Visitors were met with a bleak sight: many of them had travelled to London from far afield to see the museum ship, which, in its active days, had sailed round the world powered solely by the wind. An incredibly daring undertaking, even in an era as modern as that of Queen Elizabeth. Yet now they stood at the edge of the dry dock on the banks of the Thames – built specifically to protect the glorious hull – and looked down upon a wreck.
This came as no surprise. Many decades had passed since that great feat – and nothing made of wood lasts for ever. The extent of the decay left little room for hope. ‘The ship is so rotten,’ wrote one of the foreign tourists matter-of-factly, ‘that it is on the verge of “falling to pieces”’.
They were talking about the ‘Golden Hind’ – the first one, mind you. That very galleon with which the future English naval hero Francis Drake set sail in 1577 to circumnavigate the globe in pursuit of Spanish gold. The main sponsor of the voyage was his queen: Elizabeth, also the first. The monarch’s motive: “Retaliation for various wrongs inflicted upon us by the King of Spain.”
She had backed the right man. Drake secured the satisfaction she had longed for: he returned with the greatest treasure ever plundered. They had even swapped the ballast for silver ingots, as there was simply no space left otherwise. It took several days after their successful return in 1580 to unload the valuable cargo. The Queen insisted on elevating Drake to the peerage on the deck of his ship.
Sir Francis rose to his feet. It marked the beginning of a career that was to reach its military zenith just a few years later with the victory over the Spanish Armada – and at the same time laid the foundations for the naval power that subsequently enabled the establishment of the greatest empire in history: the British Empire.
The futile attempt to save the first ‘Golden Hind’
By then, there was hardly anything left of the ‘Golden Hind’ – also known as the ‘Golden Hinde’, to use the spelling of the time. Even though Queen Elizabeth had originally decreed that the ship should be ‘preserved for all posterity’ in Deptford, ten kilometres downstream from Westminster, as a national monument – and thus, arguably, as the world’s first museum ship. Its wreckage had long since been buried in its own dry dock in the middle of the surrounding shipyard grounds, which had been pragmatically filled in with earth. Only a few artefacts survived, of which the ship’s lantern fell victim to a German air raid during the Second World War. However, a chair turned from its wood still stands today in the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford.
And yet: anyone walking through the heart of the English capital today, having crossed London Bridge from the north into Southwark and made their way back to the river via Montague Close and Cathedral Street in the shadow of old, winding streets, might think that the ‘Golden Hind’ is by no means a thing of the past – or that someone had turned back the clock by five centuries.
For there she stands, propped up and supported in St Mary Overie Dock, with the fast-flowing, muddy-grey Thames behind her: the ‘Golden Hind’. Of course, it is not Sir Francis Drake’s ship, but a replica built in 1973. Yet apart from the year of its launch, the situation is surprisingly similar: the years have taken their toll on this hull too. Wood remains wood, and England is not known for its dry climate.
Major refit whilst the centre remains open to visitors
Unlike the original, the replica is not being left to its own devices: the dock is a building site. New timber is piled up everywhere, and the port side and stern are covered in scaffolding. Along the wall of the building, which also forms the eastern side of the chamber, tarpaulins have been stretched out to protect the workbenches and workstations of the carpenters and other tradespeople, who – apart from the boombox music and coffee shop coffee – work here just as they did in the pre-digital era.
On the starboard side, where the dock is bordered by one of those typical English railings, the gangway leads on board. A primary school class is just making its way across to the deck. Because the Visitor centre Operations continue during the restoration – the revenue is vital given the enormous cost of the refit: around four million pounds, roughly 4.5 million euros. This was another reason why moving the ship to a shipyard was not an option. The ‘Golden Hinde’ had to remain in situ and earn its own keep. In addition, group events are on offer, including hands-on history and even an escape room adventure. There are also concerts and theatre performances. Particularly fitting: Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’.
The refurbishment is due to be completed this autumn, to mark the 30th anniversary of the ship’s service as a permanent museum vessel: the replica has been moored here since 1996 and has since itself become officially recognised national monument, at its mooring in London. Until the renovation began, it was even in the water – and the aim is to restore it to that condition. For the fixed surroundings – the setting of tall buildings – create a false impression: that the ship, now more than 50 years old itself, was intended from the outset as an exhibit, a scale model in the open-air museum of maritime history in that city which for so long stood at the centre of the world.
In fact, although separated by five centuries, the similarities between the two ships go beyond their names. In one respect, today’s ‘Golden Hinde’ even surpasses its ancestor: it has not just circumnavigated the globe once, but twice – almost.
