Francis Drake: “The Iron Pirate” of Elizabeth I. What did Francis Drake discover? Francis Drake discovery 1577 1580

Francis Drake's report on the discoveries of the corsair, navigator, and vice-admiral of the English fleet is presented in this article.

Francis Drake discovered what?

He was the second person after and the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world in 1577-1580. Drake was a talented organizer and naval commander, the main figure in the English fleet, thanks to whom the Invincible Spanish Armada was defeated. For what Francis Drake did, Queen Elizabeth I of England knighted him: the navigator began to be called Sir Francis Drake.

In 1575, he was introduced to Queen Elizabeth I of England. She invited the pirate (Drake by that time had the reputation of a robber and slave trader) to enter public service. In addition, she, together with shareholders, financed his expedition to explore the eastern coast of South America. As a result, Francis Drake's journey not only "paid for itself" many times over, but also made geographical discoveries and important sea routes.

What did Francis Drake discover in 1577-1580?

Francis Drake, whose journey around the world began on November 15, 1577, consisting of 6 ships, descended to the southern part of the American continent. After passing through the Strait of Magellan, the team entered the waters of the Pacific Ocean. They were caught in a terrible storm, which threw the ships a little south of the islands of Tierra del Fuego. Francis Drake's expedition made a grand discovery - a route between the still undiscovered Antarctica and South America. Later it will be named after the traveler - Drake Passage.

All the ships were lost in the storm, leaving only one flagship, the Pelican. Francis Drake, after a miraculous rescue, renamed the ship the Golden Hind. On it, the captain sailed around the northern part of the western coast of South America, attacking and plundering Spanish ports along the way.

He reached the shores of modern Canada and California. This Pacific coast was then unexplored and considered wild land. Drake was the first European in history to stake new lands for the crown of England. Having replenished their supplies, the team headed west and sailed to the Spice Islands. Having rounded the Cape of Good Hope, the corsair returned home on September 26, 1580.

mid-16th century Numerous pirates appeared on the Spanish Atlantic routes, not only French, but also English, Dutch, and Danish. The Lesser Antilles became their pirate bases; individual islands constantly changed hands, from pirates of one nationality to another. They hunted mainly for ships loaded with precious metals on the routes from the coasts of Mexico and Central America to Spain. But they did not disdain the slave trade from West Africa. Among these highway robbers and slave traders was the Englishman John Hawkins, future participant in the defeat of the “Invincible Armada” (1588), later admiral; in Spanish chronicles he appeared under the name Juan Aquines. In October 1567, his ship was wrecked off the western coast of Florida. 114 sailors, among whom was David Ingram, moved north on foot, rightly fearing the Spaniards and hoping that much further north, on the Atlantic coast of the mainland, they would be able to meet some ship. They walked along the Atlantic lowland, crossing numerous small and relatively large rivers on Indian canoes, including the Potomac, Susquehanna and Hudson. During the campaign, most of the pirate travelers died: probably some remained to live among the Indians; only D. Ingram and his two companions, having overcome in approximately two years Ingram claimed that the entire journey took 11 months - most likely, he only took into account the time spent on the move. 2500 km in a straight line (actually more), we reached the island. Cape Breton, where they were picked up by a French ship.

After a safe return to his homeland, Ingram began talking about his wanderings around the trans-Atlantic country over drinks and snacks. Listeners were amazed at his “fables” about a huge gray bear (grizzly), did not believe his “tales” about a bird that cannot fly (the great auk), were surprised at the “tales” about another bird - a flamingo with bright red feathers, and questioned the existence of an animal similar to a horse, but with antlers (moose), and eagerly listened to his messages about the numerous fictitious cities of the country, about its mythical riches - gold, silver and pearls. But it was not this fantasy, but a truthful description of some representatives of the animal world of North America that earned Ingram the reputation of a liar. He remained in a large international “family” of liars-travelers for almost 400 years: only in the middle of our century was he “rehabilitated.” However, among his contemporaries there were still people who understood that there was some truth in his stories. The Minister of the British Secret Police belonged to them. Probably, the information reported by Ingram during interrogation (August - September 1582) prompted the government of Queen Elizabeth to send the expedition of Hrmfrey Gilbert to the North American shores.

