什麼是德雷克

Drake, Sir Francis

英國海軍將領。十三歲就到海船上充當徒工，後成為一傑出的海員，因入侵西班牙殖民地而致富。1577年他奉伊莉莎白一世之命探索南美洲。他率領五艘船同行，但最後只剩下他所乘的「金鹿號」穿過麥哲倫海峽進入太平洋。他沿着南、北美洲海岸航行，見到今天的加拿大海岸。後改向西航，經過菲律賓羣島和爪哇，然後穿過印度洋，繞好望角回到大西洋，1580年回到普里茅斯，成為環航世界的第一個英國船長。他被賜予爵士頭銜，1581年出任普里茅斯市長。1588年西班牙艦隊來侵，他任英國艦隊副司令。由於他率領艦隊衝擊並提議使用火船，把無敵艦隊打得落花流水，成為名噪一時的英雄人物。他在最後一次出征西印度羣島時，染上熱病身亡，海葬於巴拿馬海域。

約1540～1596年

Drake, Sir Francis

English admiral, the most renowned seaman of the Elizabethan Age. Son of a tenant farmer, he went to sea at 13 to escape his family's poverty. He gained a reputation as an outstanding seaman and became wealthy through raids against Spanish colonies. In 1577 he was commissioned by Elizabeth I to lead an expedition to South America and beyond. He set sail with five ships, but ultimately only his flagship, the Golden Hind, made its way through the Strait of Magellan into the Pacific and up the coast of South and North America; he then turned south to anchor off modern San Francisco, claiming the area for Elizabeth. He sailed westward to the Philippines and around the Cape of Good Hope, and returned to Plymouth in 1580 laden with treasure, the first captain ever to sail his own ship around the world and the first Englishman to sail the Pacific, the Indian Ocean, and the South Atlantic. In 1581 he was knighted and made mayor of Plymouth. Appointed vice admiral (1588), he played a crucial role in defeating the Spanish Armada and became England's hero, achieving a popularity unequaled until Horatio Nelson's. On his last voyage, to the West Indies, he succumbed to fever and was buried at sea.