Colonial hanger, Spanish dagger or ?

[celtan]

Ah yes, the San Juan de Ulua "trading" expedition..?

I believe both Drake and Hawkins were indeed pirates, since they often attacked and captured ships that belonged to nations not at war with England, such as Portugal, and initially Spain. In fact, right at the beginning of their Veracruz voyage, they had alraedy captured two ships, one of them portuguese.

They would also attack small coastal villages and plunder them at will. Indeed, a lot of the trading they conducted was of the "or else..." type.
When they could steal they did, and when it suited them, they threatened and traded.

In Veracuz, they had already taken by surprise its small local fort, and crewed the artillery pieces with their own soldiers. They had also taken hostages amongst locals which came to greet the pirates, fooled into believing they were Spanish.

The good Fortune for the locals was that the opportunely arriving Spanish fleet, which trapped Hawkins, had one fighting Galleon amongst the merchant ships.

If Drake had been captured, he would have been hung in the gallows, as any pirate would. Which doesn't negate the fact that he was an astute and courageous sailor.

Originally Posted by aiontay

Although it is a couple of centuries earlier than the weapon in question, Francis Drake got his start raiding the Spanish during a slave trading expedition run by John Hawkins. Hawkins may not have been a pirate, but his trading methods had more buccaneer than Better Business Bureau in them.