Frobisher, Sir Martin (1535?-94), English navigator, one of the earliest explorers to seek the Northwest Passage to the Orient, and among the greatest of Elizabethan seamen. Frobisher was born about 1535 in Altofts, Yorkshire, and spent his early years in London after his father's death. He was apprenticed as a cabin boy in 1544, his skills and daring as a seaman brought him a steady rise in rank, and by 1565 he had become a captain.In 1576 Frobisher was placed in command of an expedition to the New World, the first attempt by an Englishman to search for the Northwest Passage. On June 7, 1576, he set sail with three small ships, the Gabriel, the Michael, and a pinnace that was lost in a storm. The Michael deserted soon afterward and the Gabriel continued alone, sighting the mouth of what is now known as Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island—and mistaking it for the entrance to the Northwest Passage—a little more than a month after starting out on the voyage. On his return to England Frobisher brought back a few pieces of "black earth," which were rumored to contain gold. In 1577 he returned to Canada with another fleet outfitted by Queen Elizabeth I of England. Both this expedition and a subsequent voyage were unsuccessful in finding valuable ore or in establishing colonies, but Frobisher continued in the favor of the queen.In 1585, as vice admiral on the Primrose, he participated in an expedition to the West Indies to raid its Spanish colonies, led by the English seaman and adventurer Sir Francis Drake. In 1588 Frobisher was knighted for his valiant role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada. In 1591 he settled in Yorkshire, but soon tired of country life, and in 1592 he commanded a fleet outfitted by Sir Walter Raleigh to harry Spanish merchant ships bringing gold from Panama. In November 1594, engaged in the relief of Fort Crozon near Brest, France, against Spanish forces, Frobisher was mortally wounded and died on November 22, ...
