The crew of the Golden Hind, led by Francis Drake, capture a Spanish galleon, c. 1578-79.

Vice Admiral Sir Francis Drake (1540 –96) was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, a renowned pirate, and a politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588, subordinate only to Charles Howard and the Queen herself. He died of dysentery in January 1596 after unsuccessfully attacking San Juan, Puerto Rico.

His exploits were legendary, making him a hero to the English but a pirate to the Spaniards. King Philip II was claimed to have offered a reward of 20,000 ducats, about US $6.5 million by modern standards, for his life.

He led the first English circumnavigation of the world, from 1577 to 1580, during which time he met native American tribes in California, which he claimed for Britain, and visited the Spice Islands in the East Indies [Indonesia].

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