The expedition, consisting of a fleet of five ships, set sail from Plymouth Sound in Devon, England in 1577. The historic voyage was to take three years. Francis Drake and the five ships travelled across the Atlantic Ocean to South America, through the treacherous Straits of Magellan, the Pacific Ocean, the coast of California, Vancouver, New Albion, the Philippines, the Spice Islands (Moluccas), Java and round the Cape of Good Hope and on to Sierra Leone. In 1580 Francis Drake returned to Plymouth Sound in Devon, England. The Golden Hind was the only vessel to return from Drake’s expedition of the five vessels which originally set out from England. On the voyage Francis Drake plundered Spanish treasure making Drake, and England, extremely
