 Golden Hinde, a sea-worthy reconstruction of the original vessel | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 England | |
| Name | Pelican |
| Launched | 1577 |
| Sponsored by | Queen Elizabeth I of England |
| Renamed | Golden Hind(e) (1578) |
| Fate | Disintegrated and broken up in c. late-17th century; two replicas exist |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Galleon |
| Tonnage | 100–150 tons[1] |
| Displacement | 300 tons |
| Length | 102 ft (31 m) on deck |
| Beam | 20 ft (6.1 m) |
| Draught | 9 ft (2.7 m) |
| Propulsion | Sail; Wind |
| Speed | 8 knots (15 km/h) |
| Complement | 80–85 |
| Armament | 22 guns |
| Armour | None |
| Notes | Sail area: 386 m² |
Golden Hind was agalleon captained byFrancis Drake inhis circumnavigation of the world between 1577 and 1580. She was originally known asPelican, but Drake renamed her mid-voyage in 1578, in honour of his patron,Sir Christopher Hatton, whosecrest was a golden hind (a femalered deer). Hatton was one of the principal sponsors of Drake's world voyage. Afull-sized, seaworthy reconstruction is in London, on the south bank of theThames.
Queen Elizabeth I partly sponsored Sir Francis Drake as the leader of an expedition intended to pass aroundSouth America through theStrait of Magellan and to explore the coast that lay beyond. The queen's support was advantageous; Drake had official approval to benefit himself and the queen and cause the maximum damage to theSpaniards. This eventually culminated in theAnglo–Spanish War. Before setting sail, Drake met the queen face-to-face for the first time and she said to him, "We would gladly be revenged on the King of Spain for divers injuries that we have received."[2]
The explicit object was to "find out places meet to have traffic." Drake, however, acted as aprivateer, with unofficial support from Elizabeth.[3] The design of theGolden Hind was based on theSpanish builtnao Victoria,[4] the first ship tocircumnavigate the world, and is described as a "mid-16th-century warship during the transition from thecarrack to thegalleon," and measured about 120 tons.[5] He first named his flagshipPelican, but renamed herGolden Hind on 20 August 1578[6] to honour his patron, SirChristopher Hatton, whose family crest was a golden hind. He set sail in December 1577 with five small ships with a complement of 164 and reached theBrazilian coast in early 1578.[7]
On 1 March 1579, now in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Ecuador,Golden Hind challenged and captured the Spanish galleonNuestra Señora de la Concepción. This galleon had the largest treasure captured to that date: over 360,000 pesos (equivalent to around £480 million in 2017).[8] The treasure took six days to transship and included 26 tons of silver, half a ton of gold, porcelain, jewellery, coins and jewels.[9][10]
On 26 September 1580, Francis Drake sailed his ship into Plymouth Harbour with 56 of the original crew of 80 left aboard. The ship was unloaded atTrematon Castle nearby, supervised by the Queen's guards.[11] The final treasure also included six tons of cloves from theSpice Islands, at the time worth their weight in gold.[10] Elizabeth herself went aboardGolden Hind, which was then permanently atDeptford on the south bank of the Thames, where she had requested it be placed on permanent display as the firstmuseum ship. There, she shrewdly asked the French ambassador to bestow a knighthood on Drake.[12] Over half of the proceeds went to the crown - her share of the treasure came to at least £160,000: "enough to pay off her entire government debt and still have £40,000 left over to invest in a new trading company for theLevant. Her return, and that of other investors, was more than £47 for every £1 invested, or 4,700%."[9]
After Drake's circumnavigation,Golden Hind was maintained for public exhibition at the dockyard at Deptford, London. The ship remained there from 1580 to around 1650, 45 years after Elizabeth had died, before the ship eventually rotted away and was broken up. In 1668, the keeper of the stores at Deptford, John Davies of Camberwell, had the best remaining timber ofGolden Hind made into a chair now called theDrake Chair which was presented to theBodleian Library at theUniversity of Oxford,[5][13] where it remains (with a replica in the Great Hall,Buckland Abbey, Devon, Drake's home and now maintained by theNational Trust).[14][15]
A table, known as the cupboard, in theMiddle Temple Hall, London is also reputed to have been made from the wood ofGolden Hind. Upon the cupboard is placed the roll of members of Middle Temple, which new members sign when they are called to the Bar. The ship's lantern was hung in the vestibule of Middle Temple Hall, but was destroyed during the Second World War.[citation needed]
A replica ofGolden Hind was constructed at Peter Pan's Playground (nowAdventure Island adventure park),Southend-on-Sea, Essex. It was constructed in 1947 and opened in 1949 together with a waxworks. By 1992, attendances had dropped, and combined with rising maintenance costs with the need for a major renovation to the wooden structure caused its closure in 1997. The ship was replaced by a replica of Blackbeard'sQueen Anne's Revenge, which was demolished in 2013.[16]
A replica ofGolden Hind has been permanently moored in the harbour of the sea port ofBrixham in Devon (GB-TOB50°23′48″N3°30′46″W / 50.39667°N 3.51278°W /50.39667; -3.51278) since 1963 following its use in the TV seriesSir Francis Drake, which was filmed in and around the bays of Torbay and Dartmouth. The replica ship used in the TV series cost the film studio £25,000 to construct. It had no rear gallery or gun deck and was a converted fishing boat.[17] The ship sank in heavy seas whilst under tow in 1987 to Dartmouth for restoration and could not be saved. A second replica was completed in 1988 and stands in the harbour being visited by thousands of visitors annually. The current vessel based on a steel barge is not full size and could never sail.[18]
Golden Hinde, afull-size reconstruction of the ship, was built by traditional methods inAppledore, Devon, and launched in 1973.Golden Hinde was the result of three years research and construction. Since then, she has travelled more than 140,000 miles (225,000 km). She sailed from Plymouth on her maiden voyage in late 1974, arriving on 9 March 1975[19] inSan Francisco. In 1979, she sailed to Japan to make the miniseries Shōgun, after which she returned to the UK having completed a circumnavigation. Between 1981 and 1984, she was berthed in England and was established as an educational museum. In 1984–85, she sailed around theBritish Isles and then crossed the Atlantic toSt Thomas in theCaribbean. In 1986, she passed through thePanama Canal to sail on toVancouver, where she was the main attraction in the Marine Plaza at Expo86. In 1987, she began a tour of US coastal cities, spending two years on the Pacific coast. In late 1988, she passed back through the Panama Canal to continue port visits on the Gulf and east coasts of the US. In 1992, she returned home to the UK and spent the next four years visiting ports in Europe. Since 1996, she has been berthed at St Mary Overie Dock, inBankside,Southwark,London, where she is open to the public and hosts a range of educational programmes.[20]
A replica ofGolden Hind formed part of the children's playground at the 1924British Empire Exhibition, on the recommendation ofAgatha Christie.[citation needed]
