The Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, with the intention of overthrowing Queen Elizabeth and putting an end to her involvement in the Spanish Netherlands and in privateering in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.[1] The Armada departed towards England in July 1588, with more than 130 ships, with roughly 30,000 sailors and soldiers. Of all the ships that made up the Armada, 22 of them were Spanish galleons, while the rest were armed merchant vessels. The English had more than 200 ships in the English Channel comprised of 34 warships, 30 flyboats, and about 160 armed merchant vessels.[2]
John Hawkins was the Rear Admiral, and one of three main commanders of the English fleet against the Armada alongside Drake, and Martin Frobisher. English captains, particularly Hawkins and Drake, inspired a new form of ship for the Queen’s Navy, known as the “race ship”. These were much lower in the water, with a longer bow that reduced the stress on the boat. They carried more sophisticated forms of rigging, enabling them to sail closer to the wind, thus making them faster and more maneuverable than the Spanish ships.[3]
England had no official navy, so its naval vessels were crewed by sailors alone. English fighting ships relied increasingly on gunnery, rather than boarding, to defeat an enemy. The Spanish, however, had a completely opposite tactic. They were not trained to fire long distances for extended lengths of time, and their cannons were not built for, nor were capable of it, so they relied on being able to board enemy ships.[4] Many of the Spanish ships weren’t heavily armed, and instead carried things that would be used to begin the invasion on the land. The Armada faced little opposition as it approached the coast of Cornwall by the end of July. Despite this, London was warned that the Armada was nearing England's coastline. Communications in 16th Century were poor, yet the English had developed a way of informing London that the Armada was approaching: beacons were lit along the coast. As soon as one beacon was seen, the next one further along the coast was lit. The beacons went inland and towards London. This way London was quickly made aware that the Armada was approaching. It is said that when Drake was informed of the Armada's approach, he replied that he had time to finish the game of bowls and plenty of time to defeat the Armada.[5]
Initially the English attempted to disable the Armada ships with long range gunfire. This form of gunnery did little damage other than to the rigging, which was easily replaced. The English were not close enough for their shots to have sufficient power to penetrate the hulls of the Spanish ships. Numerous skirmishes between the English and Spanish took place in the English Channel. The Spanish were trying to get through to the Southern Netherlands to regroup and acquire more soldiers, which made situations in the Channel very tense. Each side was looking to quickly get an upper hand and force the other back.
On 27th of July, the Armada anchored off Calais in a tightly packed defensive crescent formation. At midnight on 28th of July, the English set alight eight fireships, sacrificing regular warships by filling them with brimstone, gunpowder and tar, and cast them downwind towards the crowded vessels of the Armada.[6] Two were intercepted and towed away, but the remainders rushed towards the fleet. The Spanish flagship and the warships held their positions, but the rest of the fleet cut their anchor cables and scattered in confusion. No Spanish ships were burnt, but the formation had broken. The Spanish fleet now found itself too far into wind to recover its position quickly. The English seized the opportunity and began to close in for battle.
The English fired repeatedly into the Spanish ships at short range, dealing significant damage and sinking several ships. The old Spanish style of naval combat prevented the Armada from countering English gunfire.[7] Many of the Spanish gunners were killed or wounded, and the job of manning the cannon often fell to the regular soldiers, who did not know how to operate the guns. The ships were close enough for sailors on the upper decks of the English and Spanish ships to exchange musket fire. After the better part of ten hours, the English ships began to run out of ammunition, and some gunners began loading objects such as chains into the cannons. They tried to salvage ammunition from captured Spanish ships, but most of the ammunition was the wrong caliber, and therefore, did not work in the English guns. The English eventually ran out of ammunition, fired their last shots and were forced to pull back. At this point, the Spanish were in no position to push forward or put pressure on the English.
