"Golden Hind", Francis Drake's galleon. Sailing modeling Drawings of the Francis Drake ship Golden Hind

Sir Francis Drake
(National Portrait Gallery, London)

Francis Drake, born about 1540 in Devonshire near Tayvistok, was the eldest of twelve children of a fanatical Protestant who moved to Kent in the early fifties of the 16th century. There, a large and poor family lived in a leaky, dilapidated
ship The ship was the first home Drake remembered. At the age of twelve he became a cabin boy.
Subsequently, Drake liked to emphasize his Protestant origins and hatred of Catholics. Drake was educated with the help of a distant relative Sir John Hawkins, a nobleman and famous sailor. As a young man, Drake took part in Hawkins' voyages. In 1567, he already commanded the ship Judith, which, together with other Hawkins ships, attacked the Spaniards off the coast of America. Hawkins' squadron was ambushed and destroyed. "Judith", less damaged than the others, managed to get out of the bay, and, leaving his comrades to the mercy of fate, Drake headed home. Admiral Hawkins was forced to say about his protégé: “He abandoned us in a moment of misfortune,” but Drake subsequently managed to regain the favor of an influential relative.

In 1572, Drake returned to American shores with two small ships and carried out one of the first pirate landing operations - he managed to capture the Spanish city of Nombre de Dios, rob it and destroy churches. But it was not possible to remove the loot. The ensuing squall wet the gunpowder, and Drake himself was wounded in the leg. I had to flee. Then he sets off on a journey that immediately sets him apart from ordinary adventurers. Driven by the idea of ​​​​penetrating the Pacific Ocean, he organizes a passage through the Isthmus of Panama. The Indians took him to a tall tree, from which he saw the blue infinity of the Pacific Ocean. And, as he later assured, at that moment he offered up a prayer that God would give him the strength to go out into this ocean on an English ship.

Drake, content with plundering several Spanish land caravans, returned to the Atlantic. On August 9, 1573, he was already in Plymouth, covered with the glory of a daredevil who knew the way to unprotected Spanish possessions. It cannot be said that Drake became rich, but he preferred not to disappoint his listeners: the success of his next campaign depended largely on the impression he made.
In preparation for the voyage, Drake communicated his goals to various people in different ways. He wanted to seduce the queen and her closest assistants with the opportunity to find a way to the Moluccas and other lands hitherto closed to the British, and thereby change the balance of power in the struggle for the future empire. To the people whom he hoped to attract to finance his voyage, he put forward the temptation of fabulous booty off the Pacific coast of America. And for everyone else, Captain Drake was preparing to sail... to Alexandria.

He selected respectable shareholders for his enterprise, and one must assume that some of them knew about the real purpose of the trip. Of all the documents connected with Drake's sailing, only a fragment of a letter has reached us, written by the companions, in which, announcing their share in this enterprise, they asked the Chancellor, Lord Bagley, to obtain the Queen's approval in advance, so as not to miss the favorable opportunity for sailing. Among the companions were the admiral of the fleet
Clinton and the powerful Earl of Leicester, as well as Christopher Hatton, "Her Majesty's favorite dancing partner." Therefore, although historians claim that Lord Bagley knew nothing about the real essence of the matter, because he believed that England was not yet ready for a conflict with Spain, and was wary of taking risky steps, Queen Elizabeth agreed to receive Drake before sailing.

Drake himself invested a thousand pounds sterling in the enterprise - an impressive amount at that time, almost a third of all expenses. They hoped that the queen would give him one of her ships. But the queen did not want to so openly associate her name with the “trading trip to Alexandria,” which could have ended not at all off the coast of Africa. Then the shareholders purchased a new eighty-ton ship “Elizabeth”. Drake equipped the Pelican - a galleon 36.5 meters long, 6.7 meters wide, displacement - no more than 150 tons, and 22 guns (how he managed to place everything he had won in it, including more than 20 tons of silver, + crew, + supplies, + sometimes carried prisoners in the hold - will remain a mystery to me forever). In addition, he was assigned the small Marigold and two small auxiliary ships, which were to be sunk after the supplies loaded on them were used by the expedition. Finally, the prudent Drake ordered four fast boats to be placed disassembled in the holds of the ships. The guns also rested in the holds for the time being. The sailors' food and clothing were prepared by Drake more carefully than usual. In addition to crackers and corned beef - the basis of the sea diet - products such as prunes, honey and cheese were taken.

In total there were one hundred and sixty-four people on board the five small vessels, including a number of noble officers. On the Cape Verde Islands, hiding from the Portuguese in a quiet bay, they collected fresh water. Then, having already gone out to the open sea, they waylaid two Portuguese ships, and Drake gladly took the opportunity to remember the old craft of a pirate, and also to test his new companions in action.
But the main thing he was counting on when attacking the Portuguese was to find secret maps on the ships or to capture a good helmsman. He succeeded in the latter.
The helmsman da Silva at first refused to lead the British ships to Brazil and further south, but after
Porky became more accommodating.

