Martin Frobisher (c1535-1594), English navigator and explorer. Frobisher became a cabin boy in 1544 and rose to the rank of captain by 1565. In 1576, he was given command of an expedition to seek out the North-West Passage through the Arctic from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. One of his three ships sank, the other deserted. Frobisher's ship, the Gabriel, sailed onwards and discovered what is now called Frobisher Bay. This was not the North- West Passage, but a bay of Baffin Island. Later voyages included raids on Spanish colonies in the West Indies. Frobisher, knighted in 1588 for his role in defeating the Spanish Armada, was fatally wounded fighting Spanish forces in France.