德雷克(约1540～1596年)

Drake, Sir Francis

英国海军将领。十三岁就到海船上充当徒工，後成为一杰出的海员，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。他率领五艘船同行，但最後只剩下他所乘的「金鹿号」穿过麦哲伦海峡进入太平洋。他沿着南、北美洲海岸航行，见到今天的加拿大海岸。後改向西航，经过菲律宾群岛和爪哇，然後穿过印度洋，绕好望角回到大西洋，1580年回到普里茅斯，成为环航世界的第一个英国船长。他被赐予爵士头衔，1581年出任普里茅斯市长。1588年西班牙舰队来侵，他任英国舰队副司令。由於他率领舰队冲击并提议使用火船，把无敌舰队打得落花流水，成为名噪一时的英雄人物。他在最後一次出征西印度群岛时，染上热病身亡，海葬於巴拿马海域。

English version：

约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.