Galleons
History Channel Videos, Age of Sail Series, 2000
This is not a Drake lifeline nor an assessment of his voyages, but it deserves a mention because it provides an excellent analysis of Drake's contribution to the evolution of the race-built galleon.
The film advances the contention that many of the modifications inaugurated by Hawkins, were Drake's ideas. Therefore, the film assesses each voyage in the light of the use which Drake made of his vessels and any subsequent developments in ships and / or tactics. Excellent descriptions of the circumnavigation, the 1585-6 West Indies Raid, the Cadiz voyage and the Armada are given.
The information is accurate and the narrative is very well expressed. Contemporary pictures and the documents are interwoven with a virtuoso performance by the Golden Hinde. The film provides an interesting hypothesis and adds another facet to the Drake story and is, thus, well worth purchasing.
[The map of Santo Domingo is overplayed to represent Gillingham Reach. There are no interior shots of the Golden Hinde. Michael Turner]