Now it’s time to inform the ship’s crews about the purpose of the journey. The captains were given a password, a set of signals to use, and rendezvous points in case the fleet was scattered by a storm. The main gathering point was the coast of Chile at 30 degrees south latitude. This, by the way, is an obvious indication that Drake, although some historians still insist to the contrary, did not intend to go in search of Australia or the Moluccas,
without first passing along the coast of South America and checking how well the Spaniards guarded these waters.
And in England, just a few days after Drake's sailing, Queen Elizabeth knighted Christopher Hatton. And although evil tongues claimed that the reason for this was solely the choreographic abilities of her favorite, more serious people associated this with Drake’s undertaking. It is no coincidence that Hutton’s coat of arms was decorated on top with an image of a golden doe, and Francis Drake, as soon as he reached American shores, renamed his ship “Pelican”. From now on he was called the “Golden Hind” and under this name he went down in history.

Sir Christopher Hatton in a miniature by Nicholas Hilliard
Victoria and Albert Museum

* * *
The journey across the Atlantic Ocean took fifty-four days. Here the Portuguese pilot was very useful: the route to the southwest, to the Brazilian coast, was still little known to the British. Drake spent a lot of time over maps and in conversations with da Silva, with whom he gradually became close. He also carefully looked at the crews of ships, especially the officers, without disdaining gossip. It was then that Drake learned that his old friend Tom Doty had a secret conversation with an opponent of the trip, Lord Bagley, during a month-long stay on the Thames. The captain of the Elizabeth, Winter, the son of one of the shareholders, imposed by his partners, also aroused suspicion.
On July 20, 1578, they saw a sign left by Magellan at the place where he suppressed the riot and dealt with the dissatisfied; human bones were found nearby.
Drake also announced that he had uncovered a conspiracy, but to this day no one knows whether the conspiracy actually existed, or whether Drake found it necessary to invent it in order to intimidate the dissatisfied. Drake's friend, Doty, accused of treason, was beheaded right there on the shore.
On August 20, the entrance to the Strait of Magellan appeared, and the ships carefully crawled between the gloomy, winding shores. Drake was looking for a powerful current that carries ships from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. There was no current: it was invented by the Spaniards to scare away competitors.
“We saw lights coming out of the ground, and birds that could not fly,” da Silva, who lived on the Golden Hind, wrote in his diary. This diary, like the memoirs of another participant in the journey, Fletchsra, serves as the main source of information about the Drake expedition. Drake himself, unlike many famous pirates and travelers, did not write anything about his adventures.

On September 7, 1578, the first English ships passed the Strait of Magellan, and now severe trials began for Drake and his companions. Two days after the ships sailed into the Pacific Ocean, a storm came. For three weeks the ships were carried south. Through the fog and streams of rain, Drake saw rocks - perhaps Cape Horn, but until the end of his days he did not recognize that he was near the southern tip of the continent.
Finally the storm calmed down a bit. Some islands appeared on which fresh water was found. The ships, still holding together, headed north again. However, as soon as they reached the Strait of Magellan, a new storm began. On September 30, the large ships lost sight of the little Marigold, which drifted into the Strait of Magellan. She died on the reefs, and no one escaped from her. That night “Elizabeth” also disappeared. After waiting for her for several days, Drake ordered her to go north. So the “Golden Hind” was left alone.

Not far from the modern city of Concepcion, realizing that Spanish possessions were already close, Drake landed on the shore and gave the team a rest. And a few days later, when we moved on, we noticed a pirogue. The Indian sailing on it tried to hide, but they caught up with him, lifted him on board and first of all fed him. Several hours passed before the Indian, with the help of da Silva, realized that he was not with the Spaniards, but with their enemies. This was a pleasant discovery for the Indian. His fellow tribesmen had been convinced for many years that the Spaniards had no enemies, because they had conquered all other nations. To celebrate, the Indian offered to show the way to the harbor of Santiago, where the Spanish galleon stood.
On December 5, with the help of a new ally, the Golden Hind entered the harbor. The Galion "Captain" that stood there was no ordinary vessel: several years earlier she had been the flagship of the Sarmiento de Gamboa squadron that discovered the Solomon Islands. The boat from the “Golden Hind” headed towards the galleon. The Spaniards were convinced that a Spanish ship had appeared in the harbor - the appearance of the British was incredible.

Eighteen Englishmen, led by Drake himself, calmly landed on the galleon and, with the help of the Spaniards, boarded it. The ship was captured without a single shot being fired. Only one of the Spaniards, having come to his senses, threw himself overboard to warn the residents of the town and those crew members who were on the shore. Noticing this, Drake ordered the rest of the Spaniards to be driven into the hold and sent a party of sailors ashore: they had to get there before the Spaniards hid the valuables and disappeared into the hills.
In the evening there was a feast on board the Golden Hind in honor of the beginning of the pirate campaign. Drake swore to his companions that he would not leave these waters until he collected a million ducats. Already on the "Captain" thirty-seven thousand gold ducats from Valdivia and another two thousand barrels of good wine were found. The wine invigorated the team, and Drake was most pleased that the captain of the galleon did not have time to destroy the secret maps of the coast. Drake generously rewarded the Indian and ordered him to be lowered to shore in a place convenient for him.
In the war with the Spaniards, he intended to rely on their enemies.

