The Queen's Private Navy
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ECONOMICHISTORY The Queen’s Private Navy BY DAVID A. PRICE How Elizabeth’s hen Elizabeth I became pirates, who were mere robbers. With queen in 1558, following regard to the anti-Spanish voyages in privateers W the death of her sister, Elizabethan England, however, this Queen Mary I, she found that she had distinction is not always easy to draw. strengthened inherited a mess: England’s navy had In theory, they were privateers: They England, rewarded shrunk to a dangerously small number were required to hold licenses, known of ships, the country was vulnerable as “letters of reprisal,” and to comply investors, and to attack by the powerful Spanish with other restrictions on the raiding empire, and the treasury had little of foreign commerce. In practice, led the way to the money with which to build up the however, the official responsible for fleet or to do anything else. England oversight of privateers, the Lord High English New World also lacked the flow of wealth that Admiral, was notoriously corrupt and Spain enjoyed from overseas colonies; was lax in enforcing the rules if the by this time, Spanish conquistadors price was right. Thus the privateers had already defeated the Aztecs of often were privateers in name only. Mexico and the Incas of Peru and had been hauling away the incredible Tons of Silver riches of those regions. England, in Perhaps the most famed of the queen’s short, was outmatched militarily and privateers was Francis Drake, who economically. began a 14-year run of extraordinary Elizabeth’s solution was to turn to exploits in 1573 with raids against the the marketplace: She allowed private Spanish in present-day Panama. Aided enterprises to form by local Cimaroons — former African pirate expeditions, in slaves who had escaped from their essence, to capture Spanish owners, and who were glad to Y Spanish shipping and make common cause with Spain’s bring home its treasures. enemies — Drake and his men trav- T LIBRAR Many of these plunder- eled overland across the Isthmus and ing enterprises were ambushed a Spanish caravan; its 190 joint-stock companies in mules were carrying tons of silver THE BRIDGEMAN AR which members of ingots and another £100,000 or respectable London so in gold coins. Although converting OLLECTION/ TE C society — including money values across centuries is a A merchants, gentry, and highly imprecise science, research by even Elizabeth herself — economic historians suggests a conver- Y) PRIV purchased shares. The sion factor of roughly 134; in other returns from the enter- words, Drake’s £100,000 haul in gold prises enriched the coins alone would be worth approxi- CHOOL (16TH CENTUR Crown and stimulated mately £13.4 million ($21 million) today. the English economy. Drake’s next great, and highly prof- Y ENGLISH S This portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, with Even more significantly, in the long itable, adventure began on Dec. 13, her hand resting on a globe, suggests her run, Elizabeth’s policy built up the 1577, with his departure from ANEL) B ambition to make England a world power. human capital that would enable Plymouth, England, for raids on Privateers helped her do so — and also England in the following century to Spanish ports and shipping around 1588 (OIL ON P defended England against the attempted . establish itself successfully in North South America. His 100-foot flagship, , C invasion by the Spanish Armada in 1588, depicted behind her. America. the Golden Hind (that is, the golden TRAIT Historians today distinguish lawful deer), was joined by four other vessels. A POR “privateers” — captains and crews They reached the Atlantic coast of attacking foreign ships with the South America in two months, and permission of a sovereign — from then took another seven months to ELIZABETH I, ARMAD 32 Region Focus | Fourth Quarter | 2010 follow the coast southward and to traverse the Strait of Dominican Republic, and ransomed the town of Cartagena Magellan near the continent’s southern tip. By that time, on the Caribbean coast of present-day Colombia. The three of the four ships traveling with the Golden Hind had following year, Drake led a 23-ship fleet in successfully been abandoned, and the fourth had returned to England attacking the port of Cadiz in the Spanish homeland, after becoming separated from Drake. destroying some 37 Spanish naval and merchant ships, as Drake nonetheless kept going, attacking Spanish ships as well as plundering Spanish merchant ships in the area. he followed the coast of Chile, ultimately capturing a large Spanish treasure ship, the Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, on Single-Handed Victory March 1, 1579. The ship had ample artillery with which to Among the English