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On April 29, 1587, Sir Frances Drake sailed into the Bay of Cadiz in Spain and sunk much of the Spanish fleet. Drake later described it as the "singeing the King of Spain's beard". The raids on Spain in April and May 1587 delayed the invasion of England by a year by which time the English had shored up her defenses. Drake's success led him to named a vice admiral in the defense of England a year later when Spain attempted to conquer England during the invasion by the Spanish Armada in 1588. A short excerpt from the text:
"1587: The Raid on Cadiz
Philip's interest in England went back to 1553 CE when his father, King Charles V of Spain (r. 1516-1556 CE) arranged for him to marry Mary I of England (r. 1553-1558 CE). Mary's successor, Elizabeth I continued the Protestant English Reformation, and the Pope excommunicated the queen for heresy in February 1570 CE. Elizabeth was also active abroad, sending money and arms to the Huguenots in France and financial aid to Protestants in the Netherlands who were protesting against Philip's rule.
The already tense relationship between England and Spain was made worse by Elizabeth's privateers. Capturing ships on the high seas or attacking colonial settlements was one thing but when Drake went a big step further towards full-on warfare and attacked Cadiz in April 1587 CE, relations plummeted to a new low. Cadiz was Spain's most important Atlantic port and Drake 'singed the king's beard' in his audacious attack. Sailing straight into the harbour and ignoring the cannons fired from the fortress, Drake's fleet destroyed 31 ships, captured another six, and again destroyed valuable supplies destined for Spain's Armada. After three days, Drake sailed on to Cape Vincent in southern Portugal and spent another two months causing havoc among Spain's ships along the coast and as far out as the Azores. Philip's long-planned invasion, what he called the 'Enterprise of England', was delayed by these setbacks, but he remained determined to conquer his number one enemy. Philip even gained the blessing and financial aid of Pope Sixtus V (r. 1585-90 CE) as the king presented himself as the Sword of the Catholic Church."
"1587: The Raid on Cadiz
Philip's interest in England went back to 1553 CE when his father, King Charles V of Spain (r. 1516-1556 CE) arranged for him to marry Mary I of England (r. 1553-1558 CE). Mary's successor, Elizabeth I continued the Protestant English Reformation, and the Pope excommunicated the queen for heresy in February 1570 CE. Elizabeth was also active abroad, sending money and arms to the Huguenots in France and financial aid to Protestants in the Netherlands who were protesting against Philip's rule.
The already tense relationship between England and Spain was made worse by Elizabeth's privateers. Capturing ships on the high seas or attacking colonial settlements was one thing but when Drake went a big step further towards full-on warfare and attacked Cadiz in April 1587 CE, relations plummeted to a new low. Cadiz was Spain's most important Atlantic port and Drake 'singed the king's beard' in his audacious attack. Sailing straight into the harbour and ignoring the cannons fired from the fortress, Drake's fleet destroyed 31 ships, captured another six, and again destroyed valuable supplies destined for Spain's Armada. After three days, Drake sailed on to Cape Vincent in southern Portugal and spent another two months causing havoc among Spain's ships along the coast and as far out as the Azores. Philip's long-planned invasion, what he called the 'Enterprise of England', was delayed by these setbacks, but he remained determined to conquer his number one enemy. Philip even gained the blessing and financial aid of Pope Sixtus V (r. 1585-90 CE) as the king presented himself as the Sword of the Catholic Church."
Francis Drake
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Francis Drake: The Privateer and Explorer Extraordinaire
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Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on April 29, 1587, Sir Frances Drake sailed into the Bay of Cadiz in Spain and sunk much of the Spanish fleet. Drake later described it as the "singeing the King of Spain's beard".
Francis Drake: The Privateer and Explorer Extraordinaire
https://youtu.be/2AFGNhx4Zz0?t=18
Images:
1. Map of Drake's Great Expedition in 1585 by Giovanni Battista Boazio
2. Fireships Ravage the Spanish Armada by Philip James de Loutherbourg
3. Queen Elizabeth I knights Francis Drake painting
4. The Spanish Armada Driven out of Calais by Fire by Richard Brydges Beechey
Background from {[https://www.ancient.eu/Francis_Drake/]}
Francis Drake by Mark Cartwright published on 25 June 2020
Sir Francis Drake (c. 1540-1596 CE) was an English mariner, privateer and explorer who in 1588 CE helped defeat the Spanish Armada of Philip II of Spain (r. 1556-1598 CE) which attempted to invade the kingdom of Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603 CE). Roaming the Atlantic and Caribbean capturing their treasure ships, the Spanish called Drake 'El Draque' ('the Dragon'). Partial to combining exploration with piracy, Drake famously circumnavigated the globe in his ship the Golden Hind between 1577 and 1580 CE. One of England's most celebrated seafarers and idolised in his own lifetime, Drake was witty but sly, generous yet cruel, both audacious and reckless, fiercely patriotic and almost always lucky - in short, the archetypal Elizabethan hero. He died of dysentery in 1596 CE on an expedition to raid the Spanish Main one last time.
Early Life
Francis Drake was born in Devonshire c. 1540 CE, his father was a modest landowner and chaplain in the Chatham dockyard. Aged ten, Francis was already sailing the Thames in a small bark, and in 1563 CE, he first went to sea proper. Three years later he joined his cousin John Hawkins on a trading voyage that visited West Africa, acquired a number of slaves and crossed the Atlantic to the New World. In 1567 CE Drake repeated the voyage, again with Hawkins, but this time he was captain of the Judith, a ship of a mere 50 tons. Unfortunately for the young mariner, this expedition was curtailed when it was attacked by the Spanish at San Juan D'Ulloa on the east coast of Mexico on 23 September 1568 CE. The new viceroy of the Spanish Empire, Don Martin Enriquez, had offered peace terms but then treacherously went back on his word, an infamous about-turn that the English would use as justification for privateering for the next 40 years.
MARINERS LIKE FRANCIS DRAKE WERE GIVEN A LICENSE TO ACT AS PIRATES & TAKE WHATEVER THEY CAME ACROSS OF SPAIN'S ON THE HIGH SEAS.
At San Juan D'Ulloa the English lost four ships but Hawkins and Drake survived to return to England in the two remaining vessels. This was the beginning of a very personal enmity between Drake and all things Spanish, a hatred that was fuelled by his militant Protestantism. From then on, Drake regarded it as a sacred duty to weaken Spain by any means possible. Often preaching on his ship and always carrying on board his copy of Foxe's Book of Martyrs (1563 CE) on Protestants who had suffered under the reign of 'Bloody Mary', Drake would become the scourge of Catholic Spain and its Empire.
1572 CE: Panama & Privateering
On 24 May 1572 CE Drake sailed from Plymouth in the Swan, bound for Panama to explore what he could find there. Now that England and Spain were at war in all but name, Elizabeth, unable to fund large land armies on the Continent, considered that attacking Spanish treasure ships bringing loot from its New World empire was the best way to hurt Philip II of Spain and increase her own wealth. She was further motivated by Spain's continued exclusion of English merchants from trade with the New World. Accordingly, mariners like Drake were given a license to act as pirates and take whatever they came across of Spain's on the high seas. Courtiers, merchants, and sometimes even the queen herself, invested in these ventures, hoping to reap great rewards. The euphemistic name for the adventurers was 'privateers', the Spanish merely called them 'sea dogs'. Fitting out a fleet of ships and maintaining their crews was not cheap, though, and every expedition had to find its prize to make the whole thing financially viable. There was also the not insignificant matter that the Spanish did not take kindly to this nautical mugging and so their ships bristled with cannons.
Arriving in Panama, Drake attacked the Spanish settlement of Nombre de Dios and captured a sizeable quantity of loot. Landing on the Isthmus of Panama, Drake explored the area on foot. Climbing a tree as directed by one of the indigenous peoples there, the sailor was able to see the Pacific Ocean on 11 February 1573 CE, the first Englishman to do so. An unexpected bonus was the interception of a Spanish caravan loaded down with £40,000 worth of silver. Back home, a sojourn followed in Ireland where, in 1575 CE, Drake was involved in the infamous Rathlin Island massacre of 500 men, women, and children.
1577-80 CE Voyage of Circumnavigation
The idea to mount an expedition to explore what lay south of the equator and see if a great southern continent did really exist was first touted by Richard Grenville (1542-1591 CE) in 1574 CE. Grenville had failed to find backing for his plan as the search for the Northwest Passage took precedence, but in 1577 CE, Elizabeth turned to Drake for just such a southern voyage. Secretly, the queen invested in the project and instructed Drake not only to explore new trade possibilities but also to take whatever treasure he came across from the Spanish. Drake was given command of a fleet of five ships: Christopher, Elizabeth, Marigold, Pelican, and Swan. Mid-voyage the 140-ton Pelican would be renamed the Golden Hind in honour of Drake's principal patron, Sir Christopher Hatton, who had that device on his family coat of arms.
On 13 December 1577 CE Drake set off with 164 men on what would turn out to be an extraordinary voyage; 60 of the men would never see England again. The fleet sailed down the coast of northwest Africa and then across the Atlantic route to reach the eastern coast of South America in April 1578 CE. At the southern tip of South America, the Christopher and Swan turned back while the other ships pressed on through the Straits of Magellan in August. Heavy storms in September meant that the Golden Hind continued the expedition alone to sail up the west coast of South America. Spanish settlements like Valparaiso were taken completely by surprise when an English warship showed up in Pacific waters. Several treasure ships were captured, including in March 1579 CE the Nuestra Senora de la Concepćion (aka Cacafuego) off the coast of Peru with its massive cargo of silver.
