In 1577, Drake was secretly commissioned by Elizabeth the first to set off on an expedition against the Spanish colonies on the American Pacific coast. He took Tom with him as a first officer because he sailed with 5 ships and all the captain positions were occupied.
Joining him when Drake traveled to the west coast of North America, hoping to find a route across North America, Drake sailed up the west coast of America more than any European before him.
With the "Golden Hind" Francis Drake with Tom as his first officer reached the Pacific Ocean, after a difficult and stormy passage, of the 5 ships he sailed with, 2 were lost in a storm,
and the other two sailed back to England.
Getting out of Magellan straits they sailed west towards the Philippines and bought spices in the Molucca islands, he met with a lot of storms but succeeded in overcoming them, but one time when they were still battling the storm, Drake encouraged his crew reminding them that they had already done that route. When they came to the Moluccas islands, he had to refit the ship, with the help of the natives.
Taking advantage of better weather, he sailed west through the Indian Ocean and the Cape of Good Hope, turning north he sailed encountering many storms before arriving in England.
Tom got a lot of experience, which would help him later.
War with Spain was in the air, King Phillip II of Spain was angry to hear about the raids Francis Drake had done on his possessions, after the Treaty of Nonsuch.
So the Queen through Francis Walsingham ordered Sir Francis Drake to lead an expedition to attack the Spanish colonies.
The expedition left Plymouth in September 1585 with Drake in command of twenty-one ships with 1,800 soldiers under Christopher Carleill.
Tom got a ship the "Lion" 100 tons with 20 guns from Drake as its Captain with 20 soldiers.
Drake told him that the first target would be the city of Vigo in northern Spain.
It was a surprise attack that succeeded, with Tom's ship leading.
After a short fight, the English won and held the place for two weeks ransoming supplies for the ships and the soldiers.
Tom participated in the discussion helping Drake in his mission, after ransacking the city, the ships sail south towards Santiago in the Cape Verde Islands plundering the place.
Tom had to participate in it but after doing things that were like that with the Hannibal army, he didn't care and did exactly as Drake ordered him.
After doing this the fleet turned west across the Atlantic.
The "Lion" approached Drake's flagship and got an order from Drake to make a fake attack on the Port of Santo Domingo causing fear and dread which enabled the other ships to sack the Port.
From there, while rumors reached Cartagena De Indias in Central America about Drake's actions they came to Cartagena De Indias and sacked the city.
To his surprise, Tom saw Drake release 100 Turks who were enslaved in the city.
On his return voyage, he raided the Spanish fort of San Agustin in Spanish Florida.
After finishing that raid, he sailed to find Sir Walter Raleigh's settlement, much further north, at Roanoke which was established in 1585, evacuated at 1586, re-established at 1587 and found it abandoned in 1590.
The establishment of the Roanoke Colony was an attempt by Sir Walter Raleigh to found the first permanent English settlement in North America.
The English led by Sir Humphry Gilbert had claimed St. John's, Newfoundland in 1583 as the first North American territory at the royal prerogative of Queen Elizabeth I.
The first Roanoke colony was founded by governor Ralph Lane in 1585 on Roanoke Island.
Following the failure of the 1585 settlement, a second colony led by John White landed on the same island in 1587 and set up another settlement that was known as the Lost Colony due to the subsequent unexplained disappearance of its population.
Lane's colony was troubled by a lack of supplies and poor relations with the local Native Indians.
While awaiting a delayed resupply mission by Sir Richard Grenville, Lane decided to abandon the colony and returned to England.
Richard Grenville arrived with supplies and more colonists.
YOU ARE READING
The magic yellow stone - book 8 -Tom and Francis Drake fight the Armada - 3.
Historical FictionThe series "The magic yellow stone" tells the story of a 16 years old English named Tom, who had found a magic yellow stone on the ground where he took a sleep, while being om tour to Rome, Italy with his Parents and his sister Helen 15 years old. T...