The journey continued. The Golden Hind landed troops near small Spanish settlements and plundered them completely. They were lucky. Either they noticed on the shore a small caravan of pack llamas carrying eight hundred pounds of silver, then in Arika Bay they robbed three small ships and on one of them they found two hundred barrels of wine. The wine was just running out - the sailors of the Golden Hind had an enviable ability to absorb it. Once or twice he had to deal with Spanish troops, but in such cases Drake preferred not to tempt fate.
One day he broke into another Spanish port where twelve ships were anchored. Night had already fallen, and the crews of the ships went ashore, celebrating some kind of holiday. Drake learned that a galleon loaded with silver was about to arrive at this port, so his sailors searched ship after ship, cutting down the masts so that when the Spaniards realized they would not be able to give chase. There was no silver anywhere. The moon has risen. By its light, Drake saw another ship calmly enter the bay and anchor next to the Golden Hind. It was a ship from Panama.

Drake immediately sent the boat towards him. The Spaniards jumped overboard, but one of them was captured and, when brought to Drake, reported that two days ago they had met a heavily laden gallon. Drake immediately raised the sails and, taking the Panamanian ship in tow, rushed in pursuit. The sailors had not slept for a day, but Drake, having gathered them, said: “Whoever sees the galleon first will receive a golden chain as a reward.”
Shortly before this, the Viceroy of Peru in Lima learned of Drake's appearance off the Pacific coast. For a long time he could not believe that this was not an invention of frightened traders. But all the new news about the attacks of the English pirate that reached the viceroy forced him to assemble a detachment of two thousand to protect himself and send two large warships in pursuit of Drake. It was these ships that the British saw at dawn instead of the expected “silver” galleon. The Golden Hind's progress was weak: she was towing a Panamanian ship, on which there were several English sailors who were searching the holds and cabins. Drake shouted for them to immediately get into the boat and return to the Hind. But the sailors were overwhelmed by the excitement of robbery. Only when Drake himself, jumping into the skiff, swam up to the trophy and climbed onto it with threats and abuse, did the sailors stop the search, give up the tug and return to the Doe. And just in time: the Spaniards were already very close. Drake was saved this time by the fact that the Spaniards sailed without ballast and did not dare raise all the sails, and the Golden Hind was loaded and stable.
The pursuit lasted until dawn, but then the Spaniards had to turn back because in their haste they did not take any water or food with them. In addition, as the Spaniards wrote in a report to the Viceroy, “many of our lords suffered from seasickness and could not stand on their feet, let alone fight.” This last detail especially outraged the Viceroy, who not only imposed heavy fines on senior officers, but also did not allow the lords, exhausted by seasickness, to go ashore for several days.

Two more ships were sent after Drake, this time with a sufficient supply of provisions and water, but by that time the Golden Hind was already far away.
On March 1, 1579, page John Drake burst into the admiral's cabin shouting: “A galleon is on the horizon!” Taking the massive gold chain from his neck, the admiral put it on the teenager.
The chain reached his knees. Running onto the deck, Drake ordered empty wine barrels to be thrown overboard on ropes to slow down the speed: he did not want to attract the attention of the galleon until it was too late for it to prepare for battle. The “Golden Hind” could barely trudge along; Seeing this, the Spaniards themselves headed towards it, deciding that it was a Spanish coasting ship, and hoping to find out the news.
When several tens of meters remained between the ships, Drake demanded that the Spaniards surrender. The officer of the watch refused to do this. Drake gave the signal, the covers of the cannon ports were thrown back, and a salvo was heard. The mainmast of the galleon was knocked down, and one of Drake's archers - he trained several sailors in archery, not trusting the accuracy of musket shots - hit the ship's captain who ran out onto the deck with an arrow. In a few minutes it was all over. In order not to waste time (after all, Drake did not know how close the pursuers were), the British drove all the captured Spaniards into the hold, closed the hatches and, taking the trophy in tow, went to the open sea. For two days they walked straight into the ocean until they felt safe.

Only on the third morning did the admiral himself go with selected people to the galleon to search it properly. Galion turned out to be a floating treasure trove. On it were found fourteen chests of silver coins, eighty pounds of gold and one thousand three hundred silver bars, not to mention precious stones and exotic goods. In total, as Drake calculated, the captured cargo was valued at a quarter of a million pounds sterling, i.e. a hundred times the cost of equipping Drake's expedition.
That same day, Drake divided the spoils among the sailors - each with a cup full of silver coins.
Interestingly, local Spanish officials benefited greatly from Drake's robberies. If we add up the reports sent from America to Spain, it turns out that Drake plundered two hundred and forty tons of silver there. English documents give a much more accurate, although considerable, figure—twenty-six tons.

The rest of the silver, written off at Drake's expense, ended up in the bags of Spanish officials and merchants. By the way, for some reason it never occurred to anyone at the Spanish court that loading two hundred and forty tons of silver into a ship with a displacement of one hundred tons meant sinking it at least three times.
To celebrate, Drake released the galleon. He generally boasted that he had not shed the blood of a single Spaniard, with the exception of those who died in a fair battle. And although the Spaniards called him a dragon, news of his nobility in treating prisoners lives on today, especially in English literature. However, if you look at the fate of dozens of Spanish ships captured and robbed by Drake, it is easy to see that Drake was no less cruel than other pirates, only smarter and more cunning. He developed an ingenious procedure for dealing with captured ships: he ordered their masts to be cut down and sent them to sail at the will of the waves. No, he did not touch the Spaniards - let their God take care of them. And uncontrollable ships died in the first storm, or crashed against rocks, or were carried into the ocean...

Off the coast of Mexico, Drake released three Spaniards who were in his captivity, as well as the pilot da Silva. He did not want to leave the Golden Hind, believing that captivity on an English ship was better than the dungeons of the Spanish Inquisition. But Drake was adamant. The landing of the prisoners was part of his plan: these people were supposed to tell the Spaniards that Drake intended to turn back and go home through the Strait of Magellan. True, he did not convince da Silva of this. Having fallen, as he feared, into the hands of the Inquisition, da Silva, under torture, said that, in his opinion, Drake wanted to first go to the Californian shores in search of the strait between California and America, and then turn to the Moluccas. But neither Silva nor some other authorities who
were inclined to the same thought, the Spanish authorities did not believe it, and the main barrier was waiting for Drake off the Chilean coast.

There is reason to believe that due to the deteriorating condition of the Golden Hind, Drake wanted to abandon his visit to California and rush straight to the Moluccas. But, moving away from the South American shores, the British could not catch a fair wind for a long time, and Drake decided to follow the advice of Spanish maps and head north in search of the trade wind. For several weeks, the Golden Hind sailed north amid falling cold squalls, until finally an intensifying current forced her to turn east.
On June 17, 1579, the shore appeared, and Drake dropped anchor thirty miles from modern San Francisco.
The white cliffs of the bay (now Drake's Bay) reminded the admiral of the shores of Dover. Having examined the ship, he saw that he would have to pull it ashore and repair it properly. On the deserted shore, Drake ordered to build a rampart, and behind the rampart to put up tents from old sails. For five weeks they cleaned the bottom of the ship, patched it, changed the rigging and at the same time engaged in diplomacy, since it turned out that these shores were inhabited by Indians who had not yet met the Europeans and had not had time to form a negative opinion about them.

The respect that the Indians paid to Drake, who arrived on the “eagle with white wings,” as they called the “Golden Hind,” aroused superstitious fears among the English pirate. To dispel the spell, in case the behavior of the Indians was the machinations of the devil, Drake ordered the priest Fletcher to read a prayer. To the surprise of the Indians, the white people knelt down and then began to sing in chorus. This delighted the Indians. They tried to sing along with them and subsequently often demanded that Drake sing something to them. The admiral did not sing for them, but he was convinced that the devil had nothing to do with it, and calmed down.
A few days later, the Indians held a ceremony during which they presented Drake with a feather headdress and a shell necklace. Thus, they elevated him to the rank of tribal leader, rightly believing that such a powerful leader was a useful acquisition. Drake considered that the Indians were transferring their country under the protection of the English crown, accepted signs of authority and promised that the queen, whom he represented here, would gratefully annex these lands to her possessions. Since the parties remained in the dark about their actual mutual intentions, everyone was extremely pleased.
When the repairs were completed and the English were about to leave the hospitable country, Drake gave it the name “New Albion”, and also, as Fletcher writes, “erected a monument to the memory of our stay here, namely, a slab attached to a large pillar, on which he engraved the name Her Majesty, the day and year of our arrival and words about the transition of the province and its people under the hand of Her Majesty. (In the thirties of our century, this slab, which had long become part of the legend of Drake, was found by a random passer-by on one of the Californian hills.)

The journey across the Pacific Ocean took more than three months. Although, unlike Magellan, Drake firmly knew that sooner or later land would appear, it was not easy to endure this voyage. And we must pay tribute to the commander, whose foresight saved the lives of many sailors: there was no real hunger on board the Golden Hind, and almost everyone who left California lived to see the day on October 13 when the cabin boy shouted: “Earth!”
Apparently it was one of the Caroline Islands.
They had just dropped anchor when catamarans approached the Lani from all sides, loaded, as if they had been waiting for the British for a long time, with coconuts and fruits, squealing piglets and other provisions. The next day it was not possible to sail due to the fact that half of the crew fell ill - the change in food was very abrupt.
And two days later, the “Golden Hind” passed by an island where cloves were grown. The chief of the island said that he had already seen such ships as the Hind and was familiar with the Portuguese. So, the path to spices, long, difficult and dangerous, was completed. Previously, the path had led them away from home, but from these low, unfamiliar shores covered with coconut palms, the path home—the return—began.
First, Drake decided to visit the island of Tidore, one of the famous spice centers. But on the way there, when the Golden Hind stopped at the island of Motir, which belonged to the Sultan of Ternate, a representative of the Sultan came on board and asked to meet with Drake. Information about the appearance of the English ship had already spread throughout the archipelago, and the local rulers, who were aware of some of the vicissitudes of European politics, decided to use this appearance to their advantage - to fight the Portuguese.

