Coat of arms of the Falkland Islands (1925–1948)

The ''Desire'' was the 120 ton flagship

Thomas Cavendish Sir Thomas Cavendish (1560 – May 1592) was an English explorer and a privateer known as "The Navigator" because he was the first who deliberately tried to emulate Sir Francis Drake and raid the Spanish towns and ships in the Pacific and retu ...

built for his highly successful 1586–1588 circumnavigation of the globe. The ''Desire'' was only the third ship to circumnavigate the globe after the ''Victoria'' of

Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the Eas ...

(journey completed by Juan Sebastián Elcano) and the ''

Golden Hind ''Golden Hind'' was a galleon captained by Francis Drake in his circumnavigation of the world between 1577 and 1580. She was originally known as ''Pelican,'' but Drake renamed her mid-voyage in 1578, in honour of his patron, Sir Christopher Hat ...

'' of Francis Drake. After this expedition Cavendish was knighted by

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

of England who was invited to a dinner aboard the ''Desire''. Thomas Eldred who sailed with Thomas Cavendish in the 1586–1588 voyage of circumnavigation had three paintings on an over-mantel. A ship, a globe with inscriptions noting the voyage and, a portrait of Thomas Eldred holding navigational instruments. It is believed the painting of the ship is most likely the ''Desire''. The mantel is currently in owned by the

Christchurch Mansion Christchurch Mansion is a substantial Tudor brick mansion house built in Ipswich, Suffolk by Edmund Withypoll (also written "Withipoll") around 1548–50. The Grade I listed building is located within Christchurch Park and sits by the southe ...

. The ship was later captained by John Davis on the second, unsuccessful, Cavendish expedition. On that same expedition it was the ship he captained when he probably discovered the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

. Davis brought the ship back, in a wretched state, to

Berehaven Castletownbere () is a town in County Cork in Ireland. It is located on the Beara Peninsula by Berehaven Harbour. It is also known as Castletown Berehaven. A regionally important fishing port, the town also serves as a commercial and retail hub ...

in Ireland on 14 June 1593. Only Davis and fifteen crewmen survived out of an original 76 on the ship. Port Desire in Patagonia was named by Cavendish in 1586 after his ship and later became known by the Spanish translation of the name,

Puerto Deseado Puerto Deseado, originally called Port Desire, is a city of about 15,000 inhabitants and a fishing port in Patagonia in Santa Cruz Province of Argentina, on the estuary of the Deseado River. It was named ''Port Desire'' by the privateer Thomas ...

. Before his death, which occurred on the voyage home from the ill-fated second expedition, Cavendish made his will, bequeathing the ''Desire'' to

Sir George Carey George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon KG (1547 – 9 September 1603) was the eldest son of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon and Anne Morgan. His father was first cousin to Elizabeth I of England. In 1560, at the age of 13, George matriculated at ...

References

* * {{cite book , chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uVIOAAAAQAAJ&dq=Desire+%2B%22Sir+George+cary%22&pg=PA652 , chapter=Cavendish - letter which he wrote when dying , last=Southey , first=Robert , author-link=Robert Southey , date=1810 , title=History of Brazil , location=London, UK , publisher=

Longman, Hurst, Rees and Orme Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also ...

, page=652 16th-century ships Sailing ships of the United Kingdom Circumnavigators of the globe

See also

References