Among the pirates who enjoyed the patronage of the English crown, an Englishman stood out Francis Drake, which, in the words of the Viceroy of Peru, opened “the path to the Pacific Ocean for all heretics - Huguenots, Calvinists, Lutherans and other robbers...”.

“The Iron Pirate,” as he was later called, was a powerful and tough man, with a furious character, suspicious and superstitious, even for his age. Once, during a storm, he shouted that it was sent by his enemy, who was on the ship, that he was “a sorcerer, and all this comes from his chest.” Drake, as a pirate, acted not at his own peril and risk, but as a “clerk” of a large “share company”, one of the shareholders of which was Queen Elizabeth of England. She equipped the ships at her own expense, shared the booty with the pirates, but took the lion's share of the profits for herself. Drake received his baptism of fire in 1567 - 1568. in the flotilla of the pirate John Hawkins, who captured Spanish cities in Central America in order to trade duty-free blacks with Spanish planters. This raid ended with five ships falling into the hands of the Spaniards and only one - under the command of Drake - returning to England. Four years later, Drake independently raided the Isthmus of Panama, plundered a caravan with precious metals from Peru, and arrived home on captured brand new Spanish ships.

In 1577 Drake began the most important of his enterprises, which unexpectedly There is, however, another opinion: F. Drake planned a trip around the world in advance, intending to discover a section of the Southern continent, open the Strait of Anian, establish English control over American lands not under Spanish domination, study the geography of the Pacific Ocean, and upon reaching the Moluccas, capture any “free” islands and establish trade relations with China and Japan. for him, it ended with a circumnavigation of the world. The pirate's goal was to raid the Pacific coast of Spanish America. The Queen and a number of English nobles again supported the enterprise with their own funds, demanding only that the pirate keep their names secret. Drake equipped four ships with a capacity of 90 - 100 tons, not counting two pinnaces (small auxiliary ships), and on December 13, 1577, he left Plymouth. In April 1578, the pirates reached the mouth of La Plata and, slowly moving south, discovered a convenient harbor off the coast of Patagonia (at 47° 45" S). One of Drake's companions characterizes the Patagonians as follows: “They turned out to be good-natured people and showed such compassionate sympathy for us as we have never encountered among Christians. They brought us food and seemed happy to please us." According to him, the Patagonians are indeed "distinguished ... by their height, dense build, strength and loudness of voice. But they are not at all such monsters as the Spaniards talked about them: there are Englishmen who are not inferior in height to the tallest of them...”

On June 20, the pirates stopped in the same San Julian Bay where Magellan spent the winter. It was here that Drake, clearly imitating the great Portuguese, accused the officer Thomas Doughty of conspiracy and executed him. On August 17, the pirates left the bay. Drake's flotilla was reduced to three ships: at the end of May, he ordered the tackle and all iron parts to be removed from one dilapidated ship, and the skeleton to be burned. Four days later, the British entered the Strait of Magellan and with great caution advanced in sight of both shores, which were gradually approaching each other. On the coast there were wandering inhabitants who took refuge from the weather in miserable huts. “But for rude savages, their utensils seemed to us very skillfully and even elegantly crafted,” writes Drake’s companion priest Francis Fletcher.- Their shuttles are made of bark, not tarred or caulked, but only sewn at the seams with strips of sealskin, but so neatly and tightly that they do not leak. Their cups and buckets are also made from bark. The knives are made from huge shells: after breaking off the edges, they sharpen them on stone to... the required sharpness.”

