Raymond Aker

Raymond Aker (March 10, 1920 – January 4, 2003) was a U.S. historian who was noted as an authority on the voyages of Francis Drake in the late 16th century. Aker served as president of the Drake Navigators Guild in California, which promotes Drake and his explorations. It was the work of Aker that helped ensure that Drake received credit for the discovery of Cape Horn, at the southern tip of South America.

Biography

Aker was born in Yonkers, New York and grew up in Atherton, California. He was interested in sailing from an early age, and developed a hobby of making models and paintings of ships. He continued this hobby throughout his life, making detailed drawings and models of ships.

At age nineteen in 1939, he enrolled in the

As part of his study of Drake's circumnavigation, Aker became convinced that Drake was the true discoverer of Cape Horn, rather than Dutch explorer Willem Schouten, who was thought to have discovered it in 1616. Most historians at the time believed that Drake landed on Henderson Island northwest of Cape Horn. In 1997 the American National Maritime Historical Society accepted Aker's argument that it Drake who first discovered Cape Horn. The argument was also accepted by the National Geographic Society.

Aker also became convinced that the partial remains of Drake's ship the