Drake then sailed on up the west coast of North America in a failed search for the fabled Northwest Passage that was believed to provide an easy route to Asia. After he explored northern waters, the adventurer went back south and anchored near what is today San Francisco in June. There he claimed the land for his queen, naming it 'New Albion' (a claim never subsequently pursued). Drake then turned westwards, swept across the Pacific by the trade winds. In October he reached the East Indies (Indonesia and Philippines) and took on board six tons of valuable cloves. Repairs were made to the ship on Java and in March 1580 CE the Golden Hind crossed the Indian Ocean. In June Drake rounded the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa and sailed up the Atlantic coast of that continent to reach Plymouth on 26 September 1580 CE. It was only the second circumnavigation of the world after Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480-1521 CE) in 1522 CE. More important at the time was the treasure Drake had been steadily filling his ship with along the way. The estimated value of the loot was perhaps £600,000 (the entire annual revenue of England) and the queen received a handsome £160,000.
On 4 April 1581 CE, Elizabeth boarded the Golden Hind docked at Deptford on the Thames and, pleased with the treasures he had captured and the glory of his navigational achievements, knighted Drake on its decks. This outraged the Spanish ambassador who regarded Drake as nothing more than a pirate. Drake had become Elizabeth's favourite sea dog, a feeling that must have been mutual as the mariner often gave his queen lavish gifts such as a gold crown embedded with emeralds and a diamond-studded cross in 1581 CE. The queen, too, gave gifts, notably a silver cup in the form of a globe which encased a coconut Drake had brought back from his voyage. Another present was the now-famous Armada Jewel by Nicholas Hilliard in 1588 CE, a gold and gem-encrusted brooch carrying two portraits of the queen. Drake, in terms of cash in his pocket, was probably then the richest man in England and he splashed out on a portfolio of properties which included Buckland Abbey. He acquired, too, a coat of arms (a ship atop a globe with two silver stars intersected by a wavy horizontal line or fess). His official motto became Sic Parvis Magna or 'Greatness from Small beginnings'.
1580s CE: More Privateering
In 1585 CE Drake sailed with a fleet of nearly 30 ships and 2,000 men to raid the Spanish West Indies. He freed many English ships that Philip had embargoed in Spanish-controlled ports that year and captured such a haul of Spanish arms it caused havoc with Philip's supplies meant for his Armada (see below). The important ports of San Domingo on Cuba and Cartagena, the capital of the Spanish Main, were sacked. The loot gained was not so great but Drake showed how vulnerable the Spanish Empire was to naval attacks. In the next couple of years, Drake roamed far and wide, making more raids on Spanish wealth in the Cape Verde islands, Colombia, Florida, and Hispaniola. Ships were captured and settlements torched as Elizabeth's number one 'sea dog' went to work on the Spanish Empire.
1587: The Raid on Cadiz
Philip's interest in England went back to 1553 CE when his father, King Charles V of Spain (r. 1516-1556 CE) arranged for him to marry Mary I of England (r. 1553-1558 CE). Mary's successor, Elizabeth I continued the Protestant English Reformation, and the Pope excommunicated the queen for heresy in February 1570 CE. Elizabeth was also active abroad, sending money and arms to the Huguenots in France and financial aid to Protestants in the Netherlands who were protesting against Philip's rule.
The already tense relationship between England and Spain was made worse by Elizabeth's privateers. Capturing ships on the high seas or attacking colonial settlements was one thing but when Drake went a big step further towards full-on warfare and attacked Cadiz in April 1587 CE, relations plummeted to a new low. Cadiz was Spain's most important Atlantic port and Drake 'singed the king's beard' in his audacious attack. Sailing straight into the harbour and ignoring the cannons fired from the fortress, Drake's fleet destroyed 31 ships, captured another six, and again destroyed valuable supplies destined for Spain's Armada. After three days, Drake sailed on to Cape Vincent in southern Portugal and spent another two months causing havoc among Spain's ships along the coast and as far out as the Azores. Philip's long-planned invasion, what he called the 'Enterprise of England', was delayed by these setbacks, but he remained determined to conquer his number one enemy. Philip even gained the blessing and financial aid of Pope Sixtus V (r. 1585-90 CE) as the king presented himself as the Sword of the Catholic Church.
1588 AD: The Spanish Armada
The Spanish Armada, a fleet of 132 ships packed with 17,000 soldiers and 7,000 mariners, sailed from Lisbon (then under Philip's rule) on 30 May 1588 CE. It was intended that the Armada would establish dominance of the English Channel and then reach the Netherlands in order to pick up a second army led by the Duke of Parma, Philip's regent there. The fleet would then sail to invade England.
The Armada was commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia. England's fleet of around 130 ships was commanded by Lord Howard of Effingham with Drake as vice-admiral in his flagship the Revenge. The large Spanish galleons - designed for transportation, not warfare - were much less nimble than the smaller English ships which would, it was hoped, be able to dash in and out of the Spanish fleet and cause havoc. In addition, the 20 English royal galleons were better armed than the best of the Spanish ships and their guns could fire further.
The Spanish galleons were spotted off the coast of Cornwall on 19 July. Fire beacons spread the news along the coast and, on 20 July, the English fleet sailed from its homeport of Plymouth to meet the invaders. There were about 50 fighting ships on each side and there would be three separate engagements as the navies battled each other and storms. These battles, spread over the next week, were off Eddystone, Portland, and the Isle of Wight. The English ships could not take advantage of their greater manoeuvrability or the superior knowledge of tides of their commanders as the Spanish adopted their familiar disciplined line-abreast formation - a giant crescent. The English did manage to fire heavily at the wings of the Armada, 'plucking their feathers' as Lord Howard put it (Guy, 341). Although the English fleet outgunned the Spanish, both sides found themselves with insufficient ammunition, and commanders were obliged to be frugal with their volleys. The Spanish prudently retreated to a safe anchorage off Calais on 27 July having lost only two ships and suffered only superficial damage to many others.
Six fireships, organised by Drake, were then sent into the Spanish fleet on the night of 28 July. Strong winds blew the unmanned ships into the anchored fleet and quickly spread the devastating flames amongst them. The English ships moved in for the kill off Gravelines off the Flemish coast on 29 July. The Spanish broke formation still having lost only four ships but many more were now badly damaged by cannon shots and many anchors had been hastily cut in order to escape the fire ships. The loss of these anchors would be a serious hindrance to the manoeuvrability of the Spanish ships over the coming weeks. The Armada was then hit by the increasingly strong winds from the south-west. The Duke of Medina Sidonia, unable to get close enough to grapple and board with the flighty English ships and with Parma's force blockaded in by Dutch ships, ordered a retreat and abandonment of the invasion.
Drake reported victory from Revenge:
God hath given us so good a day in forcing the enemy so far to leeward as I hope in God that the Prince of Parma and the Duke of Sidonia shall not shake hands these few days; and whensoever they shall meet, I believe neither of them will greatly rejoice of this day's service.
(Ferriby, 226)
The Armada was forced by the continuing storm to sail around the tempestuous shores of Scotland and Ireland in order to return home. A bad storm hit them in the Atlantic, and only half of the original Armada made it back to Spain in October 1588 CE. Philip did not give up despite the disaster of his great 'Enterprise', and he tried twice more to invade England (1596 and 1597 CE), but each time his fleet was repelled by storms.
1589 AD: The Portugal Expedition
An expedition was formed to attack both Philip's New World treasure ships and his remaining Armada ships in port in Spain in April 1589 CE. A mix of private and official ships and men, this expedition is sometimes called the Don Antonio Expedition as one of its leaders' aims was to capture Lisbon and restore Don Antonio to the Portuguese throne (he had been deposed by Philip in 1580 CE). Other names for this attack include the English Armada and the Drake-Norris Expedition, after Sir John Norris (c. 1547-1597 CE) who co-led the expedition with Drake. Elizabeth invested £49,000 pounds in the project but she would be sorely disappointed in the measly return.
The English fleet was impressive with 130-150 ships and at least 15,000 men. However, the expedition had confused aims and so, in the end, achieved little. Corunna was attacked but only partially captured and 2,000 Englishmen returned to England with their loot. Meanwhile, 50 Spanish ships idle in other Spanish ports were ignored. Lisbon was attacked - contrary to Elizabeth's instructions - but the Portuguese did not rise in support of Don Antonio as hoped for and the city resisted capture. Lacking sufficient supplies to continue and having missed the treasure ships coming through the Azores, the expedition retreated ignominiously back to England. With huge casualties, mostly from disease, the whole episode seriously damaged Drake's reputation and clearly showed that mixing private and state control of an expeditionary force only led to confusion and disunity. The queen was outraged with Drake at the attack on Lisbon, the complete failure to attack the Armada ships and the poor financial return. The old mariner thus became a landlubber and served as both the mayor of Plymouth and its Member of Parliament.
1595 AD: Final Expedition & Death
In August 1595 CE Drake showed the old sea dog still had some bite when he led an expedition alongside John Hawkins to the Caribbean. Men flocked to the docks at Plymouth, eager to sign up and sail with the greatest mariner England had so far produced. The objective of the 27-ship fleet was to attack the Isthmus of Panama where the Spanish silver caravans passed through. Alas, Hawkins died on the voyage out and then the attack on Porto Rico was a complete failure. The Spanish defences had been warned of the English fleet's arrival, giving them time to install extra cannons, and this intelligence also meant no treasure ships risked the area. Neither could any riches be found in the settlements Drake attacked. Beset with unfavourable winds as disease ran through the crews, Drake, then around 55 years of age, himself died of dysentery at Porto Bello on 28 January 1596 CE. Sir Francis Drake was, fittingly, buried at sea in a lead coffin, but the Panama expedition was a damp squib of an end to a glittering maritime career.
