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Why did Sir Francis Drake want to sail an English ship in the Pacific Ocean?

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Portrait of Sir Francis Drake with a lace ruff collar, mustache, and short curly hair, painted in oil on panel. The background includes his name in gold lettering. — Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake, oil on panel, after an engraving attributed to Jodocus Hondius, c. 1583; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Sir Francis Drake’s desire to sail an English ship in the Pacific Ocean was rooted in both personal ambition and a strategic drive to challenge Spanish dominance.

During an earlier expedition, while crossing the Isthmus of Panama, Drake stood on a high ridge and viewed the Pacific—an ocean that had been effectively barred to all but Spanish vessels. It was at this moment that he prayed to God for the life and opportunity to sail an English ship in those waters.1

Beyond this personal aspiration, Drake was motivated by a desire for revenge against the Spanish king, Philip II, following various injuries and losses he and his companions had suffered at the hands of Spanish authorities. His subsequent circumnavigation, backed by Queen Elizabeth I, allowed him to pursue these goals by plundering Spanish coastal settlements and merchant ships, while also seeking new trade opportunities and searching for the Northwest Passage.213