Admiral Sir Simon Cassels ( March 5, 1928—March 6, 2019 )

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Sir Simon Cassels, KCB CBE, an extraordinarily experienced mariner, has been a long and ardent supporter and member of the Drake Navigators Guild. Joining the British Royal Navy in 1947, Cassels served aboard many ships including holding the command of HMS Fearless before ultimately reaching the rank of Admiral. He also served as President of the Royal Naval College in Greenwich. From 1982 to 1986, he held the esteemed position as Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel. He is one of several distinguished Englishmen who have held Guild membership.

Sir Simon Cassels was active in the study of Francis Drake and worked to support the preservation of Drake’s home, Buckland Abbey. He also significantly promoted the Guild’s findings. Notably, his article about the location of Drake’s New Albion careenage site in the journal Mariner’s Mirror, published in August 2003, wrote the article "Where Did Drake Careen The Golden Hind in June/July 1579? A Mariner's Assessment" which gives detailed and expert witness regarding the navigational evidence resulting in the 38° north latitude recorded inThe World Encompassed.

The weight of evidence stemming from these separate lines of investigation including climatology, astrolabe accuracy, and Chinese ceramics, bears heavily on only one and the same site for careening the Golden Hind: the estuary within what for more than 100 years has been named Drakes Bay.