A galleon with no surviving construction plans
However, the commission to build the successor did not come from the Royal Court, but from the Golden Gate: in 1968, entrepreneurs Albert Elledge and Art Blum in San Francisco came up with the idea of promoting their city on the US west coast. Drake was said to have landed there on his voyage as well – reason enough for a 400th-anniversary celebration. The right ship was, of course, a given. So the renowned Californian shipbuilder Loring Christian Norgaard was commissioned to design it, and he immediately set about his research.
From the outset, historical accuracy was the priority in the replica’s construction. This posed something of a challenge for the Californian, as no building plans for Drake’s ship existed. It is partly for this reason that his reconstruction is defined as a ‘functional hypothesis’ in the United Kingdom’s Register of National Historic Ships. Norgaard remained undeterred and spent three years compiling everything he could find on the ‘Golden Hinde’ and 16th-century shipbuilding, including the ‘Proportiones for shippinge’ by Mathew Baker, perhaps the greatest shipbuilder of his time.
For the American, one thing was clear: the replica had to be built in England, in the same place as the original – Appledore in Devon. There stood the small shipyard of J. Hinks and Son, which had already gained experience in building a historic replica shortly beforehand.
Why the Fast Galleon sailed better
The ship, which took shape on the drawing board and was refined down to the smallest detail, was a so-called ‘fast galleon’. It was developed in England from 1570 onwards and represented an improvement on the already widespread type, which was characterised by two continuous decks and three masts.
In English, this variant was known as a ‘race-built’ galleon. Yet the name is misleading: it does not refer to speed – even though the ships were indeed faster – but derives from the French ‘razée’, meaning ‘shaved’. In the truest sense of the word: the towering, bulky castles at the bow and stern, designed for combat, were dispensed with, and the lines were made flatter. This reduced the load on the topmast and improved manoeuvrability. The fact that the ‘race-built’ galleon also sailed faster and closer to the wind was due to its longer, slimmer hull and flatter, less bulbous sails. This was a significant step forward in design that immediately won over captains of both merchant and warships. Gentleman adventurers such as Francis Drake, whose exploits saw the lines between warfare and commerce blur seamlessly, were understandably particularly taken with it.
In Appledore, the successor was built from the keel upwards. Good sailing characteristics were also important for this vessel – following the example of the original, a main engine was omitted; only an auxiliary engine was fitted on the starboard side. The replica’s rig, with its three masts, corresponded to the original: the foremast and mainmast each carried two square sails, supplemented by a lateen sail on the mizzenmast on the aft deck. A further yard beneath the bowsprit could be used to hoist the blind, which stabilised the galleon’s course in crosswinds. The dimensions on board are also historically accurate: the headroom between the decks makes it almost impossible to stand upright anywhere. Anyone who forgets this whilst visiting will soon come face to face with solid English oak below deck.
In addition to oak for the frames and other structural elements, elm and pine were the main woods used. However, the search for suitable trunks proved far more difficult than in Drake’s day: centuries of maritime dominance had left hardly anything of Britain’s once-proud forests. After a long search across the country, a fir tree was finally found that was tall and slender enough for the mainmast. One exotic exception was made, however: for the planking, iroko, a hardwood from West Africa, was chosen.
When restoration began in 2017, the wisdom of this decision became clear: once the dock in Southwark had been drained and the hull could be inspected at close quarters, it was found to be in remarkably good condition. Nevertheless, more than a hundred tonnes of timber have since found their way into the bustling workshop. From the tops to the keel, components were rebuilt and replaced – staves, planks, blocks and knees, tiller and rudder, decks and bulkheads – to ensure the ‘Golden Hinde’ is preserved for decades to come.
Launch of an unusual sailing ship
On 5 April 1973, the ‘Golden Hinde’ was launched in the presence of her American patrons, the Countess of Devon and a large crowd of onlookers. Adrian Small was appointed captain. He met the rare requirement of having previously sailed on other replicas, such as the ‘Mayflower’. The ship on which the ‘Mayflower’ was modelled had carried the first English settlers to North America in 1620 and closely resembled his new vessel in appearance, construction and sailing characteristics. The rigging, for example, was identical.
