''Nuestra Señora de la Concepción'' ( Spanish: "Our Lady of the (Immaculate) Conception") was a 120-ton Spanish

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships developed in Spain and Portugal. They were first used as armed cargo carriers by Europe, Europeans from the 16th to 18th centuries during the Age of Sail, and they were the principal vessels dr ...

that sailed the

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

–

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

trading route during the 16th century. This ship has earned a place in

maritime history Maritime history is the study of human interaction with and activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant. As an academic subject, it ...

not only by virtue of being

Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

's most famous prize, but also because of her colourful nickname, ''Cagafuego'' ("fireshitter").Coote, p.156

Capture by Sir Francis Drake

At the helm of his ship '' Golden Hind'', Sir Francis Drake had slipped into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

via the strait of Magellan in 1578 without the knowledge of the Spanish authorities in South America. Privateers and pirates were common during the 16th century throughout the Spanish Main but were unheard of in the Pacific. Accordingly, the South American settlements were not prepared for the attack of "el Draque" (Spanish pronunciation of Sir Francis' last name), as Drake was to be known to his Spanish victims. During this trip, Drake pillaged El Callao (Peru's main port) and was able to gather information regarding the treasure ship ''Cagafuego,'' which was sailing toward Panama laden with silver and jewels. ''Golden Hind'' caught up with ''Cagafuego'' on 1 March 1579, in the vicinity of Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Since it was the middle of the day and Drake did not want to arouse suspicions by reducing sails, he trailed some wine casks behind ''Golden Hind'' to slow her progress and allow enough time for night to fall. In the early evening, after disguising ''Golden Hind'' as a merchantman, Drake finally came alongside his target and, when the Spanish captain San Juan de Antón refused to surrender, opened fire. ''Golden Hind''s first broadside took off ''Cagafuego''s mizzenmast. When the English sailors opened fire with muskets and crossbows, ''Golden Hind'' came alongside, with a boarding party. Since they were not expecting English ships to be in the Pacific, ''Cagafuego''s crew was taken completely by surprise and surrendered quickly and without much resistance. Once in control of the galleon, Drake brought both ships to a secluded stretch of coastline and over the course of the next six days unloaded the treasure.Coote, p.157 Drake was pleased at his good luck in capturing the galleon, and he showed it by dining with ''Cagafuego''s officers and gentleman passengers. He offloaded his captives a short time later, and gave each one gifts appropriate to their rank, as well as a letter of safe conduct. Laden with the treasure from ''Cagafuego'', ''Golden Hind'' continued its voyage first to New Albion, then westward, completing the second

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnaviga ...

of the earth by returning to

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, England, on 26 September 1580.

The ship's nickname of "''Cagafuego''"

''Nuestra Señora de la Concepción'' was reportedly nicknamed ''Cagafuego'', meaning "shitfire" (or "fireshitter"), by her Spanish sailors. The Early Modern Spanish verb ''caca'' "defecate" was derived from the Latin ''cacare''. (''Caca'' mutated into ''caga'' in modern Spanish and the formation "shitfire" into "''cagafuego''".) There was a contemporaneous

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

in the Florentine Italian dialect: ''cacafuoco'', meaning "handgun".''Online Etymology Dictionary'', 2001–2017, "spitfire (n.)" (18 December 2017).
/ref> From about 1600, the word spitfire was used in English, initially as an alternative term for "cannon". Spitfire may have originated as a minced

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

of ''cacafuoco'', although a

folk etymology Folk etymology – also known as (generative) popular etymology, analogical reformation, (morphological) reanalysis and etymological reinterpretation – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a mo ...

has long claimed that it originated as ''cagafuego'', in reference to ''Nuestra Señora de la Concepción''. In the 1670s, spitfire acquired the additional meaning of an "irascible, passionate person". In 1776, the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

commissioned the first of more than 10 vessels named HMS ''Spitfire''. Since the late 1930s, however, the word has been more famously associated with the

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...

fighter aircraft and the ''Mexican Spitfire'' film series, starring Lupe Vélez.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nuestra Senora De La Concepcion Age of Sail merchant ships of Spain 16th-century ships Captured ships Francis Drake Galleons of Spain