Francis Drake finishes his circumnavigation of the Earth in Plymouth, England.

Francis Drake’s circumnavigation of the Earth, undertaken between 1577 and 1580, was one of the most celebrated voyages of the Age of Exploration. Drake sailed from Plymouth, England, in December 1577 with five ships and about 160 men, officially on an expedition to explore and trade but also with the intention of attacking Spanish possessions and shipping. After crossing the Atlantic and traveling down the coast of South America, the expedition passed through the dangerous Strait of Magellan in 1578. Storms and other difficulties reduced Drake’s fleet until his flagship, the *Golden Hind*, was the only vessel to continue into the Pacific Ocean.

Once in the Pacific, Drake sailed north along the western coast of South America, raiding Spanish ports and capturing valuable Spanish ships loaded with gold, silver, jewels, and other goods. One of his greatest prizes was the Spanish treasure ship *Nuestra Señora de la Concepción*, captured off the coast of present-day Ecuador in 1579. Drake continued northward along the Pacific coast of North America, possibly reaching as far as present-day Oregon before turning west across the Pacific. He stopped in the region of modern California, where he claimed territory for Queen Elizabeth I and called it “Nova Albion.” From there, the *Golden Hind* crossed the Pacific, visited the Moluccas in present-day Indonesia, and then sailed across the Indian Ocean and around the Cape of Good Hope.

Drake finally returned to Plymouth in September 1580, nearly three years after his departure, with only a fraction of his original crew but an enormous cargo of captured treasure and valuable spices. His voyage made him the first Englishman to circumnavigate the Earth and the second expedition to complete a circumnavigation, following the voyage begun by Ferdinand Magellan and completed by Juan Sebastián Elcano in 1522. Queen Elizabeth I knighted Drake aboard the *Golden Hind* in 1581, while Spain regarded him as a pirate responsible for attacks on its ships and settlements. The voyage brought great wealth and prestige to England, demonstrated the growing capabilities of English seafaring, and helped establish Drake as one of the most famous—and controversial—figures of the Elizabethan era.