Sir Francis Drake

This passage is about the famous English captain, Sir Francis Drake.

Lexile Level: 770L

Categories: History People & Places

Sir Francis Drake was an English ship captain. He was also Vice Admiral of the English naval fleet. He lived from 1540 to 1596. From an early age, he worked on ships. He lived during a time when England and Spain fought many battles at sea. Drake was a privateer. A privateer is essentially a pirate employed by the government. He attacked Spanish colonies and ships and stole their valuables. He was the first English person to circumnavigate the Earth. He set sail from England with five ships, but only one ship made it around the bottom of South America to the west coast of North America. Later, he continued plundering Spanish ships and colonies in places such as Florida. He also rescued the first Roanoke colony of English people. His final fight was against the islands of the West Indies, such as Puerto Rico and Portobelo. He died of dysentery on this voyage and was buried at sea.