He goes to find the Gold Fleet
26. Drake Again Goes to Fight the Spaniards. Drake soon took command of a fleet of twenty-five vessels and two thousand five hundred men, all eager to fight the Spaniards (1585). He sailed boldly for the coast of Spain, frightened the people, and then went in search of the Gold Fleet, which was bringing shipload after shipload of treasure from America to the King of Spain.
THE SPANISH ARMADA
More than one hundred twenty-five vessels sailed from Lisbon to conquer England, but only about fifty returned to the home port
In the West Indies
No sooner had Drake missed the fleet than he made direct for the West Indies, where he spread terror among the islands. The Spaniards had heard of Drake, the "Dragon." He attacked and destroyed three important towns, and intended to seize Panama itself, but the yellow fever began to cut down his men, so he sailed to Roanoke Island, and carried back to England the starving and homesick colony which Raleigh had planted there.
Singeing the King of Spain's beard
The Spanish king was angry. He resolved to crush England. More than one hundred ships, manned by thousands of sailors, were to carry a great army to the hated island. Drake heard about it, and quickly gathered thirty fast ships manned by sailors as bold as himself. His fleet sailed right into the harbor of Cadiz, past cannon and forts, and burned so many Spanish ships that it took Spain another year to get the great fleet ready. Drake declared that he had "singed the King of Spain's beard."
Spain aims to crush England, but is badly defeated