When did drake get knighted?

Answer 1

April 4, 1581

1581: Francis Drake, having completed the first circumnavigation of the world a few months earlier, is knighted by Queen Elizabeth aboard his ship, the Golden Hind.

Drake left England with five ships in late 1577 on a "trading expedition to the Nile." It was only after reaching the African coast that Drake informed his companions of the real purpose of this voyage -- to sail across the Atlantic and into the Pacific in order to disrupt shipping and raid Spanish settlements along the California coast.

Which is precisely what he did. Whatever else Drake was -- and he could rightfully claim navigator, explorer, slave trader and civil engineer among his occupations -- he was first and foremost aprivateer.

It was not an easy passage. By the time he had sailed through the Strait of Magellan and into the Pacific, he was down to three ships. They encountered vile weather and tempest-tossed seas off the South American coast. One ship, Marigold, sank with all hands; another was forced to turn back to England. That left Drake's flagship, Pelican, which he renamed Golden Hind, to harry the Spanish.

But from then on, his fortunes improved. The weather cleared and Drake spent the next five months sacking Spanish settlements and capturing merchant ships all the way up the Pacific Coast. Somewhere along the coast in northern California or Oregon, Drake put in and proclaimed Nova Albion, claiming it for Britain.

Laden with plunder and her stocks replenished, the Golden Hind set sail across the Pacific, enjoying an uneventful passage lasting 68 days. Drake spent some time in the Indonesian archipelago establishing commercial contacts, then crossed the Indian ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and headed for home.

When the Golden Hind dropped anchor in Plymouth in late 1580, roughly 36,000 miles of ocean had passed under her keel.