coat of arms.

Drake's [[Achievement (heraldry)|heraldic achievement]] and coat of arms contains the motto, ''Sic Parvis Magna'', which means: "Great achievements from small beginnings".<ref name="von Einsiedel2012">{{cite web |url=http://www.nationaltrustimages.org.uk/image/169478 |title=Image details |last1=von Einsiedel |first1=Andreas |publisher=National Trust Images |access-date=25 October 2012 |archive-date=3 September 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120903192626/http://www.nationaltrustimages.org.uk/image/169478 |url-status=live }}</ref> A hand coming out of the clouds is labelled ''Auxilio Divino'', which means "By divine aid".<ref name="Casellas2017">{{cite journal |last1=Casellas |first1=Jesus Lopez-Pelaez |title=Meaning and trade in some early modern Spanish and English emblems |journal=Nordic Journal of English Studies |date=1 September 2017 |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=1–37 |doi=10.35360/njes.410 |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA528075191&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=16546970&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E1116187b |language=English |quote=Furthermore, soon after that she granted him a coat of arms which showed a ship on a globe guided by the Divine Hand of Providence above an open visor, resting on a shield bearing the two pole stars divided by the sea: over, the motto auxilio divino, underneath: sic parvis magna (Great achievements from small beginnings). More explicit than previous emblems in its endorsement of protocapitalistic ventures, Whitney's "Auxilio divino" (By divine aid, see fig. 8), emblem 203 in his Choice of Emblems, was composed "in praise of Francis Drake.|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Political career==
Drake first became a member of parliament for the last session of the 4th Parliament of [[Elizabeth I]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/parliament/1572|title=1572|website=History of Parliament.|access-date=28 July 2017|archive-date=29 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729050636/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/parliament/1572|url-status=live}}</ref> on 16 January 1581, for the constituency of [[Camelford (UK Parliament constituency)|Camelford]]. He did not actively participate at this point, and on 17 February 1581 he was granted leave of absence "for certain his necessary business in the service of Her Majesty".<ref name="fd_history_parl"/>

Drake became the Mayor of [[Plymouth]] in September 1581.<ref name="ODNB04"/> During his tenure, he installed a compass in the town's [[Plymouth Hoe|Hoe]], and passed a law regulating the local [[pilchard]] trade.{{sfn|Sugden|2006|p=163}} During his term as lord mayor, Drake contracted to construct a [[Plymouth Leat|leat]], or canal, to bring water from the [[River Meavy]], and to build six new gristmills on it from which he derived a substantial profit.{{sfn|Kelsey|2000|pp=229–230}}

Drake became a member of parliament again in 1584 for [[Bossiney (UK Parliament constituency)|Bossiney]],<ref name="ODNB04"/> on the forming of the 5th Parliament of Elizabeth I.<ref name="HistoryofParliament2017">{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/parliament/1584|title=1584|website=History of Parliament|access-date=28 July 2017|archive-date=29 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729050840/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/parliament/1584|url-status=live}}</ref> He served the duration of the parliament and was active in issues regarding the navy, fishing, early American colonisation, and issues related chiefly to [[Devon]]. He spent the time covered by the next two parliamentary terms engaged in other duties and an expedition to [[Portugal]].<ref name="fd_history_parl"/>

He became a member of parliament for [[Plymouth (UK Parliament constituency)|Plymouth]] in 1593.<ref name="fd_history_parl"/> He was active in issues of interest to Plymouth as a whole, but also to emphasise defence against the Spanish.<ref name="fd_history_parl">{{cite web|last1=Hasler|first1=P W|title=Drake, Francis|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/drake-francis-1540-96|website=History of Parliament|publisher=The History of Parliament Trust|access-date=28 July 2017|archive-date=29 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729003854/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/drake-francis-1540-96|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-francis-drake| access-date= 28 July 2017| title= 10 Things You May Not Know About Francis Drake| last= Andrews| first= Evan| date= 4 April 2016| website= [[History (U.S. TV network)|History]]| archive-date= 29 July 2017| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170729015226/http://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-francis-drake| url-status= live}}</ref>

==Great Expedition to America==
[[File:Boazio-Sir Francis Drakes West Indian Voyage.jpg|thumb|Map of Drake's Great Expedition in 1585 by [[Giovanni Battista Boazio]]]]
War broke out between [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)|England and Spain]] in 1585, after the signing of the [[Treaty of Nonsuch]]. Queen Elizabeth I, through her principal secretary [[Francis Walsingham]], ordered Sir Francis Drake to lead an expedition to attack the Spanish colonies in a kind of [[pre-emptive strike]]. An expedition left Plymouth in September 1585 with Drake in command of twenty-one ships with 1,800 soldiers under [[Christopher Carleill]]. He first attacked [[Vigo]] in Spain and held the place for two weeks ransoming supplies.{{sfn|Kelsey|2000|pp=247–249}} He then [[Capture of Santiago (1585)|plundered Santiago]] in the Cape Verde islands after which the fleet then sailed across the Atlantic, [[Battle of Santo Domingo (1586)|sacked the port]] of [[Santo Domingo]], and [[Battle of Cartagena de Indias (1586)|captured the city]] of [[Cartagena de Indias]] in present-day Colombia. At Cartagena, Drake released one hundred Turkish slaves.<ref name="Kaufman2017138">{{cite book |last1=Kaufmann |first1=Miranda |title=Black Tudors: The Untold Story |year=2017 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1786071859 |page=138 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7D-9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT138}}</ref> On 6 June 1586, during the return leg of the voyage, [[Raid on St. Augustine|he attacked]] the wooden Spanish fort at [[St. Augustine, Florida|San Agustín]] in [[Spanish Florida]] and burnt the town to the ground.{{sfnp|Sugden|2006|pages=189–190}}

After the raids he then went on to find Sir [[Walter Raleigh]]'s settlement much further north at [[Roanoke Colony|Roanoke]] which he replenished and also took back with him all of the original colonists before Sir [[Richard Grenville]] arrived with supplies and more colonists. He finally reached England on 22 July, when he sailed into [[Portsmouth]], England to a hero's welcome.{{sfnp|Sugden|2006|pages=189–190}}

==Conflict with the Spanish Armada==
[[File:English Ships and the Spanish Armada, August 1588 RMG BHC0262.jpg|thumb|Painting depicting 'English Ships and the Spanish Armada']]
{{main|Spanish Armada}}
In part to prevent future such attacks by English and Dutch privateers against Spanish interests in the Americas, Philip II ordered a planned invasion of England.

===Cádiz raid===
{{Main|Singeing the King of Spain's Beard}}
[[File:P522 Sir Francis Drake. From the original Portrait.jpg|thumb|right|Portrait of Drake around 1587, in ''Cassell's illustrated history of England'']]
On 15 March 1587, Drake accepted a new commission with several purposes: to disrupt the shipping routes in order to slow supplies from Italy and [[Andalucia]] to [[Lisbon]], to trouble enemy fleets that were in their home ports, and to capture Spanish ships laden with treasure. Drake was also to confront and attack the [[Spanish Armada]] had it already sailed for England. When arriving at [[Cádiz]] on 19 April, Drake found the harbour packed with ships and supplies as the Armada was readying and waiting for a fair wind to launch the fleet to attack. In the early hours of the next day, Drake pressed his attack into the inner harbour and inflicted heavy damage. Claims of the exact Spanish ship losses vary: Drake claimed he had sunk 39 ships, while the Spanish admitted the loss of only 24.{{sfnp|Sugden|2006|pp=205–210}}{{sfn|Whiting|1988|pp=36–38}} The attack became known as the "singeing of the King's beard" and delayed the Spanish invasion by a year.<ref name="Thompson1873">{{cite book|last=Thompson|first=Edith|editor1-last=Freeman|editor1-first=Edward Augustus|editor1-link=Edward Augustus Freeman |title=History of England|year=1873|publisher=Henry Holt and Company|place=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofengland01thom/page/136 136]|series=Freeman's Historical Course for Schools|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofengland01thom}}</ref>

Over the next month, Drake patrolled the [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberian coasts]] between [[Lisbon]] and [[Cape St. Vincent]], intercepting and destroying ships on the Spanish supply lines. Drake estimated that he had captured around 1,600 to 1,700 tons of barrel staves, enough to make {{convert|25000|to|30000|oilbbl|m3}} for containing provisions.{{sfn|Kraus|1970}} The expedition resulted in a total profit for England of around £140,000, £18,235 of which went to Drake.{{Sfn|Whiting|1988|p=37}}

===Defeat of the Spanish Armada===
[[File:DrakeMonumentTavistock.jpg|thumb|Drake was reportedly playing bowls when first informed about the approach of the Armada.]]

[[File:Loutherbourg-Spanish Armada.jpg|thumb|''[[Defeat of the Spanish Armada]]'' by [[Philip James de Loutherbourg]]. A Depiction of the Battle of Gravelines showing [[fire ship]]s]]

[[File:Valdés surrenders to Francis Drake aboard Revenge.jpg|thumb|Admiral Pedro de Valdés surrendering his sword to Francis Drake aboard ''Revenge'' during the attack of the Spanish Armada, 1588. Oil on canvas by [[John Seymour Lucas]] (1889)]]

The Spanish Armada set sail for England in May 1588, and arrived on the English coast on 29 July, near [[Cornwall]]. An English fleet consisting of 55 ships set out from Plymouth to confront the Armada, under the command of [[Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham|Lord Howard of Effingham]], with Sir Francis Drake serving as vice admiral, commanding from the galleon [[English ship Revenge (1577)|''Revenge'']]. As the English fleet pursued the Armada up the English Channel in closing darkness, Drake broke off and captured the disabled Spanish galleon ''[[Spanish ship Nuestra Señora del Rosario (1587)|Nuestra Señora del Rosario]]'', along with Admiral Pedro de Valdés and most of his crew. The Spanish ship was known to be carrying substantial funds to pay the Spanish Armada.<ref name="Kendall2022" /> Drake's ship had been leading the English pursuit of the Armada by means of a lantern.<ref name="Hughes-Hallett2010">{{cite book |last1=Hughes-Hallett |first1=Lucy |title=Heroes: A History of Hero Worship |date=2010 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0307485908 |pages=352–353 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qsDm5hjMcBsC&pg=PT352}}</ref> By extinguishing this for the capture, Drake put the English fleet into disarray overnight.<ref name="Fernández-Armesto1988">{{cite book |last1=Fernández-Armesto |first1=Felipe |title=The Spanish Armada: The Experience of War in 1588 |date=1988 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0198229261 |page=177 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BWZnAAAAMAAJ&q=%22show%20a%20lantern%22%20%22guide%20the%20rest%22}}</ref> 

The [[Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia|Duke of Medina Sidonia]], whom Philip had appointed to command the Armada despite his complete lack of military experience on land or at sea, made his way up the Channel towards the French shore in his flagship ''San Martín'' with the English in pursuit, thinking that if he anchored in the [[roadstead]] of [[Calais]] they would not dare molest the Spanish ships in French waters.<ref name="Callender1912">{{cite book |last1=Callender |first1=Geoffrey |title=Sea Kings of Britain: Hawkins. Drake. Howard. Grenville. Blake |date=1912 |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Company |pages=79–81 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tigyAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA79}}</ref>

A council of war was held aboard Howard's flagship [[English ship Ark Royal (1587)|''Ark'']], where Howard, Drake, Seymour, Hawkins, [[Martin Frobisher]], and two or three others, decided to launch [[fire ships]]. That night the English launched eight fire ships into the midst of the Armada at its moorings, forcing its captains to cut their anchors and sail out of Calais into the open sea.<ref name="Perrett2012146">{{cite book|author=Bryan Perrett|title=The Changing Face Of Battle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cew3AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT146|date=2012|publisher=Orion Publishing Group|isbn=978-1780225258|page=146}}</ref> The [[Naval battle of Gravelines|decisive action]] was fought the next day on the shoals off [[Gravelines]], where Frobisher, Drake, and Hawkins pounded the Spanish ships with their guns. Drake's squadron gave Medina Sidonia's flagship ''San Martin'' a single [[Broadside (naval)|broadside]] and moved on; Frobisher, directly behind him in the English line, stayed with the ''San Martin'' at close range and poured cannon shot into her oaken flanks, but failed to take her.<ref name="McDermott2001">{{cite book |last1=McDermott |first1=James |title=Martin Frobisher: Elizabethan Privateer |date=2001 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0300083804 |page=363 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YeMcPYIKNYUC&pg=PA363}}</ref> Five Spanish ships were lost.

Drake wrote as follows to Admiral Henry Seymour after coming upon part of the Spanish Armada, whilst aboard ''[[English ship Revenge (1577)|Revenge]]'' on 31 July 1588 (21 July 1588 [[Old Style and New Style dates|OS]]):

{{blockquote|The 21st we had them in chase, and so coming up unto them, there hath passed some cannon shot between some of our fleet and some of them, and as far as we perceive they are determined to sell their lives with blows.<ref name="Newbolt1925">{{cite book |last1=Newbolt |first1=Sir Henry John |title=Sea-life in English Literature from the Fourteenth to the Nineteenth Century |year=1925 |publisher=T. Nelson & Sons, Limited |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KzfPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA70}}</ref>}}

The Armada, having failed in their aim, were unable to sail back via the English channel. The English ships, including ''Revenge'', pursued them to prevent any landing on English soil, although by this time most of Howard's ships were almost out of shot. Nevertheless, the battered Spanish fleet were forced to sail instead around the British isles and encountered heavy storms off the coast of Ireland. The fleet eventually limped back to Spanish ports having lost overall some 63 ships and vessels.{{sfn|Whiting|1988|pp=230–232}}

The most famous (but probably [[apocrypha]]l) anecdote about Drake relates that, prior to the battle, he was playing a game of [[bowls]] on [[Plymouth Hoe]]. On being warned of the approach of the Spanish fleet, Drake is said to have remarked that there was plenty of time to finish the game and still beat the Spaniards, perhaps because he was waiting for [[high tide]].<ref name="Waters1984">{{cite book |last1=Waters |first1=David W. |editor1-last=Thrower |editor1-first=Norman J.W. |title=Sir Francis Drake and the Famous Voyage, 1577–1580: Essays Commemorating the Quadricentennial of Drake's Circumnavigation of the Earth |year=1984 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0520048768 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPJVxZu8btoC&pg=PA17 |chapter=Elizabethan Navigation |page=17}}</ref> There is no known eyewitness account of this incident and the earliest retelling of it was printed 37 years later. Adverse winds and currents caused some delay in the launching of the English fleet as the Spanish drew nearer,{{sfn|Kelsey|2000|p=104}} perhaps prompting a popular myth of Drake's cavalier attitude to the Spanish threat.