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Francis Drake: The Privateer and Explorer Extraordinaire
https://youtu.be/2AFGNhx4Zz0?t=18
Images:
1. Map of Drake's Great Expedition in 1585 by Giovanni Battista Boazio
2. Fireships Ravage the Spanish Armada by Philip James de Loutherbourg
3. Queen Elizabeth I knights Francis Drake painting
4. The Spanish Armada Driven out of Calais by Fire by Richard Brydges Beechey
Background from {[https://www.ancient.eu/Francis_Drake/]}
Francis Drake by Mark Cartwright published on 25 June 2020
Sir Francis Drake (c. 1540-1596 CE) was an English mariner, privateer and explorer who in 1588 CE helped defeat the Spanish Armada of Philip II of Spain (r. 1556-1598 CE) which attempted to invade the kingdom of Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603 CE). Roaming the Atlantic and Caribbean capturing their treasure ships, the Spanish called Drake 'El Draque' ('the Dragon'). Partial to combining exploration with piracy, Drake famously circumnavigated the globe in his ship the Golden Hind between 1577 and 1580 CE. One of England's most celebrated seafarers and idolised in his own lifetime, Drake was witty but sly, generous yet cruel, both audacious and reckless, fiercely patriotic and almost always lucky - in short, the archetypal Elizabethan hero. He died of dysentery in 1596 CE on an expedition to raid the Spanish Main one last time.
Early Life
Francis Drake was born in Devonshire c. 1540 CE, his father was a modest landowner and chaplain in the Chatham dockyard. Aged ten, Francis was already sailing the Thames in a small bark, and in 1563 CE, he first went to sea proper. Three years later he joined his cousin John Hawkins on a trading voyage that visited West Africa, acquired a number of slaves and crossed the Atlantic to the New World. In 1567 CE Drake repeated the voyage, again with Hawkins, but this time he was captain of the Judith, a ship of a mere 50 tons. Unfortunately for the young mariner, this expedition was curtailed when it was attacked by the Spanish at San Juan D'Ulloa on the east coast of Mexico on 23 September 1568 CE. The new viceroy of the Spanish Empire, Don Martin Enriquez, had offered peace terms but then treacherously went back on his word, an infamous about-turn that the English would use as justification for privateering for the next 40 years.
MARINERS LIKE FRANCIS DRAKE WERE GIVEN A LICENSE TO ACT AS PIRATES & TAKE WHATEVER THEY CAME ACROSS OF SPAIN'S ON THE HIGH SEAS.
At San Juan D'Ulloa the English lost four ships but Hawkins and Drake survived to return to England in the two remaining vessels. This was the beginning of a very personal enmity between Drake and all things Spanish, a hatred that was fuelled by his militant Protestantism. From then on, Drake regarded it as a sacred duty to weaken Spain by any means possible. Often preaching on his ship and always carrying on board his copy of Foxe's Book of Martyrs (1563 CE) on Protestants who had suffered under the reign of 'Bloody Mary', Drake would become the scourge of Catholic Spain and its Empire.
1572 CE: Panama & Privateering
On 24 May 1572 CE Drake sailed from Plymouth in the Swan, bound for Panama to explore what he could find there. Now that England and Spain were at war in all but name, Elizabeth, unable to fund large land armies on the Continent, considered that attacking Spanish treasure ships bringing loot from its New World empire was the best way to hurt Philip II of Spain and increase her own wealth. She was further motivated by Spain's continued exclusion of English merchants from trade with the New World. Accordingly, mariners like Drake were given a license to act as pirates and take whatever they came across of Spain's on the high seas. Courtiers, merchants, and sometimes even the queen herself, invested in these ventures, hoping to reap great rewards. The euphemistic name for the adventurers was 'privateers', the Spanish merely called them 'sea dogs'. Fitting out a fleet of ships and maintaining their crews was not cheap, though, and every expedition had to find its prize to make the whole thing financially viable. There was also the not insignificant matter that the Spanish did not take kindly to this nautical mugging and so their ships bristled with cannons.
Arriving in Panama, Drake attacked the Spanish settlement of Nombre de Dios and captured a sizeable quantity of loot. Landing on the Isthmus of Panama, Drake explored the area on foot. Climbing a tree as directed by one of the indigenous peoples there, the sailor was able to see the Pacific Ocean on 11 February 1573 CE, the first Englishman to do so. An unexpected bonus was the interception of a Spanish caravan loaded down with £40,000 worth of silver. Back home, a sojourn followed in Ireland where, in 1575 CE, Drake was involved in the infamous Rathlin Island massacre of 500 men, women, and children.
1577-80 CE Voyage of Circumnavigation
The idea to mount an expedition to explore what lay south of the equator and see if a great southern continent did really exist was first touted by Richard Grenville (1542-1591 CE) in 1574 CE. Grenville had failed to find backing for his plan as the search for the Northwest Passage took precedence, but in 1577 CE, Elizabeth turned to Drake for just such a southern voyage. Secretly, the queen invested in the project and instructed Drake not only to explore new trade possibilities but also to take whatever treasure he came across from the Spanish. Drake was given command of a fleet of five ships: Christopher, Elizabeth, Marigold, Pelican, and Swan. Mid-voyage the 140-ton Pelican would be renamed the Golden Hind in honour of Drake's principal patron, Sir Christopher Hatton, who had that device on his family coat of arms.
On 13 December 1577 CE Drake set off with 164 men on what would turn out to be an extraordinary voyage; 60 of the men would never see England again. The fleet sailed down the coast of northwest Africa and then across the Atlantic route to reach the eastern coast of South America in April 1578 CE. At the southern tip of South America, the Christopher and Swan turned back while the other ships pressed on through the Straits of Magellan in August. Heavy storms in September meant that the Golden Hind continued the expedition alone to sail up the west coast of South America. Spanish settlements like Valparaiso were taken completely by surprise when an English warship showed up in Pacific waters. Several treasure ships were captured, including in March 1579 CE the Nuestra Senora de la Concepćion (aka Cacafuego) off the coast of Peru with its massive cargo of silver.
Drake then sailed on up the west coast of North America in a failed search for the fabled Northwest Passage that was believed to provide an easy route to Asia. After he explored northern waters, the adventurer went back south and anchored near what is today San Francisco in June. There he claimed the land for his queen, naming it 'New Albion' (a claim never subsequently pursued). Drake then turned westwards, swept across the Pacific by the trade winds. In October he reached the East Indies (Indonesia and Philippines) and took on board six tons of valuable cloves. Repairs were made to the ship on Java and in March 1580 CE the Golden Hind crossed the Indian Ocean. In June Drake rounded the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa and sailed up the Atlantic coast of that continent to reach Plymouth on 26 September 1580 CE. It was only the second circumnavigation of the world after Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480-1521 CE) in 1522 CE. More important at the time was the treasure Drake had been steadily filling his ship with along the way. The estimated value of the loot was perhaps £600,000 (the entire annual revenue of England) and the queen received a handsome £160,000.
On 4 April 1581 CE, Elizabeth boarded the Golden Hind docked at Deptford on the Thames and, pleased with the treasures he had captured and the glory of his navigational achievements, knighted Drake on its decks. This outraged the Spanish ambassador who regarded Drake as nothing more than a pirate. Drake had become Elizabeth's favourite sea dog, a feeling that must have been mutual as the mariner often gave his queen lavish gifts such as a gold crown embedded with emeralds and a diamond-studded cross in 1581 CE. The queen, too, gave gifts, notably a silver cup in the form of a globe which encased a coconut Drake had brought back from his voyage. Another present was the now-famous Armada Jewel by Nicholas Hilliard in 1588 CE, a gold and gem-encrusted brooch carrying two portraits of the queen. Drake, in terms of cash in his pocket, was probably then the richest man in England and he splashed out on a portfolio of properties which included Buckland Abbey. He acquired, too, a coat of arms (a ship atop a globe with two silver stars intersected by a wavy horizontal line or fess). His official motto became Sic Parvis Magna or 'Greatness from Small beginnings'.
1580s CE: More Privateering
In 1585 CE Drake sailed with a fleet of nearly 30 ships and 2,000 men to raid the Spanish West Indies. He freed many English ships that Philip had embargoed in Spanish-controlled ports that year and captured such a haul of Spanish arms it caused havoc with Philip's supplies meant for his Armada (see below). The important ports of San Domingo on Cuba and Cartagena, the capital of the Spanish Main, were sacked. The loot gained was not so great but Drake showed how vulnerable the Spanish Empire was to naval attacks. In the next couple of years, Drake roamed far and wide, making more raids on Spanish wealth in the Cape Verde islands, Colombia, Florida, and Hispaniola. Ships were captured and settlements torched as Elizabeth's number one 'sea dog' went to work on the Spanish Empire.
1587: The Raid on Cadiz
Philip's interest in England went back to 1553 CE when his father, King Charles V of Spain (r. 1516-1556 CE) arranged for him to marry Mary I of England (r. 1553-1558 CE). Mary's successor, Elizabeth I continued the Protestant English Reformation, and the Pope excommunicated the queen for heresy in February 1570 CE. Elizabeth was also active abroad, sending money and arms to the Huguenots in France and financial aid to Protestants in the Netherlands who were protesting against Philip's rule.
The already tense relationship between England and Spain was made worse by Elizabeth's privateers. Capturing ships on the high seas or attacking colonial settlements was one thing but when Drake went a big step further towards full-on warfare and attacked Cadiz in April 1587 CE, relations plummeted to a new low. Cadiz was Spain's most important Atlantic port and Drake 'singed the king's beard' in his audacious attack. Sailing straight into the harbour and ignoring the cannons fired from the fortress, Drake's fleet destroyed 31 ships, captured another six, and again destroyed valuable supplies destined for Spain's Armada. After three days, Drake sailed on to Cape Vincent in southern Portugal and spent another two months causing havoc among Spain's ships along the coast and as far out as the Azores. Philip's long-planned invasion, what he called the 'Enterprise of England', was delayed by these setbacks, but he remained determined to conquer his number one enemy. Philip even gained the blessing and financial aid of Pope Sixtus V (r. 1585-90 CE) as the king presented himself as the Sword of the Catholic Church.
