Which English explorer completed the second circumnavigation of the globe?

Francis Drake completed the second circumnavigation of the globe between 1577 and 1580. He became the first Englishman to lead an expedition around the world, following the Magellan-Elcano voyage that completed the first circumnavigation decades earlier.

Queen Elizabeth I secretly authorized Drake’s expedition during England’s rivalry with Spain. Although described publicly as a voyage of discovery, it also involved privateering against Spanish ships and settlements. Drake crossed the Atlantic, passed through the Strait of Magellan, raided along the Pacific coast of the Americas, and crossed the Pacific and Indian oceans before returning to England.

Drake reached England in September 1580 aboard the Golden Hind, carrying valuable cargo. The voyage made him famous and helped strengthen England’s challenge to Spanish power. Thomas Cavendish later became the second Englishman to complete a circumnavigation, but Drake was the earlier voyager and the canonical answer to this question.