The greed and cruelty of the Portuguese conquerors who settled in the Moluccas were so great that even the Catholic missionary Francis Xavier, who visited there in 1546, wrote that familiarity with the Portuguese language on the island was limited to the conjugation of the verb “to rob.” Local residents, according to the future saint, showed great ingenuity, successfully creating new participles and new tenses from this verb.
Finally, in 1565, Sultan Hairun of Ternate decided to expel the Portuguese from his possessions and declared war on them. Behind Khairun stood the Muslim rulers of the other islands, closely monitoring the outcome of the struggle. Despite the fact that a squadron arrived from Goa and the Portuguese managed to conclude a truce, their position remained difficult. Realizing that the Sultan could not be defeated in open battle - on land his troops were much stronger than the Portuguese, the Portuguese invited him to conclude an agreement in which they swore to respect the independence of the islands and establish more favorable terms of trade. The Sultan, who believed in the sincerity of his enemies, agreed to come to their camp in 1570 to sign a treaty. However, after the treaty was signed, the Sultan was treacherously killed: the word given to the “infidel” could be broken with impunity for the honor of the Catholic.
But the Portuguese miscalculated. The entire population of Ternate, led by the new Sultan Baabula, rose up against the invaders. The Portuguese fortresses were besieged, and reinforcements from Goa and Malacca only prolonged their agony.

In 1574, the Portuguese forts fell, and the Sultanate of Ternate with its rich reserves of spices was lost to Portugal. Now all that remained was to hope for the rivalry between the Sultans of Tidore and Ternate.
Indeed, in 1578, the Sultan of Tidore, counting on the help of the Portuguese in the fight against their neighbors, allowed them to build a trading post and a fort on his island.
By the time Drake appeared off the coast of the Moluccas, the situation of the Ternatan Sultan Baabula was difficult. He had a lot of unsold spices accumulated in his warehouses: after all, Muslim trade in this area was practically destroyed by the Portuguese and only a few ships from India and China broke through the Portuguese blockade. Under the current conditions, the appearance of Europeans on the Moluccas, who did not hide the fact that they were enemies of the Portuguese, was truly a gift from heaven for the Sultan of Ternate.

Drake also immediately appreciated the opportunities opening up for the British. After listening to the Sultan's representative, he immediately changed course, and a few days later the Golden Hind was solemnly greeted off the coast of Ternate.
A flotilla of prau warboats slowly sailed towards the Lani, each with a brass cannon at the bow. Surrounded by military praus, boats floated, where nobles sat under scented silk canopies.
The first to board the English ship was the Sultan's brother, who brought gifts from his royal relative.
The next day Drake responded to the Sultan with equal courtesy. Fortunately, he also had a brother on board who could be sent ashore in charge of the embassy.

The British paid the Sultan for spices with looted gold and silver, paid generously, and both sides - a rare case in the history of relations between Asians and Europeans at that time - were pleased with each other and dreamed of continuing these relations in the future. The cautious warnings of the Turkish ambassadors, who knew the real value of the Europeans' assurances of friendship, did not reach the ears of the great Sultan. The only thing that marred Drake's stay in Ternate was the inability to pay a visit to the Sultan. Drake was simply not allowed ashore by the crew.
The “Golden Hind” also landed in Java, where a meeting took place with the local rulers. The news of the arrival of the Portuguese enemies rushed from island to island, overtaking Drake; the reception provided convinced us of how great the hatred for the Portuguese was in the Indian Ocean and the South Seas and how many wonderful opportunities open up here for their competitors. True, in the wide fame that the Golden Hind gained in the Indian Ocean, there was also a danger: sooner or later these rumors had to reach the Portuguese. And already in Java, Drake was warned that a ship that had recently arrived from India had seen several large caravels in the ocean, hurrying here.
Having shortened his stopover in Java, Drake set off straight across the Indian Ocean, trying to stay away from trade routes. Now he had only one goal - to get home. There could be no talk of any pirate raids or any adventures. The Golden Hind could be an easy and fabulously rich prey for any Portuguese or Spanish warship. Finally, on September 26, 1580, having been at sea for two years, ten months and eleven days, the Golden
The doe arrived safely in Plymouth.