Very few English ships had suffered hull damage, while many of the Spanish ships were severely damaged by cannon fire, much of which was below the waterline. Examination of Spanish cannon balls recovered from wrecks show the Armada’s ammunition was badly cast, and that the iron lacked the correct composition and was too brittle, causing the balls to crumble upon impact, rather than penetrating the hull. Several guns were found to have been badly cast and of insufficient composition, increasing the danger of bursting and killing or injuring the Spanish gun crews.[8]
The Spanish left the Channel and began to make their way up the Atlantic coast of Ireland. The remaining Spanish ships were showing a lot of wear by this point, but still they proceeded with the goal of putting an end to Queen Elizabeth’s Protestant England. Being at that time no way of accurately measuring longitude, the Spanish were ill-suited for traveling the Gulf Stream and it began carrying them north and east as they tried to move west, and they eventually turned south much further to the east than they had planned. This devastating navigational error eventually led them into extremely powerful winds, which forced them towards shore. Because so many anchors had been abandoned while fleeing the English fireships, many of the Spanish had no way of stopping and were driven into the rocks along the coast. A great deal of the men drowned, and the few that made it to shore were slaughtered by the English and Irish.
The remaining Armada, in no shape to conduct a mass invasion, ended up retreating to Spain. Only about half of the fleet that left ever returned to Spain. The Spanish lost over 600 men, 800 men were wounded, 397 were captured, they lost almost a combined 70 ships to the storm, the English and scuttling, and over 20 000 men died of diseases. The English lost about 70 men, over 400 were wounded, they burnt 8 of their own ships and lost about 7000 men to disease. The English victory over the Spanish was celebrated as a national triumph, and the boost to the nationalist pride lasted for years, which only added to the heroic name Sir Francis Drake had already acquired.
[1] The Spanish Netherlands consisted of modern day Holland and Belgium. Queen Elizabeth was funding and helping the Protestant Holland fight for independence from the Catholic Spanish.
[2] The English Channel is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic
[3]Mattingly, Garrett, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, (London: The Reprint Society LTD, 1959) Page 203
[4] Ibid p. 185
[5] Ibid p. 251-252
Bowls refers to the sport of Lawn Bowling.
[6] A fire ship was a ship filled with combustibles, deliberately set on fire and steered into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy ships, or to create panic and cause the enemy break formation.
[7] Ibid p. 190
[8] Ibid p.268
John Hawkins was the Rear Admiral, and one of three main commanders of the English fleet against the Armada alongside Drake, and Martin Frobisher. English captains, particularly Hawkins and Drake, inspired a new form of ship for the Queen’s Navy, known as the “race ship”. These were much lower in the water, with a longer bow that reduced the stress on the boat. They carried more sophisticated forms of rigging, enabling them to sail closer to the wind, thus making them faster and more maneuverable than the Spanish ships.[3]
England had no official navy, so its naval vessels were crewed by sailors alone. English fighting ships relied increasingly on gunnery, rather than boarding, to defeat an enemy. The Spanish, however, had a completely opposite tactic. They were not trained to fire long distances for extended lengths of time, and their cannons were not built for, nor were capable of it, so they relied on being able to board enemy ships.[4] Many of the Spanish ships weren’t heavily armed, and instead carried things that would be used to begin the invasion on the land. The Armada faced little opposition as it approached the coast of Cornwall by the end of July. Despite this, London was warned that the Armada was nearing England's coastline. Communications in 16th Century were poor, yet the English had developed a way of informing London that the Armada was approaching: beacons were lit along the coast. As soon as one beacon was seen, the next one further along the coast was lit. The beacons went inland and towards London. This way London was quickly made aware that the Armada was approaching. It is said that when Drake was informed of the Armada's approach, he replied that he had time to finish the game of bowls and plenty of time to defeat the Armada.[5]
Initially the English attempted to disable the Armada ships with long range gunfire. This form of gunnery did little damage other than to the rigging, which was easily replaced. The English were not close enough for their shots to have sufficient power to penetrate the hulls of the Spanish ships. Numerous skirmishes between the English and Spanish took place in the English Channel. The Spanish were trying to get through to the Southern Netherlands to regroup and acquire more soldiers, which made situations in the Channel very tense. Each side was looking to quickly get an upper hand and force the other back.
