The Golden Hinde

The Golden Hinde (sometimes "Hind") was the name given by Sir Francis Drake to his ship (originally the Pelican) in honor of his friend Christopher Hatton, whose family crest featured a hinde. The Golden Hinde boasted eighteen guns and weighed close to 100 tons, and was the ship Drake captained on his historical circumnavigation of the globe, making him the first Englishman and captain to complete such a feat (while Ferdinand Magellan is commonly thought of as the first, Drake was the first captain), and making the Golden Hinde the first ship to do so. The renaming occured on the twentieth of August, 1578 as Drake and his company were about to enter the Straits of Magellan. Sir Drake's flotilla included the Elizabeth and her pinnace the Benedict, the Marigold, and the supply ship the Swan, as well as a small ship captured along the way and renamed the Christopher.

Drake successfully navigated the Golden Hinde through the straits, although this part of the voyage was treacherous and took sixteen days. It was after clearing the last part of the straits and reaching the Pacific Ocean that disaster struck. Heavy storms raged for a fortnight, in the midst of which was a lunar eclipse. During a series of gales the Marigold foundered and the Elizabeth returned through the straits to head back to England, believing the other ships to be lost. The smaller ships had also been lost in the storm, and so it was that Drake completed his voyage with only the Golden Hinde. The ship reached Plymouth once again on the twenty-sixth of September, 1580.

After completion of this tremendous voyage, Sir Francis Drake was knighted aboard the Golden Hind by Queen Elizabeth I.