1588 AD: The Spanish Armada
The Spanish Armada, a fleet of 132 ships packed with 17,000 soldiers and 7,000 mariners, sailed from Lisbon (then under Philip's rule) on 30 May 1588 CE. It was intended that the Armada would establish dominance of the English Channel and then reach the Netherlands in order to pick up a second army led by the Duke of Parma, Philip's regent there. The fleet would then sail to invade England.
The Armada was commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia. England's fleet of around 130 ships was commanded by Lord Howard of Effingham with Drake as vice-admiral in his flagship the Revenge. The large Spanish galleons - designed for transportation, not warfare - were much less nimble than the smaller English ships which would, it was hoped, be able to dash in and out of the Spanish fleet and cause havoc. In addition, the 20 English royal galleons were better armed than the best of the Spanish ships and their guns could fire further.
The Spanish galleons were spotted off the coast of Cornwall on 19 July. Fire beacons spread the news along the coast and, on 20 July, the English fleet sailed from its homeport of Plymouth to meet the invaders. There were about 50 fighting ships on each side and there would be three separate engagements as the navies battled each other and storms. These battles, spread over the next week, were off Eddystone, Portland, and the Isle of Wight. The English ships could not take advantage of their greater manoeuvrability or the superior knowledge of tides of their commanders as the Spanish adopted their familiar disciplined line-abreast formation - a giant crescent. The English did manage to fire heavily at the wings of the Armada, 'plucking their feathers' as Lord Howard put it (Guy, 341). Although the English fleet outgunned the Spanish, both sides found themselves with insufficient ammunition, and commanders were obliged to be frugal with their volleys. The Spanish prudently retreated to a safe anchorage off Calais on 27 July having lost only two ships and suffered only superficial damage to many others.
Six fireships, organised by Drake, were then sent into the Spanish fleet on the night of 28 July. Strong winds blew the unmanned ships into the anchored fleet and quickly spread the devastating flames amongst them. The English ships moved in for the kill off Gravelines off the Flemish coast on 29 July. The Spanish broke formation still having lost only four ships but many more were now badly damaged by cannon shots and many anchors had been hastily cut in order to escape the fire ships. The loss of these anchors would be a serious hindrance to the manoeuvrability of the Spanish ships over the coming weeks. The Armada was then hit by the increasingly strong winds from the south-west. The Duke of Medina Sidonia, unable to get close enough to grapple and board with the flighty English ships and with Parma's force blockaded in by Dutch ships, ordered a retreat and abandonment of the invasion.
Drake reported victory from Revenge:
God hath given us so good a day in forcing the enemy so far to leeward as I hope in God that the Prince of Parma and the Duke of Sidonia shall not shake hands these few days; and whensoever they shall meet, I believe neither of them will greatly rejoice of this day's service.
(Ferriby, 226)
The Armada was forced by the continuing storm to sail around the tempestuous shores of Scotland and Ireland in order to return home. A bad storm hit them in the Atlantic, and only half of the original Armada made it back to Spain in October 1588 CE. Philip did not give up despite the disaster of his great 'Enterprise', and he tried twice more to invade England (1596 and 1597 CE), but each time his fleet was repelled by storms.
1589 AD: The Portugal Expedition
An expedition was formed to attack both Philip's New World treasure ships and his remaining Armada ships in port in Spain in April 1589 CE. A mix of private and official ships and men, this expedition is sometimes called the Don Antonio Expedition as one of its leaders' aims was to capture Lisbon and restore Don Antonio to the Portuguese throne (he had been deposed by Philip in 1580 CE). Other names for this attack include the English Armada and the Drake-Norris Expedition, after Sir John Norris (c. 1547-1597 CE) who co-led the expedition with Drake. Elizabeth invested £49,000 pounds in the project but she would be sorely disappointed in the measly return.
The English fleet was impressive with 130-150 ships and at least 15,000 men. However, the expedition had confused aims and so, in the end, achieved little. Corunna was attacked but only partially captured and 2,000 Englishmen returned to England with their loot. Meanwhile, 50 Spanish ships idle in other Spanish ports were ignored. Lisbon was attacked - contrary to Elizabeth's instructions - but the Portuguese did not rise in support of Don Antonio as hoped for and the city resisted capture. Lacking sufficient supplies to continue and having missed the treasure ships coming through the Azores, the expedition retreated ignominiously back to England. With huge casualties, mostly from disease, the whole episode seriously damaged Drake's reputation and clearly showed that mixing private and state control of an expeditionary force only led to confusion and disunity. The queen was outraged with Drake at the attack on Lisbon, the complete failure to attack the Armada ships and the poor financial return. The old mariner thus became a landlubber and served as both the mayor of Plymouth and its Member of Parliament.
1595 AD: Final Expedition & Death
In August 1595 CE Drake showed the old sea dog still had some bite when he led an expedition alongside John Hawkins to the Caribbean. Men flocked to the docks at Plymouth, eager to sign up and sail with the greatest mariner England had so far produced. The objective of the 27-ship fleet was to attack the Isthmus of Panama where the Spanish silver caravans passed through. Alas, Hawkins died on the voyage out and then the attack on Porto Rico was a complete failure. The Spanish defences had been warned of the English fleet's arrival, giving them time to install extra cannons, and this intelligence also meant no treasure ships risked the area. Neither could any riches be found in the settlements Drake attacked. Beset with unfavourable winds as disease ran through the crews, Drake, then around 55 years of age, himself died of dysentery at Porto Bello on 28 January 1596 CE. Sir Francis Drake was, fittingly, buried at sea in a lead coffin, but the Panama expedition was a damp squib of an end to a glittering maritime career.
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History Of Warfare - The Spanish Armada - Full Documentary
History Of Warfare - The Spanish Armada - Full DocumentaryThe Spanish Armada was an enormous 130-ship naval fleet dispatched by Spain in 1588 as part of a pl...
History Of Warfare - The Spanish Armada - Full Documentary
The Spanish Armada was an enormous 130-ship naval fleet dispatched by Spain in 1588 as part of a planned invasion of England. Following years of hostilities between Spain and England, King Philip II of Spain assembled the flotilla in the hope of removing Protestant Queen Elizabeth I from the throne and restoring the Roman Catholic faith in England. Spain’s “Invincible Armada” set sail that May, but it was outfoxed by the English, then battered by storms while limping back to Spain with at least a third of its ships sunk or damaged. The defeat of the Spanish Armada led to a surge of national pride in England and was one of the most significant chapters of the Anglo-Spanish War.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26_I0wwsWOY
Images:
1. The mighty display of the Spanish armada in 1588 by Jan Luyken
2. “Ramming and boarding” tactic of naval warfare
3. Storm in the Sea by Peter Mulier II.
4. The Spanish Armada off the English coast, by Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen
Background from {[https://fiveminutehistory.com/10-surprising-facts-about-the-spanish-armada//]}
10 Surprising Facts About the Spanish Armada
On May 28, 1588, the Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon, Portugal, headed for England with 130 ships and 30,000 men.
Meaning literally “Great and Most Fortunate Navy”, the Spanish Armada’s strategic goal was to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I and put an end to Protestantism in England.
In so doing, Spain also hoped to stop English and Dutch privateering in the Spanish Netherlands.
Here’s our list of 10 surprising facts about the Spanish Armada.
1. The English fleet significantly outnumbered the Spanish Armada
It might be surprising to discover that the English had a lot more ships—200 ships to the 130 of the Spanish. But the Spanish threat lay in their firepower, which was 50% greater than the English.
2. No Spanish ships were lost to the English fire ships
Waiting for additional troops from the Duke of Parma’s army to join the invasion, the Spanish fleet lay at anchor off the Coast of Calais in northern France.
In a surprise attack, the English sent eight fire ships downwind into the closely anchored Spanish vessels.
Although no Spanish ships were actually lost to fire, it caused them to scatter and break their defensive “crescent formation”, allowing the English to attack.
3. The Spanish had to “cut and run” to save their fleet
Many of the Spanish ships had to “cut and run” to escape the English fire ships at Calais. Meaning to make a cowardly retreat, the phrase “cut and run” that we use today originates from the navy and in literal terms means to cut the anchor line and sail downwind, leaving the anchor behind.
4. The Battle of Gravelines changed the future of naval warfare
After the Spanish ships had scattered, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, commanding the Armada tried to regroup at a small port between Calais and Dunkirk called Gravelines in what is now Northern France.
The English had observed the Spanish tactics of firing guns once and then for the marines onboard to jump to the rigging to prepare for boarding the enemy ships. Knowing this, the English ships provoked Spanish fire while staying out of range, then moved in for the kill with repeated broadsides at close range.
In this scenario, many experienced Spanish gunners were killed, but the regular marines did not know how to operate the big guns effectively.
Up until this time, gunnery had played a supporting role to ramming and boarding in naval battles. The English tactic of standing off and firing decisive broadsides proved the more effective and would see England’s Royal Navy become the dominant military force for the next 300 years.
5. The Gulf Stream played a big part in the fate of the Armada
When the Armada had sailed around Scotland in 1588 and entered the North Atlantic, they thought they were sailing west into the safety of the open seas. But the strong Gulf Stream ocean current pushed the ships northeast.
This meant that when they turned to sail south, they were too close to the shore and were driven onto the rocks off the coast of Ireland in strong westerly winds, becoming shipwrecked. Without their anchors, they were unable to secure a position and wait out the stormy weather.
6. The “Little Ice Age” may have helped doom the Spanish fleet
The year of the Spanish Armada in 1588 was marked by unusually strong North Atlantic storms, a characteristic of the “Little Ice Age” which was a period of cooling in the northern hemisphere causing unusually bad weather. As a result, the cold and stormy weather caused significantly more loss of life than did direct combat.