===English Armada===
{{Main|English Armada}}
{{quote box
| width = 320px
| border = 1px
| align = right
| bgcolor = #ffe4b5
| fontsize = 100%
| halign = center
| quote = The people of quality dislike him for having risen so high from such a lowly family; the rest say he is the main cause of wars.
| source = <small> – Gonzalo González del Castillo, letter to King [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]], 1592</small>{{sfn|Cummins|1997|p=5}}
}}
In 1589, the year after the failure of the Spanish Armada, the English sent their own armada to attack Spain. Drake and Norris were given three tasks. First, to destroy the battered Spanish Atlantic fleet, which was being repaired in ports of northern Spain. Second, to make a landing at [[Lisbon]], Portugal and raise a revolt there against King Philip II (Philip I of Portugal) installing the pretender Dom [[António, Prior of Crato]] to the Portuguese throne. And, third, to take the [[Azores]] if possible so as to establish a permanent base.<ref name="Meyer2011">{{cite book |last1=Meyer |first1=G. J. |title=The Tudors: The Complete Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty |date=2011 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=978-0385340779 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EXwMQpRkn3UC&pg=PA527}}</ref>

In the [[siege of Coruña]], Drake and Norris destroyed a few ships in the harbour of [[A Coruña]] in Spain but were repelled. This defeat in all fronts delayed Drake for two weeks, and he was forced to forgo hunting the rest of the surviving ships and head on to Lisbon.{{sfn|Kraus|1970}}

Norris led his army on a difficult march over the rocky coast to Lisbon, while Drake sailed around the peninsula to join Essex with his heavy artillery. Norris's troops were sick and exhausted by the time they reached the western limits of the city, consequently he demanded that Dom António raise provisions and men to fight for his cause from amongst the local populace, or the army would retreat. Drake, against their agreed plans, had anchored his fleet in the mouth of the Tagus estuary, rather than running the risk of sailing past the well-defended stretches of the Tagus to bring the desperately needed heavy cannon and ordnance.<ref name="Guy2016">{{cite book |last1=Guy |first1=John |title=Elizabeth: The Later Years |year=2016 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1101609019 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VGdYCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA132 |pages=132–133}}</ref> The anticipated rebellion never materialised and the ground campaign was a total failure, so Norris, with his army and António, re-embarked to make an attempt at capturing the treasure fleet. The weather was not in their favour so they eventually sailed for home.

However, Drake wanted to atone for such a bitter setback and, in order not to return empty-handed and with the morale of his troops sunk, he made a fleeting stop in the Galician ''[[Rías Baixas|rías]]'', or coastal inlets, pillaging the defenceless town of Vigo for two days and razing it to the ground. This abusive demonstration did not leave the corsair unharmed, as he lost hundreds more men on land, in addition to as many as two hundred wounded.<ref name="Santos2018">{{cite book |last1=Santos |first1=Luis Gorrochategui |title=The English Armada: The Greatest Naval Disaster in English History |year=2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1350016996 |pages=231–233 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w-JDDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA231}}</ref> The growing defences of the inhabitants, and the arrivals of militias from Portugal, put the ships in retreat again. Two of the vessels sailing back to Plymouth were captured in the [[Bay of Biscay]] by a squadron of [[zabra]]s led by Captain Diego de Aramburu.<ref name="González-Rodríguez2002">{{Cite journal |last1=González-Rodríguez |first1=Agustín Ramón |date=19 September 2002 |title=Una derrota de Drake ante Lisboa. |url=https://repositorioinstitucional.ceu.es/handle/10637/1416 |journal=Circulo Naval Español |page=252|language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gonzalez-Arnao Conde-Luque |first=Mariano |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oN5cIltA3IoC |title=Derrota y muerte de Sir Francis Drake, a Coruña 1589 – Portobelo 1596 |publisher=Xunta de Galicia, Servicio Central de Publicacións |year=1995 |isbn=978-8445314630 |page=94 |language=es}}</ref>

The failure cost the lives of 11,000 English soldiers and sailors, according to Bucholz and Key;<ref name="BucholzKey2008">{{cite book |last1=Bucholz |first1=Robert |last2=Key |first2=Newton |title=Early Modern England 1485–1714: A Narrative History |year=2008 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1405162753 |page=145 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0WVvxIGRi-kC&pg=PA145}}</ref> [[Robert Hutchinson (historian)|Robert Hutchinson]] says between 8,000 and 11,000 died;<ref name="Hutchinson2014">{{cite book |last1=Hutchinson |first1=Robert |title=The Spanish Armada: A History |year=2014 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-1466847484 |page=239 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rRzSAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA239}}</ref> while Gorrochategui Santos calculates the number at over 20,000.<ref name="Santos2018245">{{cite book |last1=Santos |first1=Luis Gorrochategui |title=The English Armada: The Greatest Naval Disaster in English History |year=2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1350016996 |page=245 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w-JDDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA245}}</ref> Upon his return, Drake's behaviour in the expedition was increasingly called into question, culminating in his being charged by [[Privy Council of England|England's Privy Council]] of deliberate failings and a mishandling of his command. Despite never being publicly admonished on these charges,{{sfn|Sugden|2006|p=283}} he nevertheless fell out of favour, and was not given command of another naval expedition until 1595.<ref name="Wernham2020">{{cite book |last1=Wernham |first1=R. B. |title=Expedition of Sir John Norris and Sir Francis Drake to Spain and Portugal, 1589 |year=2020 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1000341652 |page=xxxv |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UOcJEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT35}}</ref>

