Francis Drake's circumnavigation

Francis Drake's circumnavigation
Part of the Anglo–Spanish War
Engraved world map of Drake's circumnavigation
Date 13 December 1577 – 26 September 1580 Location Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans Result English victory
Belligerents
Spain Portugal	England
Commanders and leaders
Francisco de Toledo	Francis Drake
Strength
Various ports & shipping	5 ships 169 men and boys
Casualties and losses
13 ships captured & plundered 12 merchants ships run aground 5 settlements plundered	1 ship lost 2 ships scuttled 103 dead

Francis Drake's circumnavigation, also known as Drake's Raiding Expedition, was an important historical maritime event that took place between 15 December 1577 and 26 September 1580. The expedition was authorised by Queen Elizabeth I and consisted of five ships led by Francis Drake. Termed a 'voyage of discovery', it was in effect an ambitious covert raiding voyage and the start of England's challenge to the global domination of Spain and Portugal.^[1]

Drake set off on 15 December 1577 after a delay of nearly six months. After capturing Spanish vessels and Portuguese caravels while crossing the Atlantic he passed Cape Horn and became the first Englishman to navigate the Straits of Magellan. After reaching the Pacific Ocean in October 1578, he sailed up the west coast of South America. Due to losses by storms and disease, only two ships remained, one of which was the Golden Hind. Drake then plundered Spanish ports and took a number of Spanish treasure ships including the rich galleon Nuestra Señora de la Concepción. After continuing north, hoping to find a route back across to the Atlantic, Drake sailed further up the west coast of America than any European ever had done, and landed in present-day California, claiming the land for England and naming it New Albion.

Unable to find a passage, Drake turned south in the lone Golden Hind and in July 1579 sailed west across the Pacific. His travels took him to the Moluccas, Celebes, Java, and then round the Cape of Good Hope and finally the western side of Africa. Drake arrived back in England in September 1580 with a rich cargo of spices and treasure and the distinction of being the second man to lead a circumnavigation of the globe with a ship intact, and the first Englishman to complete a circumnavigation. Seven months later, Queen Elizabeth knighted him aboard the Golden Hind, much to the annoyance of King Philip II of Spain because of his piratical actions. As a result, the voyage was one of the precursors to the Anglo–Spanish War.^[2] Drake's intrusion into the Pacific, which Spain considered Mare clausum,^[3] triggered an immediate Spanish colonization attempt of the Strait of Magellan aimed to block access to the Pacific.^[4][5]