7. Of the 130 Spanish ships sent against England, only 67 survived the attack
The literal meaning of Spanish Armada is “great and most fortunate navy”. But of the 130 ships and some 30,000 men setting sail from Spain, only 67 ships and 10,000 men survived to tell the tale. An enraged Philip II of Spain declared,
I sent the Armada against men, not God’s winds and waves.
8. The English launched a counter Armada which also failed
A fleet of warships was sent to Spain by Queen Elizabeth I in 1589 to try to capitalize on the advantage England had after the loss of the Spanish Armada. The campaign resulted in the defeat of the English fleet with heavy loss of lives and ships. The Spanish victory once again gave Philip II’s navy the upper hand against England, with Spain ruling the waves for another decade.
When English forces attacked the city of Corunna as part of the English counter Armada in May 1589, Maria Pita was helping her husband defend the city walls. A crossbow bolt hit her husband in the head, killing him. Maria grabbed a spear and killed an English soldier scaling the wall. She appeared on the heights of the wall shouting: Quen teña honra, que me siga (“Whoever has honor, follow me!”), rallying the Spanish troops and driving back the English.
9. A 12th-century Abbey’s barn held 397 Spanish sailors prisoner
Torre Abbey’s barn was originally built to store grain, hay and other farm produce as payment of taxes to the Abbey. But in 1588, the barn in Torquay, Devon, served another purpose. It held 397 Spanish prisoners captured by Sir Francis Drake, for fourteen days and became known as the “Spanish barn”.
Having been dissolved by Henry VIII some 50 years earlier, the Abbey church was ruined but several major outbuildings were left intact.
Today, it is the best preserved medieval monastery in Devon and Cornwall.
Resulting from an extensive remodeling in the 18th century, a Georgian manor house occupies part of the site and houses a permanent art exhibition.
10. The English Victory was acclaimed as the greatest since Agincourt
He came, he saw, he fled.
Used by the English as a play on the words of Julius Caesar to refer to a swift, conclusive victory, the Armada had been anything but conclusive for Spain.
But this was one of England’s greatest moments.
Spain would send two further armadas against England in 1596 and 1597, and both would be scattered by storms and fail.
Britain would face the real danger from invasion again during both the Napoleonic Wars and the Second World War.
During the Spanish Armada, Britain proved that superior naval tactics, coupled with the British weather are an invincible combination!
“My ass in a bandbox”. British cartoon mocking Napoléon’s invasion plans against England'
FYI LTC John Shaw 1SG Steven ImermanGySgt Gary CordeiroSMSgt Tom BurnsSgt Jim BelanusSGM Bill FrazerSGT Randell Rose[SGT Denny EspinosaA1C Riley SandersSSgt Clare MaySSG Robert WebsterCSM Chuck StaffordPFC Craig KarshnerSFC Bernard WalkoSPC Nancy GreenePVT Mark Zehner Lt Col Charlie BrownSP5 Dennis Loberger SSG Robert Mark Odom 1LT Peter Duston
The Spanish Armada was an enormous 130-ship naval fleet dispatched by Spain in 1588 as part of a planned invasion of England. Following years of hostilities between Spain and England, King Philip II of Spain assembled the flotilla in the hope of removing Protestant Queen Elizabeth I from the throne and restoring the Roman Catholic faith in England. Spain’s “Invincible Armada” set sail that May, but it was outfoxed by the English, then battered by storms while limping back to Spain with at least a third of its ships sunk or damaged. The defeat of the Spanish Armada led to a surge of national pride in England and was one of the most significant chapters of the Anglo-Spanish War.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26_I0wwsWOY
Images:
1. The mighty display of the Spanish armada in 1588 by Jan Luyken
2. “Ramming and boarding” tactic of naval warfare
3. Storm in the Sea by Peter Mulier II.
4. The Spanish Armada off the English coast, by Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen
Background from {[https://fiveminutehistory.com/10-surprising-facts-about-the-spanish-armada//]}
10 Surprising Facts About the Spanish Armada
On May 28, 1588, the Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon, Portugal, headed for England with 130 ships and 30,000 men.
Meaning literally “Great and Most Fortunate Navy”, the Spanish Armada’s strategic goal was to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I and put an end to Protestantism in England.
In so doing, Spain also hoped to stop English and Dutch privateering in the Spanish Netherlands.
Here’s our list of 10 surprising facts about the Spanish Armada.
1. The English fleet significantly outnumbered the Spanish Armada
It might be surprising to discover that the English had a lot more ships—200 ships to the 130 of the Spanish. But the Spanish threat lay in their firepower, which was 50% greater than the English.
2. No Spanish ships were lost to the English fire ships
Waiting for additional troops from the Duke of Parma’s army to join the invasion, the Spanish fleet lay at anchor off the Coast of Calais in northern France.
In a surprise attack, the English sent eight fire ships downwind into the closely anchored Spanish vessels.
Although no Spanish ships were actually lost to fire, it caused them to scatter and break their defensive “crescent formation”, allowing the English to attack.
3. The Spanish had to “cut and run” to save their fleet
Many of the Spanish ships had to “cut and run” to escape the English fire ships at Calais. Meaning to make a cowardly retreat, the phrase “cut and run” that we use today originates from the navy and in literal terms means to cut the anchor line and sail downwind, leaving the anchor behind.
4. The Battle of Gravelines changed the future of naval warfare
After the Spanish ships had scattered, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, commanding the Armada tried to regroup at a small port between Calais and Dunkirk called Gravelines in what is now Northern France.
The English had observed the Spanish tactics of firing guns once and then for the marines onboard to jump to the rigging to prepare for boarding the enemy ships. Knowing this, the English ships provoked Spanish fire while staying out of range, then moved in for the kill with repeated broadsides at close range.
In this scenario, many experienced Spanish gunners were killed, but the regular marines did not know how to operate the big guns effectively.
Up until this time, gunnery had played a supporting role to ramming and boarding in naval battles. The English tactic of standing off and firing decisive broadsides proved the more effective and would see England’s Royal Navy become the dominant military force for the next 300 years.
5. The Gulf Stream played a big part in the fate of the Armada
When the Armada had sailed around Scotland in 1588 and entered the North Atlantic, they thought they were sailing west into the safety of the open seas. But the strong Gulf Stream ocean current pushed the ships northeast.
This meant that when they turned to sail south, they were too close to the shore and were driven onto the rocks off the coast of Ireland in strong westerly winds, becoming shipwrecked. Without their anchors, they were unable to secure a position and wait out the stormy weather.
6. The “Little Ice Age” may have helped doom the Spanish fleet
The year of the Spanish Armada in 1588 was marked by unusually strong North Atlantic storms, a characteristic of the “Little Ice Age” which was a period of cooling in the northern hemisphere causing unusually bad weather. As a result, the cold and stormy weather caused significantly more loss of life than did direct combat.
7. Of the 130 Spanish ships sent against England, only 67 survived the attack
The literal meaning of Spanish Armada is “great and most fortunate navy”. But of the 130 ships and some 30,000 men setting sail from Spain, only 67 ships and 10,000 men survived to tell the tale. An enraged Philip II of Spain declared,
I sent the Armada against men, not God’s winds and waves.
8. The English launched a counter Armada which also failed
A fleet of warships was sent to Spain by Queen Elizabeth I in 1589 to try to capitalize on the advantage England had after the loss of the Spanish Armada. The campaign resulted in the defeat of the English fleet with heavy loss of lives and ships. The Spanish victory once again gave Philip II’s navy the upper hand against England, with Spain ruling the waves for another decade.
When English forces attacked the city of Corunna as part of the English counter Armada in May 1589, Maria Pita was helping her husband defend the city walls. A crossbow bolt hit her husband in the head, killing him. Maria grabbed a spear and killed an English soldier scaling the wall. She appeared on the heights of the wall shouting: Quen teña honra, que me siga (“Whoever has honor, follow me!”), rallying the Spanish troops and driving back the English.
9. A 12th-century Abbey’s barn held 397 Spanish sailors prisoner
Torre Abbey’s barn was originally built to store grain, hay and other farm produce as payment of taxes to the Abbey. But in 1588, the barn in Torquay, Devon, served another purpose. It held 397 Spanish prisoners captured by Sir Francis Drake, for fourteen days and became known as the “Spanish barn”.
Having been dissolved by Henry VIII some 50 years earlier, the Abbey church was ruined but several major outbuildings were left intact.
Today, it is the best preserved medieval monastery in Devon and Cornwall.
Resulting from an extensive remodeling in the 18th century, a Georgian manor house occupies part of the site and houses a permanent art exhibition.
10. The English Victory was acclaimed as the greatest since Agincourt
He came, he saw, he fled.
Used by the English as a play on the words of Julius Caesar to refer to a swift, conclusive victory, the Armada had been anything but conclusive for Spain.
But this was one of England’s greatest moments.
Spain would send two further armadas against England in 1596 and 1597, and both would be scattered by storms and fail.
Britain would face the real danger from invasion again during both the Napoleonic Wars and the Second World War.
During the Spanish Armada, Britain proved that superior naval tactics, coupled with the British weather are an invincible combination!
“My ass in a bandbox”. British cartoon mocking Napoléon’s invasion plans against England'
FYI LTC John Shaw 1SG Steven ImermanGySgt Gary CordeiroSMSgt Tom BurnsSgt Jim BelanusSGM Bill FrazerSGT Randell Rose[SGT Denny EspinosaA1C Riley SandersSSgt Clare MaySSG Robert WebsterCSM Chuck StaffordPFC Craig KarshnerSFC Bernard WalkoSPC Nancy GreenePVT Mark Zehner Lt Col Charlie BrownSP5 Dennis Loberger SSG Robert Mark Odom 1LT Peter Duston
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Sir Francis Drake:Drake: Pirate, Hero vesves Adventurer
Sir Francis Drake was one of the greatest privateers of all time, became the first Englishman to sail around the world, helped lead the Defeat of The Spanish...