==Defeats and death==
{{further|Drake's Assault on Panama}}
[[File:BurialOfDrakeTavistockMonument.jpg|thumb|Drake's burial at sea off [[Portobelo, Colón|Portobello]] (artistic licence - he was in fact buried in a coffin). Bronze plaque by [[Joseph Boehm]], 1883, base of Drake statue, Tavistock]]
Drake's seafaring career continued into his mid-fifties. In 1595, he [[Battle of Las Palmas|failed to conquer]] the port of [[Las Palmas]], and following a disastrous campaign against Spanish America, where he suffered a number of defeats, he unsuccessfully attacked San Juan de Puerto Rico, and lost the [[Battle of San Juan (1595)|Battle of San Juan]]. The Spanish gunners from [[El Morro Castle]] shot a cannonball through his stateroom on the expedition's flagship, but he survived.<ref name="Zarzeczny2018">{{cite book |last1=Zarzeczny |first1=Matthew D. |editor1-last=Seelye |editor1-first=James E. |editor2-last=Selby |editor2-first=Shawn |title=Shaping North America: From Exploration to the American Revolution [3 volumes] |volume=1 |year=2018 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1440836695 |page=323 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YgVnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA323}}</ref>

He and his second-in-command, [[Thomas Baskerville (general)|Thomas Baskerville]], captured and burned Nombre de Dios, and started an overland crossing of the isthmus to [[Drake's Assault on Panama|attack]] the city of [[Panama City|Panama]], but were repulsed by the well-entrenched Spaniards who had barricaded the road;<ref name="Andrews1972">{{cite book |last1=Andrews |first1=Kenneth R. |editor1-last=Andrews |editor1-first=Kenneth R. |title=The Last Voyage of Drake and Hawkins |year=1972 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521010399 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TuIsmjb8WZMC&pg=PA183 |pages=183–187}}</ref> suffering heavy casualties, they gave up the attempt.<ref name="Marley1998">{{cite book |last1=Marley |first1=David |title=Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the New World, 1492 to the Present |year=1998 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0874368376 |page=89 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdvp3cGJUZoC&pg=PA89}}</ref> A few weeks later, on 28 January 1596, Drake died (aged about 56) of [[dysentery]], a common disease at the time, while anchored off the coast of [[Portobelo, Colón|Portobelo]] where some Spanish treasure ships had sought shelter.{{Sfn|Maynarde|1849}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=rbdk&fileName=d0302/rbdkd0302.db&recNum=607 |title=The Last Voyage of Sir Francis Drake |page=588 |website=loc.gov |access-date=7 July 2020 |archive-date=7 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707110508/https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=rbdk&fileName=d0302%2Frbdkd0302.db&recNum=607 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Whitfield|2004|p=149}} Following his death, the English fleet withdrew defeated.<ref name="Kluge2021">{{cite book |last1=Kluge |first1=Sofie |title=Literature and Historiography in the Spanish Golden Age: The Poetics of History |year=2021 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1000450866 |page=138 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u_0-EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT138}}</ref>

Before dying, he asked to be dressed in his full armour. He was buried at sea in a sealed lead-lined coffin, near [[Portobelo, Colón|Portobelo]], a few miles off the coastline. It is supposed that his final resting place is near the wrecks of two British ships, ''Elizabeth'' and ''Delight'', scuttled in Portobelo Bay.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Friar |first1=Willie K. |title=In the Wake of Drake |journal=Panama Canal Review |date=Spring 1975 |page=8 |url=https://original-ufdc.uflib.ufl.edu/UF00097366/00009 |language=en}}</ref> Efforts by researchers and treasure hunters to discover the location of his remains are ongoing,<ref name="Zarzeczny2018" /> while divers continue to search the seabed for the coffin.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sir Francis Drake's body 'close to being found off Panama'|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15447632|work=BBC News|date=25 October 2011|access-date=9 October 2013|archive-date=14 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130314071737/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15447632|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/panama/8847105/Sir-Francis-Drakes-final-fleet-discovered-off-the-coast-of-Panama.html|website=The Daily Telegraph|title=Sir Francis Drake's final fleet 'discovered off the coast of Panama'|last1=Henderson|first1=Barney|last2=Swaine|first2=Jon|date=24 October 2011|access-date=28 July 2017|archive-date=31 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731185545/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/panama/8847105/Sir-Francis-Drakes-final-fleet-discovered-off-the-coast-of-Panama.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Family and heritage==
[[File:Elizabeth Sydenham Lady Drake.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Elizabeth Sydenham Lady Drake]]

[[File:2018 gb-plymouth-ggd-buckland abbey 140718 08.jpg|thumb|right|400px|[[Buckland Abbey]] in Devon]]

Francis Drake married Mary Newman at [[St Budeaux]] church near [[Plymouth]], on 4 July 1569.{{sfn|Kelsey|2000|p=44}} She died about 24 January 1583.{{sfn|Kelsey|2000|p=236}} In 1585, Drake married Elizabeth Sydenham, born around 1562, the only child of Sir George Sydenham, of [[Combe Sydenham]],{{sfn|Sugden|2006|page=174}} who was the [[High Sheriff of Somerset]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Documents/sheriffs_of_somerset.htm | title=The Occupants of the ancient office of High Sheriff of Somerset | publisher=Tudor Court | access-date=30 March 2011 | archive-date=13 May 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513235542/http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Documents/sheriffs_of_somerset.htm | url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1580, Drake purchased [[Buckland Abbey]], a large manor house near [[Yelverton, Devon]], via intermediaries from Sir Richard Grenville. He lived there for fifteen years, until his final voyage, and it remained in his family until 1946.<ref name="Gill1984">{{cite book |last1=Gill |first1=Crispin |editor1-last=Thrower |editor1-first=Norman J.W. |title=Sir Francis Drake and the Famous Voyage, 1577–1580: Essays Commemorating the Quadricentennial of Drake's Circumnavigation of the Earth |year=1984 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0520048768 |page=85 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPJVxZu8btoC&pg=85 |chapter=Drake and Plymouth}}</ref> Buckland Abbey is now in the care of the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]] and a number of mementos of his life are displayed there. His coat of arms and full achievement is depicted in the form of a large, coloured plaster overmantel in the Lifetimes Gallery at Buckland Abbey.<ref name="von Einsiedel2012"/>