In the months that followed, the masts were erected and rigged. Ballast was brought on board, as were the 22 cast cannons of various sizes, including 14 minions on the gun deck and seven behind the gunports on each side. These constituted the galleon’s main armament. At the same time, the dark, already cramped space—illuminated only by the portholes in the main deck and a few storm lanterns—also served as the crew’s living and sleeping quarters; there were 80 men on Drake’s voyage. Even without the occupied, swaying hammocks, sea chests and all the other items that made up daily life at sea, not to mention livestock and poultry, the effect is claustrophobic.
Captain Small was fortunate in that he did not have to man the guns and could therefore manage with a considerably smaller crew. When the replica finally weighed anchor off Falmouth on 1 October 1974, having been fitted out and completed its sea trials, to set off on its voyage round the world, there were barely 20 men sharing the cramped space on board. Their destination: distant San Francisco. More than five months passed before they reached it. After 160 days following in the wake of her predecessor, the ‘Golden Hinde’ sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge on 8 March of the following year and dropped anchor off the San Francisco waterfront.
Francis Drake and the Conquest of Nova Albion
When Francis Drake reached the coastline 400 years earlier, it was all wilderness. There was no bridge spanning the narrow entrance to what is now San Francisco Bay, which he therefore missed. Instead, a little further north, in a spacious bay, he was welcomed by the Miwok people, with whom trade soon began. The indigenous people crowned the Englishman – which he interpreted as the conferral of the title of chief.
‘Democratically’ endowed with such powers, the adventurer did not hesitate to claim the new land for his patron and financial backer, Queen Elizabeth. He christened this new part of the empire Nova Albion – New Britain. The move was not sustainable, as Drake left nothing behind to secure his claim.
It could not have mattered to him: for he had already fulfilled his queen’s commission, having plundered his way round South America, captured ships and raided settlements. Always one step ahead of his pursuer, the Spanish Viceroy of Peru, he had finally pulled off his masterstroke: the capture of the treasure galleon ‘Nuestra Señora de la Concepción’. Drake had ambushed the considerably more powerful ship and, after a few broadsides, boarded it. The incredulous Spaniards quickly lowered their flag. The estimated present-day value of the booty from that single day alone: more than half a billion euros.
Film career and a second North American tour
It is clear that the captain of the first ‘Golden Hind’ was a man made when he returned to England via the Cape of Good Hope after crossing the Pacific and the Indian Oceans. It is equally clear that the voyage of the second ‘Golden Hind’ must be judged by standards other than ounces and carats.
For it, too, was a success: following a grand reception, the galleon remained in the USA for three years until the anniversary, after which it set sail for Japan, where it featured in the television series ‘Shogun’ starring Richard Chamberlain. The ‘Golden Hinde’s’ voyage remained eventful: off the coast of East Africa, there was the threat of pirates, and in the Mediterranean she was even seized – by the Tunisian authorities, who mistook the anachronistic sailing vessel for a Spanish one. Finally, in 1980, she returned to Britain – just in time for the 400th anniversary of her historic predecessor’s triumphant homecoming.
But those 30,000 nautical miles were not to be the end of the story. For unlike the first ‘Golden Hind’, whose career ended after its first circumnavigation of the globe, her successor was only just getting into her stride: from 1985 to 1991, a second tour of North America followed, taking her as far as Vancouver. By then, she had long since stepped out of the shadow of her predecessor.
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Technical specifications of the “Golden Hinde”
- Type of vessel: Fast galleon
- Launch (replica): 1973
- Total length: 36.60 m
- Mast height above water level: 28.20 m
- Draught: 4.10 m
- Weight: 151 tonnes
- Number of masts: 3
- Number of decks: 5
Francis Drake: the first Englishman to sail round the world
Francis Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe between 1577 and 1580 was only the second in history. Its only predecessor was Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition between 1519 and 1522, which the Portuguese commander himself did not survive. It was completed by one of his captains, Juan Sebastián Elcano. Like Magellan, Drake set sail with a small fleet of five ships, with the ‘Golden Hind’ serving as the flagship. It was the only one to return – another parallel with Magellan, where too only the largest ship, the ‘Victoria’, made it home.
Drake’s route took him westwards via the Cape Verde Islands to Brazil, round South America – though through the Strait of Magellan, without sighting Cape Horn – and back north along the west coast of South America. Circumnavigating the globe was not part of the plan. Instead, the Englishman intended to return to the Atlantic via a presumed Northwest Passage – the legendary but non-existent Strait of Anián. It was only when he failed to find it that he chose the route across the Pacific.
The ‘Golden Hinde’ sailed round the world, featured in a TV series and is now on display as a museum ship in London. What fascinates you more: the history of the original or the unusual career of the replica? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Christian Tiedt
Editor Travel