At the time, people didn't really care about the New World itself but rather were trying to find a way to get around it and head out to China. Frobisher was commissioned by Queen Elizabeth in 1576 to search for the Northwest Passage. On June 7, 1576, he sailed off for the New World on three boats the Gabriel, the Michael, and the Pinnace. the Gabriel is the only ship to have reached Canada.
The Gabriel located what is now Frobisher's Bay on Bafin Island, Frobisher, not venturing farther in, claimed it was the Northwest Passage. He brought back some black rock which was said to have gold in it.
Because of this discovery, Frobisher was sent back to Canada to find more of the ore but none was found and the colony he attempted to establish failed miserably.
That was the end of his voyages to North America. Instead he ventured as Vice Admiral to raid the Spanish West Indies in 1585. The expedition was led by Sir Francis Drake. In 1588, Frobisher was knighted for his help in the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
He settled back in Yorkshire in 1591 but returned to his naval career in 1592 to command a fleet. His fleet was supposed to steel the gold from Spanish ships returning from Panama. In a battle against Spanish forces in France, Frobisher was wounded and later died, in 1594, in Plymouth, England.
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