Drake was one of twelve children. His brother Thomas accompanied him on voyages, and named his son after him. That nephew eventually became [[Sir Francis Drake, 1st Baronet]].<ref name=FullerEliottDrake1911>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/familyheirsofsir01fulluoft|title=The family and heirs of Sir Francis Drake|first=Elizabeth (Douglas)|last=Fuller-Eliott-Drake|date=19 March 1911|publisher=London : Smith, Elder|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

==Legacy and honours==
Historical sources on Drake's early life are scarce, and tend to be obscure.{{sfn|Kelsey|2000|p=11}}{{sfn|Whitfield|2004|p=13}} Two common scholarly traditions concerning his life and contributions have resulted.{{sfn|Sugden|2012|p=xiii}} The older tradition can be found in Julian Corbett's biography, ''Drake and the Tudor Navy'' (1898) which identifies Drake as the single most important figure in the founding and triumph of the [[British navy]].{{sfn|Corbett|1898|p=440}} The alternative approach locates Drake squarely within privateering. The first has tended to laud only his successes, while Sugden writes that the second approach, which emphasises his flaws and failures, has sometimes been less than just.{{sfn|Sugden|2012|p=xiv}} Drake left behind no words of his own, only his actions and their interpretation which, as Peter Whitfield says, "is open to deep disagreement". According to Whitfield, scholarship on Drake has moved "from the hero worship of the Victorians to the cold iconoclasm" of the twenty-first century.{{sfn|Whitfield|2004|pp=8–9}}

Drake's will was the focus of an extensive confidence scam which [[Oscar Hartzell]] perpetrated in the 1920s and 1930s.<ref name="Rayner2002">Rayner, Richard (22 April 2002). "The Admiral and the Con Man". ''The New Yorker''. p. 150.</ref>

[[Drake's Drum]] has become an icon of [[English folklore]] with its variation of the classic [[king asleep in mountain]] story motif.

Drake was a major focus in the video game series ''[[Uncharted]]'', specifically its first and third instalments, ''[[Uncharted: Drake's Fortune]]'' and ''[[Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception]]'', respectively. The series follows [[Nathan Drake]], a self-proclaimed descendant of Drake who retraces his ancestor's voyages.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Husein |first1=Baker |date=20 February 2022 |title=Uncharted: Nate's Francis Drake Link Explained (& How It Sets Up A Sequel) |url=https://screenrant.com/uncharted-nathan-drake-francis-history-sequel-setup/ |website=Screen Rant}}</ref>

Drake was the subject of a TV series, ''[[Sir Francis Drake (TV series)|Sir Francis Drake]]'' (1961–1962). [[Terence Morgan]] played Drake in the 26-episode adventure drama.

In [[Valparaíso]], Chile, folklore associates a cave known as [[Cueva del Pirata]] ({{lit|Cave of the Pirate}}) with Francis Drake. A legend says that when Drake ransacked the port, he was disappointed with the scant plunder, and proceeded to enter the churches in fury to sack them and [[Desecration|urinate on]] the [[chalice]]s. Supposedly he still found the plunder to be not worth enough to take on board his galleon, and hid it in the cave.<ref name="Montecino-Aguirre2015">{{Cite book |last=Montecino Aguirre |first=Sonia |title=Mitos de Chile: Enciclopedia de seres, apariciones y encantos |publisher=[[Catalonia (publisher)|Catalonia]] |year=2015 |isbn=978-9563243758 |page=279 |language=es |quote=In the same port is the Pirate's Cave. It is said that when the pirate Francis Drake attacked Valparaíso all its inhabitants were forewarned and had fled to the hills, taking with them the most valuable things, so the pirate found only trinkets in the city. Furious, he went through the houses taking trinkets and entered the churches taking the chalices, in which he spat and urinated. Gathering all the loot, he decided that it was not worth using the space in his galleons to carry it and looked for a place to hide it. Others point out, on the contrary, that the treasure was so great that he decided to hide it in a cave. Whatever the nature of the booty, it is said that Drake decided to hide it in one of the hidden caverns on the coast of Valparaíso, which was difficult to access.}}</ref>

=== Geographical names ===
[[Drake Passage]], a [[strait]] connecting the southern [[Atlantic Ocean]] and the [[Pacific Ocean]], is named after him.

There are various places in the United Kingdom named after him, especially in Plymouth, Devon. Places there carrying his name include [[Drake's Island]], [[Drake Circus Shopping Centre]], and the [[Royal Navy]] base [[HMNB Devonport]] (also known as "HMS Drake").<ref name="RoyalNavy2023">{{cite web |title=HMNB Devonport |url=https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/our-organisation/bases-and-stations/naval-base/devonport |publisher=Royal Navy |access-date=14 March 2023}}</ref> [[Plymouth Hoe]] is also home to a statue of Drake.<ref name="Kendall2022">{{cite book |last1=Kendall |first1=Paul |title=Queen Elizabeth I: Life and Legacy of the Virgin Queen |year=2022 |publisher=Frontline Books |isbn=978-1399018388 |pages=204–205 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T-yKEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA204}}</ref> The [[Sir Francis Drake Channel]] is located in the [[British Virgin Islands]].<ref name="DMAHC1976">{{cite book |title=Sailing Directions (enroute) for the Caribbean Sea |date=1976 |publisher=United States Department of Defense, Defense Mapping Agency, Hydrographic/Topographic Center |page=158 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sOPgS6jBpsIC&pg=PA158}}</ref>

Various mountains in [[British Columbia]] were named in the 1930s for Drake, or in connection with Elizabeth I or other figures of that era, including [[Mount Sir Francis Drake]], [[Mount Queen Bess]], and the [[Golden Hinde (mountain)|Golden Hinde]], the highest mountain on [[Vancouver Island]]. [[Fringe theories on the location of New Albion|Fringe theorists]] suggest he may also have landed to the north of the usual site considered to be [[Nova Albion]] – among them Canadian Samuel Bawlf, who claims that its true location was on [[Vancouver Island]] at latitude 50 degrees north.{{Sfn|Bawlf|2003|p=228}}

Several landmarks in northern California were named after Drake, beginning in the late 19th century and continuing into the 20th century. American historian [[Richard White (historian)|Richard White]] posits that these commemorations have origins in [[Anglo-Saxonism in the 19th century|19th-century Anglo-Saxonism]].{{Sfn|White|2020}} Public scrutiny of these memorials intensified in 2020 after the [[George Floyd protests]] drew critical attention to [[List of name changes due to the George Floyd protests|place names]] and [[List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests|monuments]] perceived to be connected to white supremacy, colonialism, or racial injustice. Several California landmarks that commemorated Drake were removed or renamed. Citing Drake's associations with the transatlantic slave trade, colonialism and piracy,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brenner |first1=Keri |date=9 May 2021 |title=Marin panel taps Olympic gold medallist, Tuskegee Airman Archie Williams for new high school name |work=The Mercury News |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/05/09/drake-panel-taps-archie-williams-for-new-high-school-name |access-date=29 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Communication to Community |url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UA5SePs-8axEYJC89FugJb8z7XUZGXMeXChQpI0Or1g |access-date=9 May 2021 |website=Google Docs}}</ref> Sir Francis Drake High School, in [[San Anselmo, California]], changed its name to [[Archie Williams High School]], after former teacher and Olympic athlete [[Archie Williams]]. A statue of Drake in [[Larkspur, California]] was also removed by the city authorities.<ref>{{cite news |last=Morotti |first=Lorenzo |title=Drake sculpture, school signs removed ahead of protest |work=Marin Independent Journal |location=San Rafael, CA |url=https://www.marinij.com/2020/07/29/sir-francis-drake-sculpture-removed-amid-safety-concerns/ |access-date=10 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Freedman |first=Wayne |date=11 June 2020 |title=Movement underway to erase Sir Francis Drake namesake, sculpture from Marin County |publisher=[[KABC-TV|ABC 7 News]] |url=https://abc7news.com/society/movement-underway-to-erase-sir-francis-drake-from-marin-county/6241631/ |access-date=11 May 2021}}</ref> Multiple jurisdictions in [[Marin County, California|Marin County]] considered renaming [[Sir Francis Drake Boulevard]], one of its major thoroughfares, but left the name intact when they failed to reach a consensus.<ref name="Anna Guth2021">{{Cite news |last1=Guth |first1=Anna |date=10 March 2021 |title=Supes to keep Francis Drake road name |website=Point Reyes Light |url=https://www.ptreyeslight.com/news/supes-keep-francis-drake-road-name// |access-date=21 February 2022}}</ref> In San Francisco, the Sir Francis Drake Hotel was renamed the Beacon Grand Hotel.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dowd |first1=Katie |date=21 February 2022 |title=San Francisco's iconic Sir Francis Drake Hotel permanently changes name |work=SFGate |url=https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/SF-Sir-Francis-Drake-Hotel-changes-name-16935743.php |access-date=21 February 2022}}</ref>

<gallery widths="160px" heights="250px">
File:Francis Drake, por un artista anónimo.jpg|This portrait, {{c.}} 1581, is at the [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]], London<!--Source: Sugden's biography-->
File:DrakeStatueTavistock.jpg|Bronze statue in Tavistock, the parish in which he was born, by [[Joseph Boehm]], 1883
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Francis William Drake]] – relative of Sir Francis Drake
* [[Drake's Leat]] – a water supply for Plymouth, promoted by Drake

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Barrow |first=John | author-link = Sir John Barrow, 1st Baronet |title=The life, voyages, and exploits of Sir Francis Drake : with numerous original letters from him and the Lord High Admiral to the Queen and great officers of state |publisher=John Murray, Albemarle Street |publication-place=London |year=1843 |isbn=978-1-78987-509-6 |oclc=26727420 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zo0xAQAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last1=Bawlf |first1=Samuel |title=The Secret Voyage of Sir Francis Drake: 1577–1580 |year=2003 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0802718082 |url=https://archive.org/details/secretvoyageofsi0000bawl}}
* {{cite book |last1= Bergreen |first1= Laurence | author-link = Laurence Bergreen |title= In Search of a Kingdom: Francis Drake, Elizabeth I, and the Perilous Birth of the British Empire |year= 2021 |publisher= Custom House |location= New York |edition= 1st |hdl= |isbn= 9780062875389 |oclc=1193560224 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-JHrDwAAQBAJ|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Bevan |first=Bryan |year=1971 |title=The Great Seamen of Elizabeth I |location=London |publisher=Robert Hale|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Coote |first=Stephen |year=2005 |title=Drake: The Life and Legend of an Elizabethan Hero |location=New York |publisher=Thomas Dunne Books |isbn=978-0743468701}}
* {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/draketudornavy02corb/page/n5/mode/2up |title=Drake and the Tudor navy |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co. |last=Corbett |first=Julian |author-link=Julian Corbett |year=1898 }}
* {{cite book |first=John |last=Cummins|title=Francis Drake: The Lives of a Hero|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YAcU-WA0X3QC&pg=PA126|year=1997 |publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-0312163655|page=126}}
* {{cite book |first=Richard |last=Hakluyt |author-link=Richard Hakluyt |editor1-first=Edward John |editor1-last=Payne |editor1-link=Edward John Payne |title=Voyages of the Elizabethan seamen to America. Thirteen original narratives from the collection of Hakluyt |year=1880 |publisher=Thos. de la Rue & Co. |place=London |url=https://archive.org/details/voyagesofelizabe00haklrich/page/n4|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Kelsey|first=Harry|title=Sir Francis Drake: The Queen's Pirate|url=https://archive.org/details/sirfrancisdrakeq0000kels |url-access=registration |year=2000|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0300084634}}
* {{cite book |last1=Kraus |first1=Hans |title=Sir Francis Drake: A Pictorial Biography |year=1970 |publisher=N. Israel, Amsterdam |edition=|url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/sir-francis-drake/articles-and-essays/drake-biography/}}
* {{cite book | title=Sir Francis Drake | last= Lace |first= William| year=2009 |publisher=Chelsea House Publishers| isbn=978-1604134179|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lane |first1=Kris |title=Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas 1500–1750 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OTU-CgAAQBAJ |year=2015 |orig-year=1990|publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0765602565}}
* {{cite book |last1= Loades|first1= David|author-link1= David Loades|year= 2007|chapter= Drake, Francis (1540–1595) English seaman and circumnavigator|chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195130751.001.0001/acref-9780195130751-e-0245|editor1-last= Hattendorf|editor1-first= John J.|editor1-link= John B. Hattendorf|title= The Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History|chapter-url-access= subscription|language= en-GB|location= Oxford|publisher= Oxford University Press|publication-date= 2007|isbn= 978-0195307405}}
* {{cite book |title=[[The Defeat of the Spanish Armada]] |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |first=Garett |last=Mattingly |author-link=Garett Mattingly |year=1959|ref=none}}. Received a special citation from the [[Pulitzer Prize]] committee in 1960.
* {{cite book |title=Sir Francis Drake his voyage, 1595 |last=Maynarde |first=Thomas |via=Internet Archive |year=1849 |url=https://archive.org/details/sirfrancisdrakeh04mayn}}
* {{cite book|last=Sugden|first=John|title=Sir Francis Drake|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2CEgmN-3VcMC |year=2006 |orig-year=1990 |publisher=Pimlico |location=United Kingdom |isbn=978-1844137626}}
* {{cite book|last=Sugden|first=John|title=Sir Francis Drake|publisher=Random House|year=2012|isbn=978-1448129508}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |title=The Cartography of Drake's voyages|encyclopedia=Sir Francis Drake and the famous voyage, 1577–1580|year=1984|last=Wallis |first=Helen |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkley|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/worldencompassed00wils |title=The World Encompassed: Drake's Great Voyage, 1577–80 |publisher=Harper & Row |last=Wilson |first=Derek |year=1977 |isbn=978-0060146795|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=White|first=Richard|author-link=Richard White (historian)|year=2020|title=California Exposures: Envisioning Myth and History|url=http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1102467481|location=New York|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|pages=1–31|isbn=978-0393243062|oclc=1102467481}}
* {{cite book| last = Whitfield|first= Peter |title=Sir Francis Drake|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DcpswxkiKcEC |year=2004|publisher=NYU Press| isbn=978-0814794036}}
* {{cite book |last1=Whiting |first1=J. R. S. |year=1988 |title=The Enterprise of England: The Spanish Armada |url=https://archive.org/details/enterpriseofengl00whit |location=Gloucester |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=0312024010}}

==External links==
{{Americana Poster|Drake, Francis|Francis Drake}}
* {{Commons category-inline|Francis Drake}}
* {{Wikiquote-inline}}

{{Francis Drake}}
{{Pirates}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Francis}}
[[Category:Francis Drake| ]]
[[Category:1540s births]]
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[[Category:16th-century English explorers]]
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[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
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