Drake became the first captain to circumnavigate the globe while preserving the lives of most of the sailors who went with him on the Pelican. After all, Magellan, as we know, did not return home.
It is difficult to exaggerate the fame that Drake has received. “My dear pirate” the queen called him, putting into these words all possible affection and gratitude towards the traveler. The "Golden Hind" became an object of worship. For more than a hundred years, until it rotted, it stood at the pier on the Thames, and was shown to guests as one of the most important attractions of England. A chair was made from the boards of her deck; gifted by King Charles II to the University of Oxford, it still stands there.

Drawing of the "Golden Hind" from the book "European shipbuilding in the 17th - early 18th centuries" by Orazio Curti captain-every.narod.ru/shiphistory.html

Modern model of the galleon "Golden Hind" in Brixham - galleries

Drake will distinguish himself more than once in the Queen's service. He would defeat the Spanish fleet in Cadiz, be one of the victors of the “Invincible Armada” and die on board the ship during a great voyage to the shores of Latin America.
On the Drake monument, standing in the German city of Offenburg, the great pirate is depicted with a flower in his hand. This is a potato flower. The inscription on the pedestal reads: “To Sir Francis Drake, who introduced potatoes to Europe. Millions of farmers around the world bless his immortal memory. This is help to the poor, a precious gift from God, alleviating bitter need.”

http://www.diary.ru/~AksaAt/p82336681.htm?oam

Who would have thought that “Golden Hind” (the English version of the ship’s name) was originally called “Pelican”.

The birth of the legendary galleon

The ship left the English stocks under the name "Pelican". The type of vessel was called a galleon - these are the vessels that replaced the caravels and carracks (which were actively used during the era of the largest geographical discoveries).

Galleons had a much more elegant hull, in which there was no longer a heavy superstructure at the stern. The Pelican was three-masted and had a mainsail, a mizzen and a foresail. The mizzen mast “held” a slanted “Latin” sail, and the foremast and mainmast were armed with straight sails. Under the bowsprit there was another straight sail called a blind.

At that time, they didn’t make ship drawings, so they built everything “by eye” and on a whim. That is why there is no consensus about the galleon regarding its exact dimensions. According to various sources, its length varies from 25 to 40 m, width - 5.8-6.7 m, displacement - in the range of 110-150 tons.

But for all its dimensions, the sailboat was extremely maneuverable and fast. There is also no exact information about what and how much the Pelican was armed with. Approximately, these were 18-22 medium-caliber guns.

The sailboat was interesting. A pattern of red and yellow diamonds was applied throughout the hull (giving the appearance of a Spanish galleon), and a pelican was also painted. When the sailing ship was renamed the “Golden Hind,” a corresponding image appeared on its hull, and a real golden figure of a doe was located under the bowsprit.

Francis Drake, known as the Iron Pirate, was the first and only captain of this ship.

Transformation of "Pelican" into "Golden Hind"

Between 1577 and 1580, a circumnavigation of the world was completed, which not only glorified the ship, giving it numerous honors, but also renamed it from the Pelican to the Golden Hind.

In 1577, the galleon was equipped with 4 other ships on a potentially profitable voyage towards South America with the aim of plundering Spanish ships, which in most cases were filled with jewelry. The Pelican was the largest of all those assembled and stood out significantly in appearance.

Almost immediately after sailing, Drake decided to rename the ship “Golden Hind”. History stores two versions as an explanation for this act.

The “Iron Pirate” wanted to clearly demonstrate the speed and maneuverability of his sailing ship and/or flattered Lord Hutton, who was considered his patron, and on whose family coat of arms a doe was depicted. Subsequently, both versions were accepted, which did not contradict each other and could well be true.

Not all seas were favorable for the squadron. In the first storm, all the ships except the Lani were lost - one sank, three barely managed to return back to England. At the same time, Drake was carried decently in a southerly direction. It was there that the strait was discovered, which was named after its discoverer.

But, even having lost all his ships, the “Iron Pirate” successfully and enthusiastically plundered absolutely everything that came in his way for three whole years of wandering around the world.

There was a moment when the galleon was so overloaded with loot that Drake ordered only pearls and gold to be left on board, and silver to be thrown overboard without sparing.

After all, the Golden Hind returned to Plymouth at the end of 1580, filled to the brim with loot. Half of all the goods replenished the royal treasury, which is why Queen Elizabeth I knighted the “Iron Pirate” right at the stern of his own ship. Absolutely everyone became proud of Drake and his sailboat.

What happened to the Golden Hind in the modern era?

After the second circumnavigation in history, the Golden Hind became a source of pride for the British. The galleon was moored for life on the Thames. There it stood for less than a century (until 1662), and all this time it was considered one of the most important London landmarks. It was dismantled due to dilapidation.

Already in the 20th century, two replicas of the legendary galleon were recreated (1973 and 1963). Taking into account the fact that history did not preserve detailed drawings of the ship, and everything was recreated from verbal descriptions from various historical sources, both options were not similar to each other.

One of the copies, created in 1973, repeated Drake's circumnavigation. Since 1996 it has become a floating vessel, standing on the south bank of the Thames. The galleon from 1963 settled in Devonshire in the city of Brixham.

