Claim: Elizabeth I of England reigned in England.

Sir Francis Drake , vice admiral -LRB- -- 27 January 1596 -RRB- was an English sea captain , privateer , navigator , slaver , and politician of the Elizabethan era . Drake carried out the second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition , from 1577 to 1580 , and was the first to complete the voyage as captain while leading the expedition throughout the entire circumnavigation . With his incursion into the Pacific Ocean , he inaugurated an era of privateering and piracy in the western coast of the Americasan area that had previously been free of piracy .   Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581 . He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588 . He died of dysentery in January 1596 after unsuccessfully attacking San Juan , Puerto Rico .   His exploits made him a hero to the English but a pirate to the Spaniards , to whom he was known as El Draque . King Philip II was said to have offered a reward of 20,000 ducats , about # 4 million -LRB- US$ 6.5 million -RRB- by modern standards , for his life .