The journey through the strait “with its nights as black as hell and the merciless fury of violent storms” lasted two and a half weeks. “No sooner had we entered this sea... which turned out to be Mad for us, than such a furious storm began, which we had never experienced before... [during the day] we did not see sunlight, and at night - neither the moon nor the stars. At times, mountains were visible not far away... then they disappeared from view... We lost our comrades.” One ship of Drake's flotilla went missing, the other, a month later, thrown back into the Strait of Magellan by a storm, got out into the Atlantic Ocean and returned to England.

The storm lasted 52 days until the end of October. During the entire period there were only two days of respite. “And suddenly everything seemed to go away: the mountains took on a benevolent appearance, the heavens smiled, the sea was calm, but the people were exhausted and needed rest.” The lonely ship “Golden Hind” (100–120 tons) was blown south by a storm almost five degrees in two months. On October 24, the sailors spotted the “most extreme” island to the south and stood there until November 1; “behind it in a southern direction neither the mainland nor the island was visible, only the Atlantic Ocean and the South Sea met in ... free space.” But Drake was mistaken: the little o. Henderson (55° 36" S, 69° 05" W) is located 120 km northwest of Cape Horn.

The discovery of a free expanse of water gave Drake the opportunity to prove that Tierra del Fuego, or the “Unknown Land” (Terra Incognita), was not at all a protrusion of the Southern continent, but an archipelago, beyond which stretched a seemingly boundless sea. The true southern continent, Antarctica, lies 1000 km south of Tierra del Fuego. In the 19th century, after the discovery of Antarctica, the wide passage between it and Tierra del Fuego was called the Drake Passage, although it should more rightly be called the Oses Strait. (See chapter 19)

At these southern latitudes, faced with terrible winds and storms, Drake was unable to move west to fulfill one of the points of his instructions - to discover the coast of the Southern Continent. And then he headed north, hoping to connect with the missing ships of his squadron, as previously established, in Valparaiso.

On November 25, the “Golden Hind” anchored off Fr. Chiloe, inhabited by Araucan Indians; "fleeing from the mainland due to the cruelty of the Spaniards." They rightly did not trust the Europeans and, when Drake and 10 armed sailors landed on the shore, they forced him to leave, killing two Englishmen. But further north on the mainland, the Indians greeted the newcomers friendly and gave them a pilot to Valparaiso. Drake sacked the city and captured a Spanish ship in the harbor with a cargo of wine and “...some gold.”

The pirate moved further north. On the Spanish maps that fell into the hands of the British, the Chilean coast had a northwest direction, but whenever Drake turned northwest, he lost sight of it. It turned out that the entire coast of Chile stretches mainly from south to north. Only near Peru the coast actually turned to the northwest: Drake “cut off” hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of non-existent territory. After his voyage, the outline of South America on maps took on more regular, familiar shapes. In Bahia Salada Bay (at 27° 30" S) Drake stood for a month, repairing the Golden Hind and waiting in vain for the other two ships.

Beyond the Southern Tropic, the pirate approached the ports through which the Spaniards sent Peruvian silver to Panama. The Spaniards felt completely safe there, both on land and at sea, and transported valuable cargo without security. A number of such cargoes easily passed into the hands of Drake. In Callao (port of Lima) there were 30 Spanish ships in the roadstead, several of them well armed. And Drake brought the Golden Hind into the harbor and stood there all night among the enemies. Sailors on neighboring ships were talking loudly about the ships that had recently sailed to Panama. On the morning of February 14, 1579, Drake weighed anchor, caught up with one ship that particularly interested him and boarded it: there was a rich cargo of gold and silver, the counting of which lasted six days.

returning through the Strait of Magellan was dangerous: Drake was afraid that the Spaniards were waiting for him there, Indeed, several warships were sent there. and decided to return home around North America. He put the Golden Hind in order, stocked up on fuel and water, and moved northwest, along the Pacific coast of Mexico. There he did not attack port cities, but only plundered villages. From Mexico he went further north.

When the British rose to 42° N in June. sh., they experienced a sudden transition from heat to cold: wet snow fell, the gear became icy, and squalls often came. In calm weather, thick fogs came in, making it necessary to stand still. For two weeks it was impossible to determine the position of the ship either by the sun or by the stars.

