Drake (and Hawkins) Attack

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Historic sites · Year: 1595

The defence and repulsion that Las Palmas de Gran Canaria carried out in October 1595 against the attack of the fearsome English fleet commanded by Francis Drake and John Hawkins is one of the most significant and prestigious events in the entire history of the city.

In 1595, within the framework of the harassment by Elizabeth I's England against Philip II's Spain following the disaster of the Invincible Armada, the two most famous navigators of the British crown, John Hawkins and Francis Drake, known as “ The Queen's Dogs ”, both great connoisseurs of the Canary Islands, led an ambitious expedition whose main objective was to occupy Panama, thus dividing the Spanish possessions in America in two and controlling the lucrative Pacific trade. The Canaries were not initially part of these plans.

The military expedition set sail from Plymouth on 7 September 1595. It consisted of twenty-eight ships with 4,500 men, 1,500 sailors and 3,000 infantry soldiers; the largest English fleet sent up to that time against Spanish America.

Attacking Las Palmas was Drake's exclusive idea, who improvised on the spot an assault on the main port of this part of the Atlantic. He intended to provision himself with supplies through looting, test future war strategies and obtain a substantial booty to encourage his soldiers. John Hawkins, on the other hand, never saw the mission clearly: too much risk for so little gain and, moreover, they would lose the element of surprise as news of the attack would reach America; but he let his companion act. On 4 October they headed for the Canaries. 

On the rainy dawn of Friday 6 October 1595, the enormous squadron appeared before Gran Canaria. The surprise in Las Palmas was enormous. The presence of the silhouette of twenty-eight ships in the bay created an overwhelming scene. John Hawkins on his ship Garland , in the rear; Drake on the Defiance , at the forefront; all anchored at El Golfete, off the northeast coast of La Isleta. 

Immediately, the fortress located there warned the population of the threat with a cannon shot, while the watchtower sent signals with smoke and fire. Soon the city's defence was organised under the command of Governor Alonso de Alvarado. People gathered in the main square and the cathedral bells rang the alarm. The measures taken were: supplying more gunpowder and armament to the fortress of La Isleta, hastily making trenches with sacks on the Santa Catalina sands, reinforcing the Santa Ana tower, and deploying about fifteen hundred men on foot and horseback, inexperienced in combat and without military training, along the coastline. Everything was coordinated by Lieutenant Antonio Pamo Chamoso. There was some disagreement in the defence strategy from members of the Audiencia, who saw it safer to lock themselves inside the city walls awaiting the invaders. This idea was totally rejected by the commanding military, who were clear that the English must be prevented from landing.

Between ten and eleven in the morning, a caravel and a launch carrying Drake himself approached the shore to reconnoitre the situation, closely observe the type of coast for landing, and mark the approach point with buoys. Shortly after, following a cannon shot, the attack began. Drake personally led the landing. Three ships advanced protecting nearly thirty landing boats with 1,400 arquebusiers aboard that headed for the Santa Catalina sands. The firing began around midday, cannonading the coast from the English ships. The response from land came from the fortress of La Isleta (ineffective) and from the coastal line. The boats approached rowing, constantly firing their firearms, but the arquebusiers from the trenches and the cannons from the batteries caused the repulse. The invaders tried several times but always suffered heavy damage. Drake, now convinced of the futility of his action, ordered the ships to drift south, positioning themselves in front of the Santa Ana castle, which greeted them with a discharge of more than thirty pieces in a short time. After an hour and a half of combat, the English withdrew to where the rest of their fleet was anchored. We can imagine the sarcastic reception from Hawkins who had witnessed everything from a distance. 

That afternoon the English fleet remained threatening in front of the city. On land, the night was vigil, with reinforcements on the coast. At dawn the fleet drifted south. On 8 October the English anchored and landed at Arguineguín to take on water. There they were attacked by a group of Canarian militiamen joined by shepherds from Fataga, farmers and local residents. They killed several Englishmen and captured two. 

The English fleet moved away from Gran Canaria towards La Gomera, where it was able to take on water furtively. On the night of 9 October the squadron definitively left the Canaries with the result, after its failed invasion attempt, of nearly fifty men dead, numerous wounded, as well as five heavily damaged vessels, one of them almost unusable.

In Las Palmas, after the victory, there was celebration and rejoicing, as they had repelled the largest fleet that had appeared in these parts until then. In the cathedral there was a Te Deum; in the convents and other churches thanksgiving ceremonies were held. Songs and verses about the victory ran through the streets. Three great writers wrote about the feat: Gonzalo Argote de Molina, with a now lost text; Bartolomé Cairasco, in his Templo Militante; and Lope de Vega, with his work La Dragontea .

The triumph of the city of Las Palmas over Drake (who in his personal record had already sacked Cádiz, Vigo and various places in America, besides having attempted La Coruña, Lisbon and Santa Cruz de La Palma) meant a huge boost of confidence for the island population. But the joy did not last long. Peace was broken three and a half years later when a new attack, this time of Dutch origin, left in the city, indeed, a trail of misery, death and destruction.

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