Sea Dogs, puppets in a poitical war

Sea dogs of the 1500 and 1600's worked for queen Elizabeth, robbing

and pillaging the Spaniards. Over this period of 200 years many shipments of

gold and treasure were stolen from Spanish ships while they were sailing

from port to port on the Spanish main. In one attack the infamous Francis

Drake, "...surprised and attacked a heavily laden string of 200 mules. The

booty that Drake captured in this attack included 30 tons of heavy silver

ingots" (Cochran 28).

There were many different and obscure English privateers who pirated

against the Spanish, but only three of them live on now through their heroic

tales. The three most well known sea dogs include John Hawkins, Sir Walter

Raleigh, and Sir Francis Drake. Drake was by far the most popular of all the

sea dogs. It is said that he accumulated the most wealth of anyone in the

pirating business (Wood 102).

English: Sir Francis Drake wearing the Drake Jewel...

Sir Francis Drake

English ships and the Spanish Armada, August 1588.

Sir Walter Raleigh was another sea dog, but

he didn't prove to be as successful (Cochran 32). Another pirate during the

Middle Ages was John Hawkins. He robbed the Spaniards of slaves and

riches (Cochran 26). Together these three men were accountable for what

would be worth millions and millions of dollars being converted from Spanish

hands to English.

These three sea dogs were not just part time pirates though. Pirating

was their main job. William Wood stated that, "...(Spaniards) they were only

naval amateurs, compared with the trained professional sea dogs." Drake

alone was responsible for over 150 attempted or successful attacks on

Spanish treasure ships (Howarth 105). Drake also accomplished something

that only a select few (George Bush) are able to do: he was knighted. One

reason many believe he was knighted though was not because of heroics, but

because, "...a fair share of the immense booty...