Sir Francis Drake: Drake: Pirate, Hero versus Adventurer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOZidsh6iI8
Images:
1. 1591 portrait, also by Gheeraerts the Younger, wearing the 'Drake Jewel' suspended from a strap, and displaying new arms
2. Sir Francis Drake by Robert Sargent Austin, printed by The Baynard Press, probably after Jodocus Hondius chromolithograph, published 1943.
3. The Armada Jewel by Kotomi
4. A Model of the Golden Hind by Alex Butterfield
Background from {[https://spartacus-educational.com/TUDdrakeF.htm]}
Francis Drake
Francis Drake, eldest of twelve children, was born in Crowndale, near Taverstock, in about 1540. His father, Edmund Drake (1518–1585), was a passionate supporter of Martin Luther and during the Prayer Book Rebellion of 1548, he was forced to flee with his family to Chatham in Kent.
Drake was apprenticed to a captain trading between the Thames and the Channel ports. In 1563 he joined his cousin, John Hawkins, on a voyage to Africa. The two men started capturing people in Sierra Leone and selling them as slaves to Spanish settlers in the Caribbean. As it was illegal for the settlers to buy from foreigners, Hawkins and Drake soon came into conflict with the Spanish authorities.
His first command was in 1567 when he took part in a successful attack on Spanish ships in the port of San Juan de Ulua. He returned to Plymouth with gold and silver worth over £40,000. Drake, a committed Protestant, saw himself as an instrument of God in his crusade against Philip II and the Spanish Empire. This was followed by voyages to the West Indies and in 1572 he seized gold and silver in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean.
Drake was introduced to Sir Francis Walsingham, and this association led to a plan for Drake to take a fleet into the Pacific and raid Spanish settlements there. Investors included Walsingham, Elizabeth I, Christopher Hatton, John Wynter and John Hawkins. Drake's ship was the 150 ton Pelican, double-planked, lead-sheathed, and armed with 18 guns. Wynter contributed his own 80 ton Elizabeth, which carried 11 guns. Another 12 guns were distributed among the 50 ton Marigold, the 30 ton Swan, and the 15 ton Benedict.
The journey began in November 1577. By the end of the following month six Spanish and Portuguese ships were taken, then looted and eventually set free. Drake also abandoned the Benedict and took one of the Spanish vessels, which was renamed Christopher. The following month they captured a Portuguese merchant vessel, Santa Maria. The commander was Nuño de Silva, who knew the coast of South America. Drake took Silva to serve as pilot of his own fleet.
In June 1578 the fleet arrived at Puerto San Julián, on the southern coast of Argentina, where Drake put Thomas Doughty on trial for mutiny. He was beheaded on 2nd July 1578. Drake feared that others would rebel and so he called the captains and crew together, then announced that all the officers, who held their appointments from the owners of the ships, were relieved of command. He then reappointed them or most of them as officers responsible only to him.
When Drake finally led his fleet through the strait and into the Pacific Ocean, Captain John Wynter took advantage of a storm to leave Drake and took his ship back to England. The Marigold, commanded by Doughty's friend John Thomas, also disappeared, and the Mary was abandoned at Puerto San Julián. Drake, who was left with only the Pelican, renamed it The Golden Hind. Drake now sailed up the Pacific coast. At Valparaíso he took a ship carrying 200,000 pesos in gold, then went ashore and raided the church and the warehouses.
On 5th February 1579 he arrived at Arica on the north coast of Chile and captured a merchant ship carrying thirty or forty bars of silver. As a result of deaths in battles and sickness, Drake's crew to little more than seventy men. Only thirty of them were fit to fight, but that was enough, since the merchant ships Drake took were unarmed. On 1st March he captured the richest ship of all, Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, carrying valuable cargo and 362,000 pesos in silver and gold.
Sailing along the coast of Mexico, Drake took a few more ships and raided several more ports. However, The Golden Hinde was leaking badly and needed to be careened. On 17th June 1579 Drake landed in a bay on the the coast of California. According to Drake's biographer, Harry Kelsey: "Sixteenth-century accounts and maps can be interpreted to show that he stopped anywhere between the southern tip of Baja California and latitude 48° N." Most historians believe that Drake had stopped in a bay on the Point Reyes peninsula (now known as Drake's Bay).
Father Francis Fletcher, the chaplin to the expedition, later wrote in The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake (1628): "Drake's ship entered a convenient and fit harbour." Drake has been reported as saying: "By God's Will we hath been sent into this fair and good bay. Let us all, with one consent, both high and low, magnify and praise our most gracious and merciful God for his infinite and unspeakable goodness toward us. By God's faith hath we endured such great storms and such hardships as we have seen in these uncharted seas. To be delivered here of His safekeeping, I protest we are not worthy of such mercy."
Francis Drake's cousin, John Drake, argued that "Drake... landed and built huts and remained a month and a half, caulking his vessel. The victuals they found were mussels and sea-lions." A local group of Miwok brought him a present of a bunch of feathers and tobacco leaves in a basket. John Sugden, the author of Sir Francis Drake (1990) has argued: "It appeared to the English that the Indians regarded them as gods; they were impervious to English attempts to explain who they were, but at least they remained friendly, and when they had received clothing and other gifts the natives returned happily and noisily to their village." John Drake claims that when they "saw the Englishmen they wept and scratched their faces with their nails until they drew blood, as though this was an act of homage or adoration."
Francis Fletcher suggests that the local people "dispersed themselves into the country, to make known the news." On 26th June a large group of Miwok arrived at Drake's camp. The chief, wearing a head-dress and a skin cape, was followed by painted warriors, each one of whom bore a gift. At the rear of the cavalcade were women and children. A man holding a sceptre of black wood and wearing a chain of clam shells, stepped forward and made a thirty minute speech. While this was going on the women indulged in a strange ritual of self-mutilation that included scratching their faces until the blood flowed. Robert F. Heizer has argued in Elizabethan California (1974) that self-mutilation is associated with mourning and that the Miwok probably thought the British sailors were spirits returning from the dead. However, Drake took the view that they were proclaiming him king of the Miwok tribe.
John Drake pointed out in a statement he made in 1582: "During that time (June, 1579) many Indians came there and when they saw the Englishmen they wept and scratched their faces with their nails until they drew blood, as though this was an act of homage or adoration. By signs Captain Francis Drake told them not to do that, for the Englishmen were not God. These people were peaceful and did no harm to the English, but gave them no food. They are of the colour of the Indians here (peru) and are comely. They carry bows and arrows and go naked. The climate is temperate, more cold than hot. To all appearance it is a very good country."
Drake now claimed the land for Queen Elizabeth. He named it Nova Albion "in respect of the white banks and cliffs, which lie towards the sea". Apparently, the cliffs of Point Reyes reminded Drake of the coast at Dover. Drake had a post set up with a plate bearing his name and the date of arriving in California.
When the The Golden Hinde left on 23rd July, the Miwok exhibited great distress and ran to the hill-tops to keep the ship in sight for as long as possible. Drake later wrote that during his time in California, "not withstanding it was the height of summer, we were continually visited with nipping cold, neither could we at any time within a fourteen day period find the air so clear as to be able to take height the sun or stars."
Drake then sailed along the California coast but failed to see the Golden Gate and San Francisco bay beyond. This is probably because the area is often shrouded in fog during the summer. The heat in the California Central Valley causes the air there to rise. This can create strong winds which pull cool moist air in from over the ocean through the break in the hills, causing a stream of dense fog to enter the bay.
At Java Drake and his crew loaded plenty of food they sailed through the Indian Ocean, and around the Cape of Good Hope. The provisions lasted until 20 July 1580 when they reached Sierra Leone on the African coast. When Drake arrived in Plymouth on 26th September 1580, he became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world. Drake return to England as a very wealthy man and he was able to purchase the Buckland Abbey estate. In 1581 Queen Elizabeth knighted Drake and later that year he was elected to the House of Commons.
Drake carried out a successful raid of the Spanish Caribbean (1584-85) and managed to rescue the remaining English colonists in Virginia and returned to Portsmouth in 1586. He also led the expedition which wrecked the Spanish fleet at Cadiz in 1587.
In July 1588 131 ships in the Spanish Armada left for England. The large Spanish galleons were filled with 17,000 well-armed soldiers and 180 Catholic priests. The plan was to sail to Dunkirk in France where the Armada would pick up another 16,000 Spanish soldiers that were under the command of Alessandro Farnese, the Duke of Parma.
On hearing the news Charles Howard of Effingham, Lord High Admiral, held a council-of-war. Lord Howard decided to divide the fleet into squadrons. Francis Drake, John Hawkins and Martin Frobisher were chosen as the three other commanders of the fleet. Howard went in his flagship, the Ark Royal (800 tons and a crew of 250). Frobisher was given command of the largest ship in the fleet, the Triumph (1,110 tons and a crew of 500 men) whereas Drake was the captain of the Revenge (500 tons and a crew of 250) and Hawkins was aboard the Victory (800 tons and a crew of 250).
Lord Howard decided that the Spanish Armada should be attacked at both ends of the crescent. The Ark Royal attacked the right wing and the Revenge and the Triumph attacked Juan Martinez, de Recalde, commander of the Biscayan squadron on the left. Recalde on board the San Juan de Portugal decided to come out and fight the English ships. He was followed by Gran Grin and the two ships soon got into trouble and had to be rescued by the Duke of Medina Sidonia on board the San Martin.
At the end of the first day's fighting, only one ship was sunk. This was Spain's San Salvador when a tremendous explosion tore out its stern castle and killed 200 members of the crew. It was later discovered that a gunner's carelessness resulted in a spark reaching the gunpowder in the rear hold. The following morning Francis Drake and the crew of Revenge captured the crippled Rosario. This included Admiral Pedro de Valdes and all his crew. Drake also found 55,000 gold ducats on board.
