In 1577, Queen Elizabeth chose Sir Francis Drake as the leader of an expedition intended to pass around South America through the Strait of Magellan and to explore the coast that lay beyond. The queen's support was advantageous; Drake had official approval to benefit himself and the queen as well as to cause the maximum damage to the Spaniards. This would eventually culminate in the Anglo–Spanish War. Before setting sail, Drake met the queen face-to-face for the first time and she said to him, "We would gladly be revenged on the King of Spain for divers injuries that we have received." The explicit object was to "find out places meet to have traffic." Drake, however, acted as a privateer, with unofficial support from Queen Elizabeth. He set sail in December 1577 with five small ships, manned by 164 men, and reached the Brazilian coast in the spring of 1578. Drake's flagship, Pelican, which he renamed Golden Hinde, displaced only about 100 tons. On 1 March 1579, now in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Ecuador, Golden Hinde challenged and captured the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de la Concepción. This galleon had the largest treasure captured to that date: over 360,000 pesos. The six tons of treasure took six days to transship. On 26 September 1580, Francis Drake sailed his ship into Plymouth Harbour with only 56 of the original crew of 80 left aboard. Despite his piratical conduct on his voyages, Queen Elizabeth I herself went aboard Golden Hind, which was lying at Deptford in the Thames Estuary, and personally bestowed a knighthood on him; her share of the treasure came to almost £160,000: "enough to pay off her entire foreign debt and still have £40,000 left over to invest in a new trading company for the Levant. Her return and that of other investors came to £47 for every £1 invested, or a total return of 4,700%."
A full-size replica of the ship, called Golden Hinde, was built by traditional handcraft in Appledore, North Devon, and was launched in 1973. Since then she has travelled more than 140,000 miles (225,000 km). She sailed from Plymouth on her maiden voyage in late 1974, arriving on May 8, 1975 in San Francisco. Between 1981 and 1984, she was berthed in England and was established as an educational museum, but in 1984–1985 she sailed around the British Isles and then crossed the Atlantic to the Caribbean. In 1986, she passed through the Panama Canal to sail on to Vancouver. In 1987, she began a tour of the US Pacific coast. In 1988, she passed back through the Panama Canal to visit Texas. In 1992 she returned home to tour the British Isles again. The oceangoing Golden Hinde has been featured in several films such as Shogun (1979) and St Trinian's 2 (2009). Since 1996 she has been berthed at St Mary Overie Dock, in Bankside, Southwark, London where she hosts visits from schools. Although the focus is on child activities the ship is open to the public and self-guided tours are available as well as Golden Tours and Tudor Fun Tours. The Golden Tour includes a special visit from a 16th century Barber Surgeon who discusses the hardships and illnesses that came with life at sea. This brand-new segment takes a look at how illnesses were diagnosed, and the various Tudor treatments that were applied from those for minor ailments through to a full limb amputation. The Barber Surgeon will use a barber surgery prop box full of rather frightening tools to better illustrate the various treatments used in 16th century healthcare and surgery. Note: This is very near the Clink Museum so the two could be combined.
Location : Pickfords Wharf, Clink Street SE1 9DG
Opening Times: Daily 10:00 to 17:30.
Shop opens at 09:00
Tickets : Adults £7.00, Children/Concessions £5.00
Self Guided: Adults £6.00, Children/Concessions £4.50
Tel: 020 7403 0123