September 26, 1580

Francis Drake's circumnavigation

Francis Drake returns to Plymouth after circumnavigating the globe

Drake's first move after reaching Plymouth was a secret, urgent message to the queen — not a public celebration.

One ship out of five enters Plymouth Harbour

On 26 September 1580 the Golden Hind entered Plymouth Harbour, having sailed home by way of the Cape of Good Hope and Sierra Leone. Five ships had left England on 13 December 1577; the Golden Hind was the only one to complete the circuit and return.

The voyage had taken about 34 months. The recorded date is Old Style Julian, the calendar England then used, and corresponds to 6 October 1580 in the proleptic Gregorian calendar.

A cargo England could not easily explain

The ship came back carrying spices and captured Spanish treasure — described in an English annal as gold, silver, pearls, and precious stones. Raiding Spanish ships and settlements had been central to the enterprise, not incidental to it.

Drake's first action on landing was to send the result urgently and confidentially to Elizabeth I, because the captured property posed an immediate diplomatic problem: England and Spain were not yet formally at war, and the Spanish ambassador Bernardino de Mendoza represented a government already aware of the raids.

Master Drake, not yet Sir Francis

The return completed the first circumnavigation conducted throughout by the same commander. Magellan's earlier expedition had been completed under Juan Sebastián Elcano after Magellan died in the Philippines.

Elizabeth's court and Privy Council now faced the question of whether to acknowledge Drake and keep the treasure or appease Spain by giving it back. Drake was still 'Master Drake' when he entered Plymouth; his knighthood came aboard the Golden Hind in 1581.

Sources

Researched 24 Aug 2026 7 sources not yet audited Traditional date

How this was checked

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Traditional date. This date is the conventional one, not one fixed by a contemporary record.

What the sources leave uncertain

The recorded 26 September date is Old Style Julian, the calendar then used in England. It corresponds to 6 October 1580 in the proleptic Gregorian calendar.
The date is otherwise well attested; the calendar note does not indicate uncertainty about the arrival itself.
Exact surviving-crew and cargo totals vary among accounts and have therefore not been repeated as verified numbers here.
Calling Drake the 'second person' to circumnavigate is imprecise. His was the second successful expedition and the first circumnavigation completed by one commander throughout; multiple survivors completed the Magellan–Elcano voyage.