“When we approached the shore, we saw bare trees and land without grass, and this was in June and July... The shore invariably deviated to the northwest, as if it was heading to connect with the Asian continent... We saw no traces anywhere Strait... Then it was decided to descend to warmer latitudes: we were at 48°, and the ten degrees we passed brought us to a beautiful country with a mild climate.” The Pacific coast of North America begins to “constantly deviate to the northwest” near the island. Vancouver (beyond 48°N latitude). It is this parallel that Fletcher pointed out. In fact, there is a strait there - between the island. Vancouver and the mainland (Juan de Fuca). The British might not have noticed it because of the fog or because the storm at the time drove them too far from the coast, but it is much more likely that Drake only reached 42 - 43 ° N. w. (Cape Blanco). It is unlikely that such an experienced sailor as Drake could have made an error of five degrees in determining the latitude, but the fact is that due to bad weather it was precisely not possible to determine the position of the ship.

At 38° N. w. in the bay (now Drakes Bay) on June 17, 1579, the British landed and began repairing the ship, which took six weeks. Drake set up a camp and fortified it. The inhabitants (California Indians) approached the camp in groups, but did not show hostile intentions, but only looked at the newcomers with amazement. The English gave them gifts and tried to show with gestures that they were not gods and needed food and drink. Crowds of Indians began to gather near the camp - naked children, men, mostly naked, women wearing “skirts made of reeds, disheveled like tow, and deer skins on their shoulders.” They brought feathers and bags of tobacco to the pirates. One day, when the leader, his warriors in fur cloaks and a crowd of naked Indians with women and children came to the camp, the pirate decided that the moment had come to join the English possessions of the country he had discovered.

One Indian had a "scepter" made of ebony, three bone chains and a bag of tobacco. “...On behalf of the queen, Drake took into his hands a scepter and a wreath, and together the power over the entire country, calling it “New Albion,” for which there were two reasons: the white color of the coastal rocks and the desire to connect the country with our homeland, which once That's what it was called." Before sailing, Drake placed a pillar on the shore. On a copper plate nailed to the post were carved Elizabeth's name, the dates of the English arrival in the country and the "voluntary submission" of its inhabitants to the queen. Below, the pirate inserted a silver coin with the image of the Queen and her coat of arms and carved his name (the plate was discovered in 1923, lost and found again in 1926).

Drake decided to go from New Albion across the Pacific Ocean to the Moluccas. At the end of July, on the Farallon Islands discovered by them (37° 45" N, 123° W), the British stocked up on provisions - sea lion meat, eggs and wild bird meat - and headed for the Mariana Islands. For 65 or 66 days the sailors saw nothing but sky and sea. At the end of September, land appeared in the distance - one of the Mariana Islands. But due to nasty winds, Drake saw the Moluccas only in November. He stopped at Ternate, finding out that the ruler island was an enemy of the Portuguese. The British received a lot of provisions through him and moved on. South of Sulawesi, near an uninhabited islet, the pirates stayed for a month: their ship needed repairs, and they themselves needed rest. Then for another month the ship wandered in the labyrinth of islets and shallows near the southern coast of Sulawesi, and almost died after running into a reef. At Java, the pirates learned that nearby there were ships as large as the Golden Hind. Drake decided not to hesitate, not having the slightest desire to meet the Portuguese, and headed straight for the Cape of Good Hope. The Golden Hind rounded the Cape in mid-1580, and on September 26, 1580, dropped anchor in Plymouth - 2 years 10 months after leaving England, completing her second circumnavigation of the world after the Spanish ship Victoria. And Drake took special credit for the fact that he was the first commander who not only began, but also completed a circumnavigation of the world.

