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Francis Drake was born when King Henry
the VIII of England was adopting the
protestant religion. The death of Henry
VIII in 1547 saw his son Edward VI uphold
the protestant religion.
In 1553, Edward died aged 16 of
consumption. He was succeeded by his half
sister Mary, a strong catholic. The
marriage of Mary to Philip II of Spain,
led to the persecution of protestants in
England.
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At that time, Drake's family,
who were protestants, were forced
to move from their home in Devon
because of religious tensions in
that area. Their arrival in
Chatham/Kent saw Drake's father
become a protestant preacher.
Drake first started going to sea
around the age of 13 as an
apprentice on a small trading ship
that was left to him when its
master died. After selling that
ship, Drake returned to Devon to
sail with his relative, John
Hawkins.
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The death of Queen Mary in 1558 saw
her successor, Queen Elizabeth I, return
England to protestantism. At that time,
Philip II of Spain had inherited the
crown of Portugal. Phillip was then in
control of the two catholic countries
that were leading the discoveries of new
lands.
In the 1560s, Drake and Hawkins made
several voyages to the Caribbean,
smuggling goods to the Spanish colonies.
That practice enraged Philip of Spain who
ordered his ships to destroy any English
trading ships they came across.
On their third voyage, Hawkins fleet
of six ships were damaged in a hurricane
in the Gulf of Mexico. The English ships
put into the Spanish port of Vera Cruz to
make repairs. The following day, a larger
Spanish treasure fleet arrived to pick up
Spanish gold and silver accumulated in
the stores of Vera Cruz. Within a few
days, the Spanish attacked the English
smugglers, killing most of them. Only the
ships of Drake and Hawkins made it back
to England with around 70 survivors.
Drake's hate for the Spaniards led to
him securing the support of Queen
Elizabeth to help finance a voyage to
raid the Spanish ships and colonies in
South America.
Late in 1577, Drake left England with
five ships, traveled to West Africa, then
crossed the Atlantic via the Cape Verde
Islands to the Brazilian coast. Before
rounding the tip of South America, he
abandoned two ships and renamed his
flagship, Pelican, the Golden Hind. After
they sailed through the Magellan Strait,
they emerge into storms in the Pacific
Ocean. The Marigold went down with all
hands and the Elizabeth turned back to
England.
Drake spent five and a half months
raiding Spanish treasure ships and
colonies along the South American Pacific
coast of Chile and Peru. He then sailed
north where he claimed the Californian
coastline in the name of his queen.
To avoid meeting the enraged Spanish,
he returned home by sailing across the
Pacific and Indian oceans, around the
southern tip of Africa, and arrived back
in England in the autumn of 1580. That
voyage covered approximately 36,000
miles.
Drake shared the Spanish treasure with
Queen Elizabeth. The queen showed her
appreciation for his services by dining
on his ship. After being knighted, Sir
Francis Drake, he returned to attacking
Spanish settlements in the Americas and
West Indies.
In 1587, Drake attacked Spanish ships
in the port of Cadiz/Spain that were
being prepared for the invasion of
England. He damaged so many ships with
fire, the planned invasion was put back a
year.
In July 1588, when the Spanish Armada
reached England, Lord Howard and Sir
Francis Drake, led the English ships into
a week long battle that ended with the
Spanish ships either wrecked, captured or
fleeing.
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The defeat of the Spanish Armada
saw Drake return to privatering
raids against the Spanish
colonies.
During a raiding trip to the
West Indies, he contracted a fever.
On January 28th 1596, on board his
flagship Defiance, Drake die
peacefully. He was buried at sea
off Puerto Bello/ Panama in a lead
coffin.
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Francis Drake statue
Plymouth
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