Download or read book Commander Francis Drake & the West Coast Mysteries written by Gunnar Thompson and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2010-09-01 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discovery of Drake's "lost" navigational chart finally reveals secrets behind his voyage to America's West Coast in 1579. The secret location of Drake's colony "New Albion" is finally identified. This was the "first" British colony in America; and it marks the beginning of the British Empire. At last, we know the reason for an ongoing feud between Queen Elizabeth and Sir Francis. He wanted desperately to rescue the shipmates that he left behind in New Albion. Drake used a shipboard clock to map the West Coast. This is the first map of America that was made using a chronometer: thus Drake's map is accurate to within 15-degrees of the true longitude. Drake was not "just a pirate" as most historians assume. He was a naturalist, ethnographer, and geographer. Drake's map and his new ship design opened the way for the Dutch East India Company.