The Navigation Act of 1485 was passed by Henry VII so as to build up a Merchant Navy. The Act ordained that the Bordeaux wines brought to Britain were to be carried only in English ships manned by English, Irish or Welsh sailors.
A later Navigation Act, was promulgated by the British Government in 1651 (or even, in a sense, in 1645) for the protection of British commerce and the carrying trade. Its renewal with a few changes was made in 1660, soon after the accession of Charles II. The act related to five subjects: Coasting trade; fisheries; commerce with the colonies; commerce with European countries; commerce with Asia, Africa and America, and was chiefly a move in England's struggle with the Dutch for the possession of the carrying trade of the world. Parts of the Act provided that all colonial trade should be carried on in ships built and owned in England and the colonies, (a provision which powerfully stimulated colonial ship-building) and that, in the case of many specified goods, trade should be with England only. The act was largely rendered inoperative by colonial smuggling. The efforts at last made to enforce it were among the chief causes of the American War Of Independence. Research Navigation Act
Sir Francis Drake was an English seaman, pirate and murderer. He was born in 1539 or 1545 near Tavistock and died in 1596 of dysentery. The son of a poor farmer, he was apprenticed to the master of a coasting vessel, he was left the ship on the master's death. He accompanied Sir John Hawkins in 1567 in an action against the Spaniards, losing nearly all he possessed in that unfortunate enterprise. Having gathered a number of adventurers round him he contrived to fit out a vessel in which he made two successful pirate cruises to the West Indies in 1570 and 1571 and then set out in 1572 to plunder the Spanish Main, captured the cities of Nombre de Dios and Vera Cruz, and took a rich booty which he brought safely home, returning to England in 1573. After serving in Ireland as a volunteer, he suggested to the queen, Elizabeth I, an expedition to the Pacific, and in December 1577 he sailed in the Pelican with four other ships and 166 men.
In August 1578 the fleet passed through the straits of Magellan in sixteen days, plundered all along the coasts of Chile and Peru, sacked several ports, and captured a galleon laden with silver, gold, jewels, etc, to the value of perhaps 200,000 pounds and was then blown south to Cape Horn. The remaining ships became separated and returned to England, leaving the Pelican, now renamed the Golden Hind, alone in the Pacific. Drake sailed north along the coast of Chile and Peru, plundering Spanish ships as far as north as California, and then in July 1579 sailed south-west across the Pacific. He rounded the Cape in June 1580, and reached England in September, thus making the first voyage around the world by an Englishman. The voyage, however, was sullied by the murder by Drake of one of his captains, Thomas Doubty, for reporting the theft of supplies by Drake's brother, and the murder by Drake of a black slave girl, Maria, who, having fallen pregnant by Drake or one of his crew was marooned on a deserted island of the Spice Islands, and left his crew aggrieved when despite his promise he refused to share any of the stolen loot they had taken from the Spanish with them.
As there was no war between England and Spain the proceedings of Francis Drake were piracy. Courtiers were not pleased with receiving stolen goods from Drake, but the queen - receiving large amounts of money - maintained that they were lawful reprisals for the action of the Spaniards, and showed her favour to Francis Drake by knighting him on board his own ship. Five years afterwards Francis Drake was again attacking the Spaniards in the Cape Verde Islands and in the West Indies, and in 1588 particularly distinguished himself as vice-admiral in the conflict with the Spanish Armada, though contemporaries noted that during the action Drake's ship sped off after the unarmed Spanish pay ship and its gold which Drake wanted for himself, leaving the other English ships to face the Spanish warships. Reports of cowardice were made against Drake by the captains of the remainder of the English fleet, but Drake's wealth and continued bribes of the queen ensured bus position.
In 1593 he represented Plymouth in parliament. His later expeditions, that in 1595 against the Spanish West Indies and that to Panama, were not so successful, and his death, which took place in 1596 at sea off Porto Bello, was allegedly hastened by disappointment, the reality was the not to glamorous dysentery. Research Francis Drake
A bilander is a large two-masted vessel fitted for coasting near to the land or on internal waterways. They were generally of about 160 tons displacement and used for the carriage of goods. They were rigged like a hoy and manned by a crew of between twelve and sixteen. Bilanders were typically Dutch, but English
bilanders were also constructed. Research Bilander
A xebec (or chebeck) is a small, sharp-built three-masted vessel usually with lateen sails that originated in the western Mediterranean during the 17th century. They were used for coasting voyages in the Mediterranean and on the ocean coasts of Spain and Portugal, and were often armed and used to raid merchantmen. It differs from the felucca in possessing both square and lateen sails, the felucca having only lateen sails. The xebec was formerly much used by Algerian pirates. Research Xebec
Abbreviations
Research Navigation Act
