British pirate and subject of Queen Elizabeth I, Francis Drake, finished his circumnavigation of the globe when he returned to Plymouth, England, on September 26, 1580.
Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition (1519 – 1522) is often credited as the first circumnavigation of the globe, but Magellan himself died in 1521 in the Philippines, with Juan Sebastián Elcano completing the journey as captain. There are no well-documented cases of a captain completing a full circumnavigation before Drake, making the pirate’s circumnavigation (1577 – 1580) the first where the initial captain, Drake himself — survived to complete the entire journey.
Drake began his circumnavigation in 1577 with five ships: the Pelican (later renamed Golden Hind), Elizabeth, Marigold, Swan, and Christopher. By the time he returned to England in 1580, only one ship, the Golden Hind, completed the journey. The others were either lost, scuttled, or abandoned due to damage, crew issues, or strategic decisions during the voyage.
Nevertheless, the expedition was dubbed a success, for during his voyage, Drake raided Spanish ships and settlements, capturing vast amounts of gold, silver, jewels, and other valuables, particularly from Spanish colonies in the Americas and the treasure ship Nuestra Señora de la Concepción (known as the Cacafuego). The haul was so substantial that it reportedly filled the Golden Hind to capacity. Upon his return to England, Drake’s plunder was estimated to be worth around £600,000, an immense fortune at the time.
Such was “exploration” in the 16th century.
One reply on “Drake’s Voyage”
Someone might wonder what the equivalent would be in to-day’s dollars of £600,000 in 1580.
Properly, the answer is that no equivalence can be found. The commodities available then are very different from those available now, and the well-being of one person is never commensurable with that of another, making impossible a measure of the benefit of £600,000 to any group of people in 1580 in terms of the benefit of some sum to any group of people in 2025.
None-the-less, the convention is to splice together price indices, as if these mere heuristics can be chained together indefinitely without swiftly becoming absurd. If we do that, then the answer given will be US$381.5 billion. That answer is rubbish, but it’s what you’ll get.