Added: 05/10/2011

Legendary ship...

The modest Pelican, under the command of Francis Drake, left Plymouth on December 13, 1577 at the head of a small squadron of 5 ships, so that after 2 years, 9 months and 13 days, in splendid isolation, he returned to the native shores of the legendary Golden Hind.

No one knows what this ship looked like. In any case, currently no documents have been found in the archives that would help restore its appearance. A large number of portraits of Sir Francis Drake himself are known. There are no “portraits” of the Golden Hind... Those few images of this ship on the maps created “hot on the heels” of Drake’s expedition are too schematic and carry a different meaning. Also, no descriptions or (especially) drawings of the Pelican were found. Measurement registers were not kept in those days - this all appeared later.

Therefore, all the numbers and other data below are only one of the options, maybe the most popular, but still "one of the options".

We can only say with certainty that it was a three-masted ship.

We will call it a galleon, as the dominant definition of the type of vessel.

Although there are also different points of view on this matter. One of the alternatives is a transitional version of the karakka - galleon.

Place of construction.

Pelican was built at the shipyard in Aldeburgh (Aldborough), Suffolk, in 1576, then fitted out with sails and artillery at Plymouth.

This is the most common version of the ship's origin (and, of course, relentlessly defended by the British). But besides this, there are also opinions that the Pelican was privatized by Drake from the Spaniards, and even that it was secretly built at a Portuguese shipyard.

Basic dimensions.

This is, of course, the most slippery moment. Here is the following data (according to research from the London Scientific Institute):

• Longest Length: 75 ft (22.86 m)
• Keel length: 47 ft (14.33 m)
• Hull Width: 19 ft (5.79 m)
• Draft: 9 ft (2.7 m)
• Displacement: 300 tons
• Load capacity: 100-150 tons

Despite the rather wide range of opinions regarding the main dimensions of Golden Hind, everyone agrees that it was small galleon even by the standards of its time. Moreover, it was one of the smallest galleons.

(Galleons of that time are known that exceeded the Golden Hind in linear dimensions by 2.5 - 3 times, and in displacement by 5 or more times)

Sailing weapons.

Here we can say with a high degree of confidence that Pelican - Golden Hind carried 5 straight sails (1 on the bowsprit and 2 each on the foremast and mainmast) and 1 lateen on the mizzen.

True, here too there are other opinions - for example, that the ship was also armed with brams (i.e., a third sail on the foremast and mainmast).

Artillery weapons.

There is also a very wide range of opinions on this issue: from 4 to 28 guns of different calibers.

Oddly enough, documentary evidence on this matter has been preserved in Spanish archives. So, according to the testimony of two Spanish soldiers, former prisoners of the Golden Hind, the ship carried 7 (9 for the second eyewitness) guns on board.

In addition, the chronicler of the expedition, ship's chaplain Francis Fletcher, writes that when the Golden Hind landed on a reef in the Moluccas, in order to refloat, 3 tons of spices and 8 cannons had to be thrown overboard.

It is impossible not to take into account a well-known fact. The ships of that time (and not only pirate ships) were constantly re-arming and disarming: if they captured someone else’s ship, they installed better guns; there is not enough space for cargo - we got rid of the “extra” guns...

Golden Hind Crew

The crew of Golden Hind consisted of 80 - 85 people. Of these: 15-20 people are officers (in the 16th century this concept was somewhat different from the modern one) and up to 60-70 crew people (including carpenters, cooks, cabin boys, ship musicians (!), etc.).

56 people returned home

Pelican - Golden Hind

Pelican was renamed Golden Hind in the summer of 1578.

According to one version, the ship received a new name for its excellent performance - the Spanish galleons could not catch up and intercept it.

In another version, there are “political” motives. The fact is that in July Drake executed Thomas Doughty, accusing him of organizing a rebellion (and at the same time of witchcraft). And Doughty was the personal secretary and confidant of one of the main “sponsors” of the Drake expedition - Lord Chancellor (and favorite of Queen Elizabeth I) Christopher Hatton, whose coat of arms featured a doe. By renaming the galleon, Drake emphasized his respect and loyalty to the powers that be.

Legend has it that Francis Drake ordered a life-size solid gold figurehead of a doe to be erected.

The results of Drake's expedition are well known.

Apart from geographical discoveries, the most important political consequences, and the self-assertion of England as a maritime power, there were also purely material ones. The Golden Hind brought in its holds gold, silver, jewelry and spices in an amount equal to almost 2 annual income of the English treasury.

On April 4, 1581, Queen Elizabeth boarded the Golden Hind to knight Francis Drake.

Also, by order of Queen Elizabeth, the Golden Hind was permanently moored in Deptford at the mouth of the Thames and was shown to guests as one of the most important attractions in England.

This appears to be the earliest preservation of a vessel of historical significance.

The boards from the Golden Hind deck were used to make a chair that was given by King Charles II to the University of Oxford, and it still stands there today. In London's Temple Hall there is kept (and used on ceremonial occasions) a pulpit also made of Golden Hind wood.