On 27th of July, the Armada anchored off Calais in a tightly packed defensive crescent formation. At midnight on 28th of July, the English set alight eight fireships, sacrificing regular warships by filling them with brimstone, gunpowder and tar, and cast them downwind towards the crowded vessels of the Armada.[6] Two were intercepted and towed away, but the remainders rushed towards the fleet. The Spanish flagship and the warships held their positions, but the rest of the fleet cut their anchor cables and scattered in confusion. No Spanish ships were burnt, but the formation had broken. The Spanish fleet now found itself too far into wind to recover its position quickly. The English seized the opportunity and began to close in for battle.
The English fired repeatedly into the Spanish ships at short range, dealing significant damage and sinking several ships. The old Spanish style of naval combat prevented the Armada from countering English gunfire.[7] Many of the Spanish gunners were killed or wounded, and the job of manning the cannon often fell to the regular soldiers, who did not know how to operate the guns. The ships were close enough for sailors on the upper decks of the English and Spanish ships to exchange musket fire. After the better part of ten hours, the English ships began to run out of ammunition, and some gunners began loading objects such as chains into the cannons. They tried to salvage ammunition from captured Spanish ships, but most of the ammunition was the wrong caliber, and therefore, did not work in the English guns. The English eventually ran out of ammunition, fired their last shots and were forced to pull back. At this point, the Spanish were in no position to push forward or put pressure on the English.
Very few English ships had suffered hull damage, while many of the Spanish ships were severely damaged by cannon fire, much of which was below the waterline. Examination of Spanish cannon balls recovered from wrecks show the Armada’s ammunition was badly cast, and that the iron lacked the correct composition and was too brittle, causing the balls to crumble upon impact, rather than penetrating the hull. Several guns were found to have been badly cast and of insufficient composition, increasing the danger of bursting and killing or injuring the Spanish gun crews.[8]
The Spanish left the Channel and began to make their way up the Atlantic coast of Ireland. The remaining Spanish ships were showing a lot of wear by this point, but still they proceeded with the goal of putting an end to Queen Elizabeth’s Protestant England. Being at that time no way of accurately measuring longitude, the Spanish were ill-suited for traveling the Gulf Stream and it began carrying them north and east as they tried to move west, and they eventually turned south much further to the east than they had planned. This devastating navigational error eventually led them into extremely powerful winds, which forced them towards shore. Because so many anchors had been abandoned while fleeing the English fireships, many of the Spanish had no way of stopping and were driven into the rocks along the coast. A great deal of the men drowned, and the few that made it to shore were slaughtered by the English and Irish.
The remaining Armada, in no shape to conduct a mass invasion, ended up retreating to Spain. Only about half of the fleet that left ever returned to Spain. The Spanish lost over 600 men, 800 men were wounded, 397 were captured, they lost almost a combined 70 ships to the storm, the English and scuttling, and over 20 000 men died of diseases. The English lost about 70 men, over 400 were wounded, they burnt 8 of their own ships and lost about 7000 men to disease. The English victory over the Spanish was celebrated as a national triumph, and the boost to the nationalist pride lasted for years, which only added to the heroic name Sir Francis Drake had already acquired.
[1] The Spanish Netherlands consisted of modern day Holland and Belgium. Queen Elizabeth was funding and helping the Protestant Holland fight for independence from the Catholic Spanish.
[2] The English Channel is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic
[3]Mattingly, Garrett, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, (London: The Reprint Society LTD, 1959) Page 203
[4] Ibid p. 185
[5] Ibid p. 251-252
Bowls refers to the sport of Lawn Bowling.
[6] A fire ship was a ship filled with combustibles, deliberately set on fire and steered into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy ships, or to create panic and cause the enemy break formation.
[7] Ibid p. 190
[8] Ibid p.268