Drakes Coffin

Sir Francis Drake 1540 - 1596

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Francis Drake was born in Tavistock, Devon in around 1540, and went to sea at a very tender age as a seaman. He was apprentis to the master of a small bark; that made trips to Zealand and France.

It was a humble start for Drake, unlike his cousin John Hawkins. However Drake grew to be the man who established his own fame and fortune.

By the age of of 18 he classed himself as a merchant seaman. His master died and left his little bark to his ex-apprentis. He aspired in the word 'Trade' which covered a multitude of activities; which now different names would be given.

As the period progressed so did Drake. He started out as an adventurer, in a private capacity, taking part in the "friendly" phase of the "Take-Trade" gradually becoming the unofficial weapon of the Crown.

When open war emerged he emerges as the leading offical weapon of the Crown, emerging not as a merchant or an adventurer; but as a privateer.

In 1567, Drake made one of the first English slaving voyages as part of a fleet led by his cousin John Hawkins, bringing African slaves to work in the 'New World'.

All but two ships of the expedition were lost when they were attacked by a Spanish squadron. The then Spanish became a lifelong enemy for Drake and they in turn considered him a pirate.

In 1570 and 1571, Drake made two profitable trading voyages to the West Indies. In 1572, he commanded two vessels in a marauding expedition against Spanish ports in the Caribbean.

He saw the Pacific Ocean and captured the port of Nombre de Dios on the Isthmus of Panama. He returned to England with a cargo of Spanish treasure and a reputation as a brilliant privateer.

In 1577, Drake was secretly commissioned by Elizabeth I, to set off on an expedition against the Spanish colonies on the American Pacific coast.

Armada Reason

He Lost Four Ships

He sailed with five ships, but by the time he reached the Pacific Ocean in October 1578, only one was left, Drake's flagship the Pelican, renamed the Golden Hind.

To reach the Pacific, Drake became the first Englishman to navigate the Straits of Magellan. He travelled up the west coast of South America, plundering Spanish ports.

He continued north, hoping to find a route across to the Atlantic, and sailed further up the west coast of America than any European. Unable to find a passage, he turned south and then in July 1579, west across the Pacific.

His travels took him to the Moluccas, Celebes, Java and then round the Cape of Good Hope. He arrived back in England in September 1580, with a rich cargo of spices and Spanish treasure and the distinction of being the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe.

Seven months later, Elizabeth knighted him aboard the Golden Hind, to the annoyance of the king of Spain.

The New World

In 1585, Drake sailed to the West Indies and the coast of Florida where he ransacked and plundered Spanish cities. On his return voyage, he picked up the unsuccessful colonists of Roanoke Island off the coast of the Carolinas, which was the first English colony in the New World.

In 1587, war with Spain was imminent and Drake entered the port of Cadiz and destroyed 30 of the ships the Spanish which they were assembling against the British.

In 1588, he was made a vice-admiral in the fleet that defeated the Armada. Drake's last expedition, with John Hawkins, was to the West Indies.

The Spanish were prepared for him this time, and the venture was a disaster. Drake died on 28th January 1596, of dysentery off the coast of Portobelo, Panama.

Hawkins died at the same time, and their bodies were buried at sea.

Sir Francis Drake's body 'close to being found off Panama' An expedition hopes to find the remains of Sir Francis Drake.

The owner of an American pirate museum claims to be close to finding the remains of Sir Francis Drake, the Elizabethan sailor and navigator.

Drake died at sea in 1596, and his body clad in a full suit of armour and in a lead coffin, is thought to be off the coast of Panama.

He was knighted for his successful exploits around the world. Pat Croce claims he has located two ships which were scuttled shortly after Drake died of dysentery.

"This is absolutely a dream come true - to find the ships of the most successful pirate in history, who single-handedly wreaked havoc on Spain's New Empire," said Mr Croce, who is blogging on the expedition live from Panama.

They are now hoping to find Drake's lead-lined coffin, which may still contain his body, which was reportedly buried in a full suit of armour.

Mr Croce said the remains of the ships, the Elizabeth and the Delight, had been discovered at the bottom of Portobelo Bay.

He Defeated The Armada

Drake is credited for defeating the Spanish Armada's invasion of England in 1588. After a career as naval officer, Drake drifted into piracy and was also one of the earliest exponents of the slave trade, bringing African men and women to work in the English colonies of North America in the 16th Century.

Sir Francis Drake is described by some as a hero and by others as a pirate Mr Croce, who runs the St Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum in Florida, said they had found the burnt timbers of Elizabeth and Delight, which sank shortly after Drake's death.

The team's marine archaeologist, Jim Sinclair, said: "Finding the Elizabeth and Delight near where Sir Francis Drake is buried is as exciting to me as helping discover the (Spanish galleon, Nuestra Senora de) Atocha and diving the "R.M.S. Titanic."

The expedition focused on Portobelo Bay after hiring London-based researcher Trevor McEniry to pinpoint areas where the ships might have gone down.

The Drake expedition once again highlights a grey area when it comes to the protection of British shipwrecks.

Under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 British naval vessels anywhere in the world are protected from exploitation.

But the act only covers certain ships which sunk since 1914 and only British citizens can be prosecuted under it.

The Joint Nautical Archaeology Policy Committee has been pressing the UK government for years to ratify the Unesco Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage.

The JNAPC's chairman, Robert Yorke, said: "If they are Drake's ships they are presumably sovereign immune so why isn't the British government telling these people to go away?

"If we had ratified the convention we could make sure they were properly conserved and looked after."

But as Panama has ratified the convention its government might be expected to act to protect the wrecks of the ships.

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Drakes Coffin Norway 1940

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