The Spanish Armada

The Spanish Armada was a Catholic revenge for the death of Mary Queen of Scots, and was fought on the 8th of August, 1588. It was against England and Spain, English commanders including Elizabeth the First of England, Charles Howard and Francis Drake, and Spanish commanders including Philip II of Spain and Duke of Medina Sidonia.

            Drake raided Cadiz in April 1587, managing to destroy storage barrels, and delaying the Armada until the 20th of May, 1588, forcing it to leave Lisbon. Unfortunately for the Spanish, the finest admiral Santa Cruz died and was replaced by Duke of Medina Sidonia, a cousin of King Philip the Second of Spain. The Duke was old and had never commanded a naval fleet before due to the fact that he suffered from seasickness.

            The plan would also be difficult to operate: The route from Spain across the Bay of Biscay was not easy due to tides and storms – thus the ships had to return to Corunna in a storm. The English controlled the English Channel. The link with Parma’s soldiers would be difficult to coordinate and Parma did not control a large enough port in the Netherlands for the large ships.

On the 28th of May, 1588, the Armada, with around 130 ships, 19,290 soldiers, 8,350 sailors, 2,080 slaves and 2,630 guns set sail from Lisbon to Portugal, headed for the English Channel.
            Delayed by bad weather, the Armada was not sighted in England until the 19th of July, when it appeared off The Lizard in Cornwall. Fire beacons warned people in London. The English were delayed in their attack as the wind was against them. The English assaulted from the back of the Spanish crescent formation with little effect. Then Elizabeth rallied the men at Tilbury with her famous speech: “I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart of a king, and a king of England too.”

The English ship Ark Royal captained by Hawkins exchanged fire with Medina Sidona’s ship San Martin. On the 25th of July, there was a confused battle by the Isle of Wight. The Spanish then arrived in Calais with their formation in tact, and, Lord Howard of Effingham called a Council of War. Drake advised Howard to use fire ships, and the Spanish had expected this attack but the English ships were so large the men posted to push the fireboats away panicked.

            The Spanish headed out of Calais. They fought bravely but were attacked by the English. The winds then nearly sent the Spanish onto the shore at Zeeland. Eventually they headed out to the North Sea. The Spanish ships had to round the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, and over fifty-three ships were lost. It was September before any ships had returned to Spain.

            In conclusion, Philip left it too late with an ill conceived plan and a series of misfortunes, and probably the Armada was doomed to disaster from the outset.