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GOLDEN HIND

The English mariner, privateer, and explorer Francis Drake (1540-1596) was the first Englishman who made a circumnavigation of the world. The extraordinary voyage included battles in Spanish colonial settlements, the capture of treasure ships, and a near-mutiny as well as the usual maritime hazards of storms, scurvy, and running aground on coral reefs. Drake himself was hit by an arrow near an eye and barely escaped the attack.



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) in 1574. In 1577, queen Elizabeth turned to Drake for just such a southern voyage. Secretly, she 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 and attack Spanish colonial settlements in South America. For this task, Drake was given command of a fleet of five ships and  164 men. His flagship was the Golden Hind. In November 1577,
before setting sail, the queen told him: "We would gladly be revenged on the King of Spain for divers injuries that we have received." 

The expedition got off to the worst possible start when a storm damaged several of the ships and they were obliged to return to port only two weeks after setting off. The fleet set off for a second time on 13 December and sailed down the coast of northwest Africa and then across the Atlantic route via the Cape Verde Islands. They attacked three ships and looted their cargoes. One one of them was added to Drake’s small fleet.

After two months with no sight of land, the fleet finally reached the eastern coast of South America, north of the River Plate, in April 1578. Three ships were abandoned by August as too unseaworthy to make the voyage into the Pacific Ocean.

At the southern tip of South America, the three remaining ships pressed on through the Straits of Magellan in August. The Straits were difficult to find and dangerous, but after getting through, heavy storms in September meant that one ship was wrecked and another sailed back to England. The Golden Hind was obliged to continue the expedition alone.

The Golden Hind was small, weighing in at 150 tons (for comparison, HMS Bounty was 215 tons and HMS Endeavour was 370 tons). Around 100 ft. in length and with a 18 ft. beam. It had a total sail area of 4,150 square feet. Drake frequently used expert pilots when in unfamiliar coastal waters and the experienced Portuguese pilot Nuño da Silva described the Golden Hind as: …very stout and very strong, with double sheathings…She is a French [style] ship well-fitted with good masts, tackle and good sails, and is a good sailor, answering the helm well. She is neither new, nor is her bottom covered with lead…She is staunch when sailing with the wind astern if it is not very strong, but in a sea which makes her labour she makes no little water.

The Golden Hind had a crew of 90 men. Only the nine officers had a cabin and most of the crew slept on the gun deck. Drake ensured his ship was well-fitted for relative comfort and had good furniture. This was especially so for his own cabin which was lined with oak and boasted a bunk, desk, chair, and chart table where the explorer tracked his course and made sketches and paintings of the sights and coastlines he came across. Drake also had a small library which included a record of Magellan’s circumnavigation. Surviving today from this cabin is the captain’s sea chest, a large rectangular box covered in leather and with ships painted on the inside of the lid. Another survivor is Drake’s drum which is said to roll mysteriously whenever England is in danger.

Drake sailed the Golden Hind up the west coast of South America. In November, on the island of Mocha off the coast of Chile, a group of indigenous peoples attacked a number of the mariners when ashore. Drake was hit near the eye by an arrow and made a lucky escape. Spanish settlements like Valparaiso were then taken completely by surprise in December 1578 when an English warship showed up in Pacific waters. Drake made off with 25,000 gold pesos from the raid. Several poorly armed treasure ships were subsequently captured in the harbor of Callao, the port of Lima. The Golden Hind recrossed the equator on 28 February 1579.

Next, on 1 March 1579, Drake took the greatest prize of the entire voyage, the Nuestra Senora de la Concepćion off the coast of Peru with its massive cargo of silver intended for Panama. Drake captured this floating treasure ship by making the Golden Hind appear a slow ship. This was done by having all sails billowing but also towing heavy chains; when the latter were cut free under the cover of darkness, the ship bounded over the waves to stun the mostly unarmed Spanish into submission. It took six days to relieve the Spanish of their riches and these weighed so much that Drake was obliged to jettison some of the Golden Hind’s ballast to make room. There were an astonishing 13 chests of plate, 80 lbs of gold, a mass of gemstones, and 26 tons of unworked silver.

More captures followed off the coast of Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Mexico, Drake often putting the crews ashore and adding rolls of fine silk and cases of Chinese porcelain to his already bulging hold.