Drake's pirate "raid" opened sea routes for English and Dutch ships, previously known only to the Spaniards and the Portuguese, In 1586–1588 The English pirate Thomas Cavendish circumnavigated the world, plundering several Peruvian cities along the way, in 1598–1601. - Dutch merchant pirate Oliver Van-Nort. and sharply worsened Anglo-Spanish relations. The Spanish ambassador to England demanded an exemplary punishment for the pirate and the return of the stolen property, which was estimated at several million gold rubles, but the English queen showered Drake with favors, gave him the title of baronet, openly walked with him in her garden and eagerly listened to stories about his adventures.

Elizabeth ordered the ambassador to answer that all valuables would be kept in her treasury until settlements were made between England and Spain regarding mutual claims. To inventory and seal the looted property, the queen sent an official with orders to give Drake the opportunity to “put everything in order” earlier. He, in his own words, “saw Her Majesty’s desire that the exact numbers should not be known to a single living soul.” Anglo-Spanish relations worsened even more in 1586, after Drake, already commanding an entire fleet of 25 ships, plundered several port cities in Haiti and off the southwestern shores of the Caribbean Sea.

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Drake's famous ship - the galleon "Golden Hind"

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

Admiral Francis Drake

Francis Drake was born in England in the village of Tavistock, Devonshire, into a farmer's family in 1540. Since childhood, the boy dreamed of long sea voyages and fame. Francis began the road to his dreams at the age of 13 when he hired a job as a cabin boy. The young man turned out to be a smart sailor and soon he became the captain's senior mate. Later, when Francis turned 18, he purchased a small barque, on which he began to transport various cargoes. But ordinary maritime transport did not bring much wealth, which cannot be said about piracy and the slave trade. They provided more profit, and therefore Francis Drake in 1567, as a ship commander in the flotilla of his distant relative John Hawkins, set off on a long voyage to Africa for slaves and from there to the West Indies, where sailors made a living by robbing and capturing Spanish ships. During this voyage, the young navigator gained extensive experience in robberies and attacks on merchant ships of the Spanish crown. Returning to England, they immediately started talking about him as a successful captain.

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

The sea voyage began successfully. By the end of January 1578, Drake's ships arrived off the coast of Morocco, where the British captured the city of Mogadar. Having received a large number of various valuable goods as a reward, the sea pirates headed to the shores of America, where they engaged in robbery. During this, a mutiny brewed on several of Drake's ships. Some sailors decided to take up piracy themselves. However, the rebellion was suppressed. Leaving the two most leaky ships and re-forming the teams, Francis Drake set off for the Strait of Magellan. Having successfully passed the strait, the sailing ships entered the open ocean, where they immediately encountered a strong storm. Drake's scattered ships were never able to form a squadron. One ship crashed against the rocks, another was dragged back into the strait by the current, and its captain decided to return to England on his own. And Drake's ship, which by that time had received a new name for its excellent seaworthiness, drifted far to the south.

Drake's ship "Golden Hind"

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

Drake's ship"Pelican" was built at the Alburgh shipyard, and both weapons (sail and gun) were installed in her home town of Plymouth. The sailing ship had a length of 21.3 m, a beam of 5.8 m, a draft of 2.5 m and a displacement of 150 tons. Before long sea voyages, Drake's ship adopted the livery of a Spanish galleon, consisting of an ornament of red and yellow diamonds. Initially, at the stern of the ship there was a drawing of a pelican, but after the renaming, a figure of a doe, cast entirely in gold, appeared on the bow.

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

Then Drake's ship headed north, robbing and capturing coastal cities along the way. A particularly successful “treasure” awaited the English corsairs in Valparaiso. In this port, robbers attacked a ship in the harbor loaded with gold and rare goods. But the most important thing on the Spanish ship was an unknown sea map with a description of the western coast of North America.

Drake not only plundered the Spanish colonies, he walked along the coast of America much further north than the Spaniards. In mid-June Drake's ship moored to the shore for repairs and replenishment of supplies. And in the meantime, he decided to explore the area where the city of San Francisco is now located, declaring it the possession of the Queen of England, and called it New Albion.