That afternoon Medina Sidonia announced that if any Spanish ship broke formation the captain would be hanged immediately. He also told his captains that they must maintain a tight formation in order to prevent further attacks from the English ships. This decision meant that they could only move towards Dunkirk at the speed of the slowest ship.
Constantly harassed by the English ships the slow moving Spanish Armada eventually reached Calais without further loss. The English fleet now dropped anchor half a mile away. Soon afterwards they were joined by Lord Henry Seymour and his squadron of ships that had been controlling the seas off Dunkirk. This increased the English fleet by a third and was now similar in size to that of the Spanish fleet. Drake wrote to Seymour: "The fleet of Spaniards is somewhat above a hundred sails, many great ships... as far as we perceive they are determined to sell their lives with blows."
The Duke of Medina Sidonia now sent a message to the Duke of Parma in Dunkirk: "I am anchored here two leagues from Calais with the enemy's fleet on my flank. They can cannonade me whenever they like, and I shall be unable to do them much harm in return." He asked Parma to send fifty ships to help him break out of Calais. Parma was unable to help as he had less than twenty ships and most of those were not yet ready to sail.
That night Medina Sidonia sent out a warning to his captains that he expected a fire-ship attack. This tactic had been successfully used by Francis Drake in Cadiz in 1587 and the fresh breeze blowing steadily from the English fleet towards Calais, meant the conditions were ideal for such an attack. He warned his captains not to panic and not to head out to the open sea. Medina Sidonia confidently told them that his patrol boats would be able to protect them from any fire-ship attack that took place.
Medina Sidonia had rightly calculated what would happen. Francis Drake and Charles Howard were already organizing the fire-ship attack. It was decided to use eight fairly large ships for the operation. All the masts and rigging were tarred and all the guns were left on board and were primed to go off of their own accord when the fire reached them. John Young, one of Drake's men, was put in charge of the fire-ships.
Soon after midnight the eight ships were set fire to and sent on their way. The Spaniards were shocked by the size of the vessels. Nor had they expected the English to use as many as eight ships. The Spanish patrol ships were unable to act fast enough to deal with the problem. The Spanish captains also began to panic when the guns began exploding. They believed that the English were using hell-burners (ships crammed with gunpowder). This tactic had been used against the Spanish in 1585 during the siege of Antwerp when over a thousand men had been killed by exploding ships.
The fire-ships did not in fact cause any material damage to the Spanish ships at all. They drifted until they reached the beach where they continued to burn until the fire reached the water line. Medina Sidonia, on board the San Martin, had remained near his original anchorage. However, only a few captains had followed his orders and the vast majority had broken formation and sailed into the open sea.
At first light Medina Sidonia and his six remaining ships left Calais and attempted to catch up with the 130 ships strung out eastwards towards the Dunkirk sandbanks. Some Spanish ships had already been reached by the English fleet and were under heavy attack. San Lorenzo, a ship carrying 312 oarsmen, 134 sailors and 235 soldiers, was stranded on the beach and was about to be taken by the English.
With their formation broken, the Spanish ships were easy targets for the English ships loaded with guns that could fire very large cannon balls. The Spanish captains tried to get their ships in close so that their soldiers could board the English vessels. However, the English ships were quicker than the Spanish galleons and were able to keep their distance.
The battle of Gravelines continued all day. One of the most exciting contests was between Francis Drake in the Revenge and Duke of Medina Sidonia in the San Martin. Drake's ship was hit several times before being replaced by Thomas Fenner in the Nonpareil and Edmund Sheffield in the White Bear, who continued the fight without success.
All over the area of sea between Gravelines and Dunkirk fights took place between English and Spanish ships. By late afternoon most ships were out of gunpowder. The Duke of Medina Sidonia was now forced to head north with what was left of the Spanish Armada. The English ships did not follow as Charles Howard of Effingham, Lord High Admiral, was convinced that most Spanish ships were so badly damaged they would probably sink before they reached a safe port. That evening Francis Drake wrote to a friend: "God hath given us so good a day in forcing the enemy so far to leeward, as I hope in God the Duke of Parma and the Duke of Sidonia shall not shake hands this few days".
After the Armada rounded Scotland it headed south for home. However, a strong gale drove many of the ships onto the Irish rocks. Thousands of Spaniards drowned and even those who reached land were often killed by English soldiers and settlers. Of the 25,000 men that had set out in the Armada, less than 10,000 arrived home safely.
Drake led a disastrous attack on Portugal in 1589. He returned to England and became mayor of Plymouth in 1593. He went on another exhibition to the Caribbean in 1595 and the following year died of dysentery at Porto Bello on 27th January 1596.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOZidsh6iI8
Images:
1. 1591 portrait, also by Gheeraerts the Younger, wearing the 'Drake Jewel' suspended from a strap, and displaying new arms
2. Sir Francis Drake by Robert Sargent Austin, printed by The Baynard Press, probably after Jodocus Hondius chromolithograph, published 1943.
3. The Armada Jewel by Kotomi
4. A Model of the Golden Hind by Alex Butterfield
Background from {[https://spartacus-educational.com/TUDdrakeF.htm]}
Francis Drake
Francis Drake, eldest of twelve children, was born in Crowndale, near Taverstock, in about 1540. His father, Edmund Drake (1518–1585), was a passionate supporter of Martin Luther and during the Prayer Book Rebellion of 1548, he was forced to flee with his family to Chatham in Kent.
Drake was apprenticed to a captain trading between the Thames and the Channel ports. In 1563 he joined his cousin, John Hawkins, on a voyage to Africa. The two men started capturing people in Sierra Leone and selling them as slaves to Spanish settlers in the Caribbean. As it was illegal for the settlers to buy from foreigners, Hawkins and Drake soon came into conflict with the Spanish authorities.
His first command was in 1567 when he took part in a successful attack on Spanish ships in the port of San Juan de Ulua. He returned to Plymouth with gold and silver worth over £40,000. Drake, a committed Protestant, saw himself as an instrument of God in his crusade against Philip II and the Spanish Empire. This was followed by voyages to the West Indies and in 1572 he seized gold and silver in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean.
Drake was introduced to Sir Francis Walsingham, and this association led to a plan for Drake to take a fleet into the Pacific and raid Spanish settlements there. Investors included Walsingham, Elizabeth I, Christopher Hatton, John Wynter and John Hawkins. Drake's ship was the 150 ton Pelican, double-planked, lead-sheathed, and armed with 18 guns. Wynter contributed his own 80 ton Elizabeth, which carried 11 guns. Another 12 guns were distributed among the 50 ton Marigold, the 30 ton Swan, and the 15 ton Benedict.
The journey began in November 1577. By the end of the following month six Spanish and Portuguese ships were taken, then looted and eventually set free. Drake also abandoned the Benedict and took one of the Spanish vessels, which was renamed Christopher. The following month they captured a Portuguese merchant vessel, Santa Maria. The commander was Nuño de Silva, who knew the coast of South America. Drake took Silva to serve as pilot of his own fleet.
In June 1578 the fleet arrived at Puerto San Julián, on the southern coast of Argentina, where Drake put Thomas Doughty on trial for mutiny. He was beheaded on 2nd July 1578. Drake feared that others would rebel and so he called the captains and crew together, then announced that all the officers, who held their appointments from the owners of the ships, were relieved of command. He then reappointed them or most of them as officers responsible only to him.
When Drake finally led his fleet through the strait and into the Pacific Ocean, Captain John Wynter took advantage of a storm to leave Drake and took his ship back to England. The Marigold, commanded by Doughty's friend John Thomas, also disappeared, and the Mary was abandoned at Puerto San Julián. Drake, who was left with only the Pelican, renamed it The Golden Hind. Drake now sailed up the Pacific coast. At Valparaíso he took a ship carrying 200,000 pesos in gold, then went ashore and raided the church and the warehouses.
On 5th February 1579 he arrived at Arica on the north coast of Chile and captured a merchant ship carrying thirty or forty bars of silver. As a result of deaths in battles and sickness, Drake's crew to little more than seventy men. Only thirty of them were fit to fight, but that was enough, since the merchant ships Drake took were unarmed. On 1st March he captured the richest ship of all, Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, carrying valuable cargo and 362,000 pesos in silver and gold.
Sailing along the coast of Mexico, Drake took a few more ships and raided several more ports. However, The Golden Hinde was leaking badly and needed to be careened. On 17th June 1579 Drake landed in a bay on the the coast of California. According to Drake's biographer, Harry Kelsey: "Sixteenth-century accounts and maps can be interpreted to show that he stopped anywhere between the southern tip of Baja California and latitude 48° N." Most historians believe that Drake had stopped in a bay on the Point Reyes peninsula (now known as Drake's Bay).
Father Francis Fletcher, the chaplin to the expedition, later wrote in The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake (1628): "Drake's ship entered a convenient and fit harbour." Drake has been reported as saying: "By God's Will we hath been sent into this fair and good bay. Let us all, with one consent, both high and low, magnify and praise our most gracious and merciful God for his infinite and unspeakable goodness toward us. By God's faith hath we endured such great storms and such hardships as we have seen in these uncharted seas. To be delivered here of His safekeeping, I protest we are not worthy of such mercy."
Francis Drake's cousin, John Drake, argued that "Drake... landed and built huts and remained a month and a half, caulking his vessel. The victuals they found were mussels and sea-lions." A local group of Miwok brought him a present of a bunch of feathers and tobacco leaves in a basket. John Sugden, the author of Sir Francis Drake (1990) has argued: "It appeared to the English that the Indians regarded them as gods; they were impervious to English attempts to explain who they were, but at least they remained friendly, and when they had received clothing and other gifts the natives returned happily and noisily to their village." John Drake claims that when they "saw the Englishmen they wept and scratched their faces with their nails until they drew blood, as though this was an act of homage or adoration."
