On this day Sir Francis Drake set out from Plymouth in the south of England on his famous quest to circumnavigate the world. The expedition was termed a ‘voyage of discovery’, but was in effect an ambitious covert raiding voyage and the start of England’s challenge to the global maritime domination of Spain and Portugal. Drake’s capturing of Spanish ships and plundering of Spanish settlements during the voyage was one of the main factors that eventually led to the start of the Anglo-Spanish war in 1585.
Drake Leaves to Circumnavigate the World
13th December 1577