caption serviceyears commands wealth death_date death_place birth_place allegiance battles birth_date nickname rank image article_title name type
sir oil on canvas , by marcus gheeraerts the younger francis drake in buckland abbey 16th century , 1563 & nbsp ; -- 1596 '' pelican '' -rrb- '' bonaventure '' '' revenge '' golden hind '' -lrb- previously known as '' 115 2 27 january 1596 15 february 1540 portobelo , colón , panama tavistock , devon , england england anglo -- spanish war battle of gravelines ca . yes 1540 el , `` the dragon '' -rrb- draque -lrb- spanish -rrb- , draco -lrb- latin vice admiral 1590 buckland abbey , devon.jpg or later marcus gheeraerts , sir francis drake francis drake
 sir francis drake privateer
francis drake

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 it as captain and leader of the expedition throughout the entire circumnavigation .
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 were legendary , making 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 m -rrb- by modern standards , for his life .
