High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Admiral Sir John Hawkins Plymouth 1532 - 12 November, 1595 was an English shipbuilder, naval administrator and commander, merchant, navigator, and slave trader. As treasurer 1577 and controller 1589 of the Royal Navy, he rebuilt older ships and helped design the faster ships that withstood the Spanish Armada in 1588. He later devised the naval blockade to intercept Spanish treasure ships. One of the foremost seamen of 16th-century England, he was the chief architect of the Elizabethan navy. In the battle in which the Spanish Armada was defeated in 1588, Hawkins served as a vice admiral and was knighted for his role. William, John's father, was a confidant of Henry VIII of England and one of the principal sea captains of England. Sir Francis Drake, John's second cousin, helped him in his 2nd voyage.