Willliam Burrows Biography

A further twenty merchantmen and armed pinnaces joined forces with the expedition.

Queen Elizabeth gave the English privateer, Sir Francis Drake, the command of a fleet whose mission was to inspect the Spanish military preparations, intercept their supplies, attack the fleet and if possible the Spanish ports.

The cost of these boats was met by a group of London merchants, whose profits were to be calculated in the same proportions as their investment in the fleet; the Queen, as owner of the four Royal Naval vessels, was to receive 50% of the profits

To that end, the Queen put at Drake's disposal four Royal Naval galleons: the Elizabeth Bonaventure, which was under Drake's own command; Golden Lion, captained by William Burroughs; Rainbow, under Captain Bellingham; and Dreadnought under Captain Thomas Fenner.