They carried nearly two hundred settlers, and the three foremost men on board were Sir Richard Grenville, the commander of the fleet; Thomas Cavendish, the future circumnavigator of the globe; and Captain Ralph Lane, the designated governor of the new colony.

The fleet went the usual way by the West Indies, and June 20 "fell in with the maine of Florida," and June 26 cast anchor at Wokokon.
After a month the fleet moved out again to sea, and passing by Cape Hatteras entered a channel now called New Inlet.

August 17, the colony was landed on Roanoke Island, and eight days later Grenville weighed anchor for England.

On the way back Grenville met a Spanish ship "richly loaden," and captured her, "boording her with a boate made with boards of chests, which fell asunder, and sunke at the ships side, as soone as euer he and his men were out of it." October 18, 1585, he arrived with his prize at Plymouth, in England, where he was received with great honor and rejoicing.[9] The American loves to connect the beginnings of his country with a hero like Grenville.

He was one of the English admirals who helped to defeat the Spanish Armada, and nothing in naval warfare is more memorable than his death.