Sir John Hawkins, b. 1532, d. Nov. 12, 1595,

Between 1562 and 1569, Hawkins led three expeditions in which black slaves were taken from Africa for sale to Spanish colonies in the West Indies. On the third voyage (1567-69), in which his kinsman Francis DRAKE took part, he was involved in a major battle with a Spanish fleet at San Juan de Ulua, off the coast of Mexico, and lost many of his men and ships. Hawkins commanded a portion of the English fleet that defeated the SPANISH ARMADA in 1588. He died at sea on an unsuccessful expedition to the West Indies; Drake died during the same expedition.
Stanford E. Lehmberg

The deterioration of relations with Spain led Queen ELIZABETH I to back an expedition to sail around the world, a feat that had been accomplished only once before, by a Spanish expedition under Ferdinand MAGELLAN. Drake was placed in charge of five small ships and about 160 men and left Plymouth in December 1577. The voyage was a difficult one. Drake had to put down a mutiny off the Patagonian coast and abandoned two small storeships. It took 16 days to pass through the Strait of Magellan; one ship abandoned the quest and returned to England and another disappeared during a storm. Thus, by the time he reached the Pacific, Drake was left with only one ship, the Golden Hind. He traveled up the coasts of Chile and Peru raiding Spanish shipping and sailed far to the north before returning south to touch land in the San Francisco area; he claimed the surrounding region for England and named it New Albion. Drake then set off across the Pacific; he traded in the Spice Islands (Moluccas) and signed treaties with local rulers. He returned to England via the Indian Ocean and the Cape of Good Hope, reaching Plymouth on Sept. 20, 1580, laden with treasure and spices. For his accomplishments, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I.

Drake served as mayor of Plymouth for some years. In 1585, however, he was given command of a large fleet that sacked Vigo, in Spain, then crossed the Atlantic to capture and plunder Cartagena and Santo Domingo and to destroy St. Augustine, in Florida. In 1587 he led a raid on Cadiz that destroyed the stores and many of the ships of the Spanish fleet. This exploit delayed the attack of the SPANISH ARMADA for a year. Drake played a major role in the successful English defense against the armada in 1588 and was acclaimed as England's hero. But his forces were defeated at Lisbon in 1589, and for some years he remained in Plymouth. A final voyage to the West Indies, begun in 1595, was totally unsuccessful; Drake died off the coast of Panama on Jan. 28, 1596.
Bruce B. Solnick

When the outgunned and inadequately provisioned Armada appeared off Plymouth on July 30, it was met by an English fleet of equal or superior strength. In spite of the efforts of Francis DRAKE, Martin FROBISHER, John HAWKINS, and other English captains, the Spanish maintained their order of battle and lost only two ships before arriving at Calais. The rendezvous with Farnese failed, however. Lacking adequate ships of his own and blockaded by Dutch rebels whose shallow-draft flyboats easily eluded the Spanish galleons, Farnese could not embark his troops. Then, on August 8, English fire ships drove the Armada out of its Calais anchorage. The Spanish regrouped and fought another action off Gravelines, but they were now out of ammunition. Realizing that the situation was lost, Medina Sidonia sailed north around Scotland and Ireland and returned to Spain. He suffered heavy losses because of disease and shipwreck.

The defeat of the Armada did not affect the naval balance of power: England had been a major sea power before 1588, and the Spanish fleet was quickly rebuilt afterward. It did demonstrate that Spain lacked the power to impose religious unity on Europe.
William S. Maltby

With the development of the galleon, naval battle tactics were revolutionized. Where earlier ships had to use oarsmen to bring them within boarding range of the enemy, the galleon could hold its position into the wind and use its broadside banks of cannon to shell enemy ships lying at a distance.