Francis Fletcher suggests that the local people "dispersed themselves into the country, to make known the news." On 26th June a large group of Miwok arrived at Drake's camp. The chief, wearing a head-dress and a skin cape, was followed by painted warriors, each one of whom bore a gift. At the rear of the cavalcade were women and children. A man holding a sceptre of black wood and wearing a chain of clam shells, stepped forward and made a thirty minute speech. While this was going on the women indulged in a strange ritual of self-mutilation that included scratching their faces until the blood flowed. Robert F. Heizer has argued in Elizabethan California (1974) that self-mutilation is associated with mourning and that the Miwok probably thought the British sailors were spirits returning from the dead. However, Drake took the view that they were proclaiming him king of the Miwok tribe.
John Drake pointed out in a statement he made in 1582: "During that time (June, 1579) many Indians came there and when they saw the Englishmen they wept and scratched their faces with their nails until they drew blood, as though this was an act of homage or adoration. By signs Captain Francis Drake told them not to do that, for the Englishmen were not God. These people were peaceful and did no harm to the English, but gave them no food. They are of the colour of the Indians here (peru) and are comely. They carry bows and arrows and go naked. The climate is temperate, more cold than hot. To all appearance it is a very good country."
Drake now claimed the land for Queen Elizabeth. He named it Nova Albion "in respect of the white banks and cliffs, which lie towards the sea". Apparently, the cliffs of Point Reyes reminded Drake of the coast at Dover. Drake had a post set up with a plate bearing his name and the date of arriving in California.
When the The Golden Hinde left on 23rd July, the Miwok exhibited great distress and ran to the hill-tops to keep the ship in sight for as long as possible. Drake later wrote that during his time in California, "not withstanding it was the height of summer, we were continually visited with nipping cold, neither could we at any time within a fourteen day period find the air so clear as to be able to take height the sun or stars."
Drake then sailed along the California coast but failed to see the Golden Gate and San Francisco bay beyond. This is probably because the area is often shrouded in fog during the summer. The heat in the California Central Valley causes the air there to rise. This can create strong winds which pull cool moist air in from over the ocean through the break in the hills, causing a stream of dense fog to enter the bay.
At Java Drake and his crew loaded plenty of food they sailed through the Indian Ocean, and around the Cape of Good Hope. The provisions lasted until 20 July 1580 when they reached Sierra Leone on the African coast. When Drake arrived in Plymouth on 26th September 1580, he became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world. Drake return to England as a very wealthy man and he was able to purchase the Buckland Abbey estate. In 1581 Queen Elizabeth knighted Drake and later that year he was elected to the House of Commons.
Drake carried out a successful raid of the Spanish Caribbean (1584-85) and managed to rescue the remaining English colonists in Virginia and returned to Portsmouth in 1586. He also led the expedition which wrecked the Spanish fleet at Cadiz in 1587.
In July 1588 131 ships in the Spanish Armada left for England. The large Spanish galleons were filled with 17,000 well-armed soldiers and 180 Catholic priests. The plan was to sail to Dunkirk in France where the Armada would pick up another 16,000 Spanish soldiers that were under the command of Alessandro Farnese, the Duke of Parma.
On hearing the news Charles Howard of Effingham, Lord High Admiral, held a council-of-war. Lord Howard decided to divide the fleet into squadrons. Francis Drake, John Hawkins and Martin Frobisher were chosen as the three other commanders of the fleet. Howard went in his flagship, the Ark Royal (800 tons and a crew of 250). Frobisher was given command of the largest ship in the fleet, the Triumph (1,110 tons and a crew of 500 men) whereas Drake was the captain of the Revenge (500 tons and a crew of 250) and Hawkins was aboard the Victory (800 tons and a crew of 250).
Lord Howard decided that the Spanish Armada should be attacked at both ends of the crescent. The Ark Royal attacked the right wing and the Revenge and the Triumph attacked Juan Martinez, de Recalde, commander of the Biscayan squadron on the left. Recalde on board the San Juan de Portugal decided to come out and fight the English ships. He was followed by Gran Grin and the two ships soon got into trouble and had to be rescued by the Duke of Medina Sidonia on board the San Martin.
At the end of the first day's fighting, only one ship was sunk. This was Spain's San Salvador when a tremendous explosion tore out its stern castle and killed 200 members of the crew. It was later discovered that a gunner's carelessness resulted in a spark reaching the gunpowder in the rear hold. The following morning Francis Drake and the crew of Revenge captured the crippled Rosario. This included Admiral Pedro de Valdes and all his crew. Drake also found 55,000 gold ducats on board.
That afternoon Medina Sidonia announced that if any Spanish ship broke formation the captain would be hanged immediately. He also told his captains that they must maintain a tight formation in order to prevent further attacks from the English ships. This decision meant that they could only move towards Dunkirk at the speed of the slowest ship.
Constantly harassed by the English ships the slow moving Spanish Armada eventually reached Calais without further loss. The English fleet now dropped anchor half a mile away. Soon afterwards they were joined by Lord Henry Seymour and his squadron of ships that had been controlling the seas off Dunkirk. This increased the English fleet by a third and was now similar in size to that of the Spanish fleet. Drake wrote to Seymour: "The fleet of Spaniards is somewhat above a hundred sails, many great ships... as far as we perceive they are determined to sell their lives with blows."
The Duke of Medina Sidonia now sent a message to the Duke of Parma in Dunkirk: "I am anchored here two leagues from Calais with the enemy's fleet on my flank. They can cannonade me whenever they like, and I shall be unable to do them much harm in return." He asked Parma to send fifty ships to help him break out of Calais. Parma was unable to help as he had less than twenty ships and most of those were not yet ready to sail.
That night Medina Sidonia sent out a warning to his captains that he expected a fire-ship attack. This tactic had been successfully used by Francis Drake in Cadiz in 1587 and the fresh breeze blowing steadily from the English fleet towards Calais, meant the conditions were ideal for such an attack. He warned his captains not to panic and not to head out to the open sea. Medina Sidonia confidently told them that his patrol boats would be able to protect them from any fire-ship attack that took place.
Medina Sidonia had rightly calculated what would happen. Francis Drake and Charles Howard were already organizing the fire-ship attack. It was decided to use eight fairly large ships for the operation. All the masts and rigging were tarred and all the guns were left on board and were primed to go off of their own accord when the fire reached them. John Young, one of Drake's men, was put in charge of the fire-ships.
Soon after midnight the eight ships were set fire to and sent on their way. The Spaniards were shocked by the size of the vessels. Nor had they expected the English to use as many as eight ships. The Spanish patrol ships were unable to act fast enough to deal with the problem. The Spanish captains also began to panic when the guns began exploding. They believed that the English were using hell-burners (ships crammed with gunpowder). This tactic had been used against the Spanish in 1585 during the siege of Antwerp when over a thousand men had been killed by exploding ships.
The fire-ships did not in fact cause any material damage to the Spanish ships at all. They drifted until they reached the beach where they continued to burn until the fire reached the water line. Medina Sidonia, on board the San Martin, had remained near his original anchorage. However, only a few captains had followed his orders and the vast majority had broken formation and sailed into the open sea.
At first light Medina Sidonia and his six remaining ships left Calais and attempted to catch up with the 130 ships strung out eastwards towards the Dunkirk sandbanks. Some Spanish ships had already been reached by the English fleet and were under heavy attack. San Lorenzo, a ship carrying 312 oarsmen, 134 sailors and 235 soldiers, was stranded on the beach and was about to be taken by the English.
With their formation broken, the Spanish ships were easy targets for the English ships loaded with guns that could fire very large cannon balls. The Spanish captains tried to get their ships in close so that their soldiers could board the English vessels. However, the English ships were quicker than the Spanish galleons and were able to keep their distance.
The battle of Gravelines continued all day. One of the most exciting contests was between Francis Drake in the Revenge and Duke of Medina Sidonia in the San Martin. Drake's ship was hit several times before being replaced by Thomas Fenner in the Nonpareil and Edmund Sheffield in the White Bear, who continued the fight without success.
All over the area of sea between Gravelines and Dunkirk fights took place between English and Spanish ships. By late afternoon most ships were out of gunpowder. The Duke of Medina Sidonia was now forced to head north with what was left of the Spanish Armada. The English ships did not follow as Charles Howard of Effingham, Lord High Admiral, was convinced that most Spanish ships were so badly damaged they would probably sink before they reached a safe port. That evening Francis Drake wrote to a friend: "God hath given us so good a day in forcing the enemy so far to leeward, as I hope in God the Duke of Parma and the Duke of Sidonia shall not shake hands this few days".
After the Armada rounded Scotland it headed south for home. However, a strong gale drove many of the ships onto the Irish rocks. Thousands of Spaniards drowned and even those who reached land were often killed by English soldiers and settlers. Of the 25,000 men that had set out in the Armada, less than 10,000 arrived home safely.
Drake led a disastrous attack on Portugal in 1589. He returned to England and became mayor of Plymouth in 1593. He went on another exhibition to the Caribbean in 1595 and the following year died of dysentery at Porto Bello on 27th January 1596.
FYI SSG Paul HeadleeCPL Michael PeckSgt (Join to see)PO1 Steve DittoCPL Douglas ChryslerSSG Michael Noll Maj Marty HoganSPC Michael Oles SRTSgt George RodriguezPO3 Charles Streich SGT (Join to see)SGT David A. 'Cowboy' GrothSFC (Join to see)SGT Steve McFarlandSPC Margaret Higgins PO1 H Gene Lawrence 1SG Fred BucciPO2 Frederick Dunn SMSgt David A Asbury CSM (Join to see)
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