The journey along the west coast of America turned out to be very successful. When Drake's ship was overloaded with a large amount of gold and jewelry, the captain thought about returning to his homeland. However, he did not dare to proceed through the Strait of Magellan, realizing the presence of Spanish ships there. Then Drake decided to set off on an unknown journey through the Southern Ocean and the weather was favorable to him. Soon Drake's ship reached the Mariana Islands. After standing for repairs for several days in the Indonesian Celebes, the captain continued sailing.

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

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

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

Francis Drake (circa 1545 - January 28, 1595) - English navigator, pirate, military leader, who circumnavigated the world for the first time since F. Magellan (1577-1580). He sailed to the shores of Africa and America, engaging in the slave trade and pirate raids on Spanish ships and possessions. In December 1577, Drake with a squadron of 5 ships left Plymouth, crossed the Atlantic Ocean and in April 1578 reached the shores of South America (the mouth of La Plata). In August 1578, Drake entered the Pacific Ocean through the Strait of Magellan, having only 1 ship, which was carried south by a storm to Cape Horn. This is how the southernmost point of America was discovered. This discovery shook the legend about the existence of the mythical Southern Continent, indicated on maps south of 40 0 ​​- 45 0 S. w. Drake then sailed along the western coast of America, plundering Spanish ships and cities along the way. Trying to get away from the Spanish ships, Drake went north in search of a passage from the north from the Pacific to the Atlantic and reached 48 0 s. w. Descending south, he discovered San Francisco Bay, from where he turned west, heading for the Moluccas. In June 1580 he rounded the Cape of Good Hope and in September 1580 returned to Plymouth.

Drake took an active part in the defeat of the Spanish "Invincible Armada" (1588). Drake's voyages and raids, fully supported by Queen Elizabeth of England, dealt a strong blow to the Spanish monopoly on the Pacific Ocean.

The Drake Passage between Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica is named after Drake.

Drake Francis, English navigator, was born near Tavistock (Devonshire) around 1545, died near Puerto Bello (Panama) on January 28, 1596. The first English circumnavigator. The son of a sailor, he went to sea early and in 1565-1566. went to the West Indies for the first time. In 1567-1569. he participated as a captain in John Hawkins' voyages to Guinea, from where he delivered black slaves to the West Indies. Hawkins and Drake escaped with only heavy losses from one attack by the Spanish fleet off Veracruz. In 1570-1572. Drake undertook three pirate voyages to the West Indies; after this he was commissioned by Queen Elizabeth to interfere with Spanish trade in the Pacific. At the end of 1577, he left Plymouth with five ships and sailed through the Strait of Magellan from August 20 to September 6, 1578. In the Pacific Ocean, due to bad weather, his ship was separated from other ships. However, he continued sailing on one ship and plundered the harbors of the western American coast. From California it moved north to about 48° N. sh., but due to the prevailing cold weather there, he had to abandon the plan to return to England, rounding America from the north. At the same time, he was the first European to reach the river. Columbia, and maybe as far as the southern tip of Vancouver Island. Since it was impossible to circumnavigate South America a second time due to the retaliatory measures taken by the Spaniards, he crossed the Pacific Ocean and on November 4, 1579, through the Mariana Islands, reached one of the Moluccas - Ternate. From there he, having passed Java and rounded the Cape of Good Hope, returned to his native Plymouth on November 5, 1580. With this, Drake completed his second trip around the world after Magellan. However, except for part of the western North American coast, he did not discover anything new. In 1585-1586 Drake again commanded an armed English fleet directed against the Spanish colonies in the West Indies, and returned, as from his trip around the world, with rich booty. In 1587, Drake burned a detachment of the Spanish Armada in the harbor of Cadiz and in 1588, already with the rank of vice admiral under the leadership of Lord Howard, participated in its destruction in the English Channel. His later ventures, one against Lisbon in 1589, as well as two subsequent West Indian ones in 1594 and 1595, were unsuccessful. In the second of them, in 1596, he died of dysentery.

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