English ship Aid ( 1562 ) Aid or Ayde was an 18 - gun ship of the Royal Navy . She was built at Deptford Dockyard , being launched on 6 October 1562 . She was rebuilt in 1580 and was broken up in 1599 . For the majority of her service , she was commanded by Sir Martin Frobisher . Service history . Le Havre ( 1562 ) . " Aid " was one of three ships built in 1562 due to the threat of war with France . Her first duty , in autumn of that year , was to help supply the English garrison at Le Havre . This continued until the port was captured by French loyalist forces from the Huguenots in August the following year . Service off the coast of Scotland ( 1565 ) . Anthony Jenkinson was sent in the " Aid " to Scotland during the political crisis of the Chaseabout Raid . He sailed into the Firth of Forth on 25 September 1565 . Jenkinson had intended to blockade Leith to prevent Lord Seton bringing munitions for Mary , Queen of Scots from France . He was instructed not to declare that he had been sent by the English government . An adverse wind brought him within range of the cannon of the fortress isle of Inchkeith and he reurned to Berwick - upon - Tweed . Jenkinson ' s failure resulted in a dispute with the Earl of Bedford who was England ' s leading diplomat in Scottish affairs . Expedition to the Northwest Passage ( 1577 ) . The ship ' s next major duty was in 1577 , when the ship was granted to Martin Frobisher as part of his second expedition what is now the far north islands of Canada . The expedition was made up of the " Aid " , commanded by Frobisher , and two barks , the " Gabriel " and the " Michael " , commanded by Edward Fenton and Gilbert Yorke respectively . The fleet , consisting over about 120 men , departed Harwich on 31 May 1577 . The expedition brought back 200 tons of ore , although the value of this was less than Frobisher ' s investors had hoped . They also brought back a family of Inuit , but all three ; man , woman and her child , died within a month of arriving in England . Second expedition to the Northwest Passage ( 1578 ) . Another voyage ensued , with Frobisher this time taking some fifteen vessels to explore the Northwest Passage , mine ore and establish a manned settlement in the area . The journey was tough , with strong winds and thick ice preventing them from travelling beyond the Hudson Strait , and they returned to Frobisher Bay . There , " Aid " was hulled below the waterline by an ice floe , requiring repair by a sheet of lead . They abandoned plans to establish a settlement in the area and returned to England with over 1 , 000 tons of ore . Anglo - Spanish War ( 1580s ) . " Aid " was rebuilt in 1580 as relations with the Spanish deteriorated . Under the command of Frobisher , " Aid " was involved in the Siege of Smerwick , as part of the English fleet sent to remove a combined Spanish - Papal force taking refuge at Dún an Óir . Remaining under Frobisher ' s command , " Aid " was one of two ships contributed by Queen Elizabeth I to Sir Francis Drake ' s expedition to the Spanish West Indies in 1585 . She was later part of Drake ' s fleet at Plymouth to meet the Spanish Armada , remaining with the fleet from the arrival of the Armada on 31 July until the defeat of the Spanish at the Battle of Gravelines , eight days later . The " Aid " was also involved in the ill - fated Counter Armada the following year .