Replicas of the Golden Hind

In 1973, British shipbuilders produced a replica of the Golden Hind, which, four centuries after Drake's ship, repeated the route of its famous predecessor. In total, the new Golden Hind traveled a distance of 225,000 km.

Since 1996, it has been permanently parked in the London district of Southwark and is used as a museum.

Another copy of the Golden Hind has been moored at Brixham Harbor in Devonshire since 1963.

Greetings!
I present the continuation of the “Stars” line for the “Invincible Armada” gaming system. Galleon "Golden Hind".

Story

The ship is famous, so let’s talk about it briefly.
Built at a shipyard in the city of Aldeburgh (modern Aldborough), Suffolk, East Anglia. Then he was transferred to Plymouth, where he received sailing equipment and weapons. The galleon was named "Pelican".

It was purchased by Drake and his companions for what they themselves called a “trading trip to Alexandria.”
By the way, Drake himself invested a thousand pounds sterling, a significant amount at that time, almost a third of the expenses for the “trip to Alexandria.”

The ship was small, its performance characteristics: Total length - 36.6 meters. Width - 6.7 meters. Draft - 2.7 meters. The height of the grotto is 28 meters. Displacement - 300 tons. Tonnage 100 - 150 tons. Armament - 22 guns. Addition: there were 14 guns, there were also 4 falconets and 4 hand-held guns. Speed ​​- 15 km/h. Crew - 85 people.

The galleon was renamed the Golden Hind off the coast of the Strait of Magellan.
The circumnavigation of the world took place from 1577 to 1580, the voyage took two years, ten months and eleven days.
By the way, Drake was the first captain to circumnavigate the globe, while preserving the lives of most of the sailors who went sailing with him.
85 people went to the Golden Hind, but 56 came back. After all, Magellan, as we know, did not return home.
In total, Drake's expedition consisted of 156 people on 5 ships. The main ones were the flagship "Golden Hind", "Elizabeth" under the command of Captain Winter, the son of one of the shareholders, and the small ship "Marigold". Two ships served as food transports and were abandoned. From the main composition of the expedition, the "Golden Hind" circumnavigated the world, "Elizabeth", due to the betrayal of her captain Winter, abandoned the expedition and returned to England in 1579. By the way, they wanted to hang Winter, but they delayed execution until Drake returned; Drake, at the peak of his fame, spared Winter. And the Marigold was caught in a storm and crashed on the rocks of the Strait of Magellan; no one escaped from it.

In conclusion, a couple of interesting facts about the financial component of the “trading trip to Alexandria”.
The profit on each pound invested was 47 pounds, that is, 4700%.
Forbes magazine ranked Drake second on its list of the world's richest pirates with a net worth of $115 million. Link .

Now about the model itself

First of all, a very small ship, length 10.4 cm, width along the deck 2 cm, width along the main yard 4 cm.

Therefore, it became clear that the parts would have to be primed and painted separately.
Which is what I did. I primed it with "Tamiay" gray from a can.

I used an airbrush to paint the outer parts of the starboard and port sides and deck.
I painted the masts, yards, guns, the inside of the sides, deadeyes, crow's nests, the sheathing of the forecastle and poop with a brush.

I used the following paints, the lower part of the "Tamiay" TS-27 body is white, a can.
The outer part of the sides, the aft balcony, the crow's nests, the beams on the anchors, the outer part of the boat, the gun mounts, - Vallejo, Model Air No. 034. Sandy drown.
Decks, masts and interior of aft balcony, interior of boat - Vallejo, Model Air No. 077. Wood.
Yards, deadeyes, edging of sides, crow's nests and masts - Vallejo, No. 154. Game extraopaque.
The inner part of the sides is Vallejo, No. 957. Flat red.
Gun barrels, stern canopy - Vallejo, No. 801. Brass.
Lantern glass - Vallejo, No. 956.Clear orange.
Anchor bodies - Vallejo, No. 863. Gunmenal grey.
Stand - Vallejo, No. 998. Bronze. Highlighting along the edges - No. 998. Bronze + No. 801. Brass + No. 996. Gold.
Blackout stand - Vallejo, No. 950. Black.
The shrouds were not painted. Out of the box.

Next, assembly. The parts fit together tolerably, with the exception of the halves of the sides in the area of ​​the nose, which had to be glued, then covered with glue and repainted. The pin holding the halves together, unfortunately, broke.
There were also problems with the forecastle roof; it had to be adjusted and sharpened. The guns were there, they had to be attached with glue. And yes, they need to be inserted after installing the sides, cutting off the fastening pin and placing them on glue.

Lastly, the waterline portion of the hull does not fit snugly to the top of the hull.
I believe that all these problems are due to the layer of primer and paint.

Unfortunately, I did not do the standing and running rigging, the masts were very thin, I began to pull the nylon thread, but the masts with the yards began to bend.

That seems to be all about assembling the model.

Sincerely,
Greg_cdv.