The Golden Hind then sailed on up the west coast of North America in search of the fabled Northwest Passage that was believed to provide an easy route to Asia. Reaching the latitude of 40 degrees and failing to find any passage, Drake backtracked and anchored near what is today San Francisco in June. There he claimed the land for his queen, naming it ‘New Albion’. Now called Drake’s Bay, the mariners landed and established friendly relations with the indigenous peoples there.

Golden Hind was then swept across the Pacific by the trade winds. In October Drake reached the East Indies (Indonesia and Philippines) and took on board spices, ginger, pepper and six tons of valuable cloves from the Moluccas where, luckily enough for the English captain, the sultan was at war with the Portuguese. The ship grounded on a reef in January which necessitated Drake jettisoning the six tons of cloves and a number of cannons to lighten the ship. It was touch and go if the ship would make it, but a heightening tide and strong wind lifted the Golden Hind to safety.

golden hind model

In March 1580 the Golden Hind crossed the Indian Ocean. In June, Drake rounded the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa where rainstorms were gratefully received to refill the ship’s empty freshwater caskets. Drake sailed up the Atlantic coast of that continent to reach Sierra Leone in July. Towards the end of August, the sailors reached the Canary Islands and then made port at La Rochelle in western France. Back on the familiar home stretch, Drake arrived at Plymouth on 26 September 1580. The voyagers around the world, albeit not in a direct or even hurried manner, lasted two years and nine and a half months.

Long given up for dead, the Plymouth residents were amazed to see Drake and the small ship return into Plymouth Harbour in September 1580. Once Drake had been reassured that Queen Elizabeth I was still alive, he landed the Golden Hind full of treasure and jewels, and in the process became one of the most famous men in the world. The journey remains one of the greatest voyages in history. On a ship barely 100 feet long, weighing 120 tons, with rudimentary navigational aids, Drake had sailed right around the globe and brought back almost unimaginable treasures.

Much more important at the time than the geographical achievement was the treasure Drake had been relentlessly filling his ship with along the way. The estimated value of the loot was perhaps £600,000 (more than double the entire annual revenue of England), and the queen personally received a handsome £160,000. On arrival, the queen invited Drake to an audience at Richmond Palace and told him to bring some choice samples of his fabulous treasure.

On 4 April 1581, 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. However, if the queen knighted Drake and took from him a part of his gains – and queens do not deal in stolen goods – then he could not have been acting as a pirate but as a representative of his monarch. The message to Spain was clear: allow legitimate trade in the New World or face the privateers.

Drake gave his queen lavish gifts such as a gold crown embedded with five huge emeralds and a diamond-studded cross. The queen gave gifts in return, notably the 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, 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’.

After Drake's circumnavigation, the Golden Hind was maintained for public exhibition in Deptford. This was the earliest known example of a ship being maintained for public display because of its historic significance. Golden Hind remained there for nearly 100 years before she eventually rotted away and was finally broken up.

The table in the Middle Temple Hall (in the City of London) is  made from the wood of the Golden Hind, as is a chair in the Great Hall, Buckland Abbey, Devon.

Sir Francis Drake's accomplishments were unparalleled by any of his contemporaries. No compatriot's, no foreigner's reputation surpassed his fame. Yet he was very much an Englishman and a man of his own day and age. Like his Queen, Drake, however, proved to have a humanity towards enemies that was far in advance of his times.

On 4 April 1581, 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. However, if the queen knighted Drake and took from him a part of his gains – and queens do not deal in stolen goods – then he could not have been acting as a pirate but as a representative of his monarch. The message to Spain was clear: allow legitimate trade in the New World or face the privateers.

Drake gave his queen lavish gifts such as a gold crown embedded with five huge emeralds and a diamond-studded cross. The queen gave gifts in return, notably the 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’.

This primarily wood Golden Hind model features:

  • Beautiful lighting to impress your guests

  • Authenticity: built from official plans

  • Wood figurehead, not resin casting

  • Superior hollow hull construction: light weight, can be carried easily by one person

33" long x 26" tall x 12.5" wide, without sails $3,790    Shipping and insurance in the contiguous US included. Other countries, $400 flat rate. This model is in stock and can be shipped within 5 business days. If you'd like to pay with Paypal, let us know and we'll send you an invoice.

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Learn more about the Golden Hinde here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Hind

https://brewminate.com/francis-drakes-circumnavigation-of-the-globe-1577-1580/