sailors taking part in the Cadiz raid was fend off an attacker, but Drake was able to employ the a 27-year-old named Christopher Newport. From there, element of surprise — English privateers had been unknown Newport would rise quickly in the world of privateering; in the Pacific. The Golden Hind hid its guns and slowed to sailing under Drake was apparently a good credential. give the appearance that it was merely another merchant Within a few years, in 1589, Newport was second in com- ship, then attacked when the Nuestra Señora came within mand of the Margaret, a privateer ship financed by several hailing distance. Drake’s crew required six days to transfer London merchants. The following year, he was captain of the ship’s riches, including 80 pounds of gold and 26 tons the Little John, which sailed with several other ships to the of silver. Caribbean to patrol for Spanish vessels. Anticipating that the Spanish might be waiting for him During an attack on two ships carrying treasure from on his return trip, Drake decided instead to cross the Pacific Mexico to Havana, the privateers encountered tough resist- and return home via a western route. He first sailed north- ance and Newport lost his right arm. To make matters worse, ward to upper California, which he claimed for Elizabeth the battle ended without any treasure — one of the Spanish and named New Albion. (The Spanish had visited the area ships sank and the other escaped. before him, however.) He spent a month in the San Despite this rocky start to Newport’s career as a captain, Francisco Bay in the summer of 1579, then made his he would spend 13 years privateering successfully in the way around the world. It was the first circumnavigation Caribbean. His most renowned voyage during those years of the globe by an Englishman. Moreover, because came in 1592, when he commanded a fleet of four ships that Ferdinand Magellan had died during his 1519-1522 journey, plundered Spanish towns on the island of Hispaniola and in Drake was the first commander of any nation to complete Honduras. Two of the ships then returned to England the voyage. with the loot, while the other two — including Newport’s Following Drake’s arrival in England on Sept. 26, 1580, flagship, the Golden Dragon, stayed behind to seek further not quite three years after he left, Elizabeth gave him a adventure. knighthood. He was also a hero to the shareholders, who They joined forces with another English privateer fleet; reportedly received a 4,600 percent return on their invest- in keeping with the practice of the time, the leaders of the ments — that is, for every £1 they put in, they received £47 two fleets would have negotiated “consortship” agreements after expenses. Three and a half centuries later, John defining their responsibilities and the division of the Maynard Keynes would credit the voyage with cleaning up fruits of their joint labors. On August 3, the combined fleets Elizabeth’s balance sheet and helping to finance the great spotted and captured an enormous treasure ship, the British trading companies: Madre de Dios. It was the greatest plunder of the century, freighted with £500,000 worth of gems, silks, and spices. Indeed, the booty brought back by Drake in the Golden When Newport brought it back to port in England, he had Hind may fairly be considered the fountain and origin made his name as the nation’s foremost mariner of the of British foreign investment. Elizabeth paid off out of Caribbean. The fortunate shareholders in the voyage the proceeds the whole of her foreign debt and invest- included the queen. ed a part of the balance (about £42,000) in the Levant Newport’s Caribbean journeys continued. Near the end Company; largely out of the profits of the Levant of Elizabeth’s reign in 1603, John Chamberlain, a gossipy Company there was formed the East India Company, Londoner, reported to a friend: the profits of which during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were the main foundation of Here is fresh news out of Spain of one Newport, a England's foreign connections; and so on. seaman, that with two ships hath taken five frigates laden with treasure coming from Cartagena and Drake’s next two voyages were explicitly both commer- Nombre de Dios [a Panamanian port] towards the cial and military, seeking Spanish treasure for investors while Havana; if all be true that is reported, it will prove the also carrying out Elizabeth’s orders to attack strategic tar- greatest prize that I ever heard of, for they that are gets. First was his 1585-1586 raid on Spanish interests in the most modest talk of two millions at least. The King of Caribbean. His fleet plundered the port city of Santo Spain hath sent out eight men-of-war to waylay and Domingo, the colonial capital, located in the present-day intercept him.