Admiral Sir John Hawkins (also spelled Hawkyns) (1532 – 1595) was an English naval commander, naval administrator, privateer and slave trader.
Hawkins pioneered, and was an early promoter of, English involvement in the Atlantic slave trade. He is considered to be the first English merchant to profit from the Triangle Trade, selling enslaved people from Africa to the Spanish colonies in the West Indies in the late 16th century.
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The West Country Men were a group of influential individuals in Elizabethan England who advocated the English colonisation of Munster, attacks on the Spanish Empire, and the expansion of the English Empire. The group included Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake, Sir John Hawkins, Sir Richard Grenville, and Sir Ralph Lane. Five of these individuals originated in the southwest region of England known as the West Country, and were particularly associated with the seaports of Devon, especially Plymouth.
Sir Francis Drake (c. 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer and privateer best known for making the second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (being the first English expedition to accomplish this). He is also known for participating in the early English slaving voyages of his cousin, John Hawkins, and John Lovell. Having started as a simple seaman, in 1588 he was part of the fight against the Spanish Armada as a vice admiral.
At an early age, Drake was placed into the household of a relative, William Hawkins, a prominent sea captain in Plymouth. In 1572, he set sail on his first independent mission, privateering along the Spanish Main. Drake's circumnavigation began on 15 December 1577. He crossed the Pacific Ocean, until then an area of exclusive Spanish interest, and laid claim to New Albion, plundering coastal towns and ships for treasure and supplies as he went. He arrived back in England on 26 September 1580. Elizabeth I awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581 which he received aboard his galleon the Golden Hind.
Six ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Victory: