The Pilgrim Fathers aboard the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth on September 6th 1620. The vessel carried 102 passengers and crew on a perilous 66 day voyage filled with hardship and terror as storms tossed the ship around mercilessly... more..

Captain James Cook set out from Plymouth on his 3 greatest voyages of discovery. Captain William Bligh of the infamous "Mutiny on the Bounty" was born in Plymouth of Cornish stock and appointed sailing master by Cook on the HMS Resolution in 1776, Cook's final, fatal journey to the Pacific.

William Bligh - 1814

Captain Robert Falcon Scott was born in Plymouth in 1868. He left home to join HMS Brittania Naval Training ship at Dartmouth the age of 13. ..more..

Pilgrim Fathers & The Mayflower

Sir Francis Drake

Captain Cook

Captain Bligh

Scott of the Antartic

Francis Chichester

St. Michael's Mount, Penzance, Cornwall.

Plymouth Hoe & Plymouth Sound

Dartmouth Royal Naval College

Bideford

Sir Francis Drake was born in Tavistock, some 15 miles from Plymouth c.1540. His name is national hero to many, the Devil to the Spanish of his time and now tarnished with the shadow of his involvement in slavery. He is remembered nearly 500 years after his birth for many amazing feats, perhaps his best known, cooly finishing a game of bowls on Plymouth Hoe, despite the Spanish Armada being sighted off the Cornish coast... more..

Sir Francis Drake. c. 1581

Sir Francis Chichester (1901-1972) was sailed around the world single-handed in 226 days, starting and ending his voyage in Plymouth. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth the second with a sword that originally belonged to Sir Francis Drake. .. more..