Drake’s war with Spain began as personal vengeance for San Juan de Ulua

Evidence

Drake’s private war with Spain, however, was not itself an inheritance, and arose from nothing so abstract as a sense of public or religious duty. It sprang, like Samson’s private war with the Philistines, from a deep personal grievance. Young Francis Drake had been in the harbour of San Juan de Ulua with John Hawkins when the armed ships of that prosperous merchant were treacherously set upon and overwhelmed by the Armada of New Spain. — Garrett Mattingly, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 186

Categorization

• XREF: Establishes the personal grievance that drives the entire Drake narrative — the seed of his vendetta that pays off in Cadiz and the fireship raid. — connects to: Drake’s campaign against Spain grew from a deep personal grievance — Garrett Mattingly, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 186; San Juan d Ulua disaster transformed Drake into an implacable enemy of Spain — John Sugden, Sir Francis Drake, 169; Drake exposed Spanish strategic weaknesses and held the initiative for years — John Sugden, Sir Francis Drake, 1330 (+1 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Garrett Mattingly, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 186

Library Connections

• San Juan d Ulua disaster transformed Drake into an implacable enemy of Spain #corroborates (0.95) — John Sugden, Sir Francis Drake, 169

Broader Connections

• Drake raids transformed privateering into an existential conflict between nations #expands (0.75) — John Sugden, Sir Francis Drake, 1
• Drake exposed Spanish strategic weaknesses and held the initiative for years #expands (0.60) — John Sugden, Sir Francis Drake, 1330