Golden Hind
Golden Hinde, a modern replica
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| History | |
|---|---|
 England
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| Name: | Pelican |
| Launched: | 1577 |
| Sponsored by: | Queen Elizabeth I of England |
| Renamed: | Golden Hind(e) (1578) |
| Fate: | Disintegrated and broken up in late 1600s; two replicas exist |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Galleon |
| Tonnage: | 100–150 tons |
| Displacement: | 300 tons |
| Length: | 102 ft (31 m) on deck |
| Beam: | 20 ft (6.1 m) |
| Draught: | 9 ft (2.7 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sail; Wind |
| Speed: | 8 knots (15 km/h) |
| Complement: | 80–85 |
| Armament: | 22 guns |
| Armour: | None |
| Notes: | Sail area: 386 m² |
Golden Hind was an English galleon best known for her privateering circumnavigation of the globe between 1577 and 1580, captained by Sir Francis Drake. She was originally known as Pelican, but was renamed by Drake mid-voyage in 1578, in honour of his patron, Sir Christopher Hatton, whose crest was a golden 'hind' (a female red deer). Hatton was one of the principal sponsors of Drake's world voyage. There are two full size replicas in existence, one in Brixham, Devon, and a second in London
In 1577, Queen Elizabeth partly sponsored Sir Francis Drake as the leader of an expedition intended to pass around South America through the Strait of Magellan and to explore the coast that lay beyond. The queen's support was advantageous; Drake had official approval to benefit himself and the queen as well as to cause the maximum damage to the Spaniards. This would eventually culminate in the Anglo–Spanish War. Before setting sail, Drake met the queen face-to-face for the first time and she said to him, "We would gladly be revenged on the King of Spain for divers injuries that we have received." The explicit object was to "find out places meet to have traffic." Drake, however, acted as a privateer, with unofficial support from Queen Elizabeth.
He set sail in December 1577 with five small ships, manned by 164 men, and reached the Brazilian coast in early 1578. Drake's flagship, Pelican, which he renamed Golden Hind, displaced only about 100 tons.
On 1 March 1579, now in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Ecuador, Golden Hind challenged and captured the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de la Concepción. This galleon had the largest treasure captured to that date: over 360,000 pesos (equivalent to around £480m in 2017). The six tons of treasure took six days to transship and included 26 tons of silver, half a ton of gold, porcelain, jewellery, coins and jewels.
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Wikipedia