Spanish Armada

Home > History > Modern Europe > Spanish and Portuguese History

Spanish Armada, called by the Spaniards before it sailed the felicissima, most fortunate, and invencible, invincible. It was a great fleet assembled by King Philip II of Spain to force the English Channel, pick up the army of the Prince of Parma then operating in the Low Countries, and invade England. The fleet, consisting of 130 ships, both large and small, was commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia (1550–1619). It left Lisbon in May 1588 but made such poor headway because of heavy weather that it had to put in to Corunna for repairs, water, and provisions, and it was another month before it again set sail.

The English fleet, initially larger in number but much smaller in tonnage, was divided between Lord Howard of Effingham's squadron at Plymouth, and Lord Henry Seymour's ships at Dover, which was watching Calais for the arrival of Parma's army. The western squadron sailed from Plymouth as soon as the Armada was sighted off the Lizard on 19 July, an event which gave rise to the well-known legend of Sir Francis Drake and his game of bowls on Plymouth Hoe. The first shots of the battle were fired off the Eddystone on 21 July.

The Spanish fleet was sailing in a crescent-shaped formation, too strong for the English ships to attack in formation, but, being generally more weatherly, they attacked singly at long range, exploiting superior naval gunnery techniques and equipment to keep the Spanish ships on the move. During the next four days the Armada was continually harassed, losing two ships, and by the evening of the 25 July the two fleets were abreast the Isle of Wight. By this time the English ships were running short of ammunition and Howard, when reporting this, stated his intention not to attack again until he had obtained a further supply.

Meanwhile the Armada continued its slow progress up Channel, losing an occasional straggler to the English ships, but in general keeping its crescent-shaped formation intact. It anchored off Calais on the evening of 27 July to await Parma's troops for the planned invasion. As it dropped its anchors, so also did Howard's squadron, which was promptly reinforced by Seymour's ships.

With the wind blowing from the south-west, the English fleet now anchored about 800 metres (2,640 ft) to windward of the Spaniards, very well placed for an attack with fireships. Six of these were sent down on the following night, causing much consternation and confusion among the tightly packed Spaniards. There was nothing they could do but cut their cables and make sail before the wind to escape the threatened holocaust. They were followed by the whole English fleet and a major action developed off Gravelines, in which Medina Sidonia lost three of his best ships and found himself being driven by the wind and the English towards the Dutch shoals. At the last moment the wind backed into the south-east and enabled the Spanish ships to claw off the dangerous shallows.

Without Parma's troops on board, and with the invasion now impossible, Medina Sidonia had no option but to make his way back to Spain as best he could. Short of ammunition and provisions, he could not fight his way back down Channel through the English fleet, and the only way left for him was around the north of Scotland and west of Ireland. Leaving Seymour and his squadron to guard the Channel and maintain a watch for any movement by Parma and his troops, Howard pursued the retreating Armada up the North Sea as far as the latitude of the Firth of Forth. There, running short of supplies himself, he decided to abandon the chase, though a few English pinnaces continued to follow the Spaniards until they were past the Orkney Islands, and committed to returning to Spain by the west of Ireland. The weather, which had been rough in the North Sea, deteriorated further as the Armada ploughed its long way homewards, and many of its vessels were wrecked on the rocky coasts of Scotland and Ireland, where they were pillaged and their crews slaughtered. Of the 130 Spanish ships which had left Lisbon, almost half were lost.

Bibliography

Laughton, J. , State Papers Relating to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada (Navy Records Society, 1895).
Martin, C., and and Parker, G. , The Spanish Armada (1988).

Armada, Spanish. The invasion fleet sent against England by Philip II of Spain in July 1588 comprised some 138 vessels (including warships, ancillary craft, and requisitioned transports), perhaps 7,000 seamen, and 17,000 soldiers, and siege equipment for use in England. The number of soldiers would be doubled once the forces of the duke of Parma in Flanders were embarked in the Armada at Calais for passage to England. The English naval forces comprised 34 royal warships and some 170 privately owned ships, preponderantly drawn from East Anglia and Kent. Variable in quality, these ships did have a national identity, whereas the Armada included ships from Portugal, Naples/Sicily, Venice, Ragusa, and north Germany. Quite apart from the unmanageable scale of the Armada's preparation and the Spanish government's financial weakness, the quality of English guns and their handling were of an order with which the Spaniards could not compete. Yet the English, in their turn, could not compete with Spanish soldiery if it came to hand-to-hand fighting at sea, or in a land campaign. Hence the English fleet, under Lord Howard of Effingham's overall command out of Plymouth, and including Lord Henry Seymour's patrols in the Dover Straits, looked to its more manœuvrable ships and more effective fire-power to avoid being grappled by the enemy.

Philip II's purposes behind the Armada were to end English attacks on Spain's commerce with her American dominions, to assert his sovereignty in Flanders, which Elizabeth had been impugning since 1585, and, above all, to bring heretic England back into the fold of Rome. He had himself a claim to Elizabeth's crown which, if success was granted to the enterprise, Philip would use in the best interests of Spain and the true faith. On the English side the issues were the defence of a protestant realm that included catholic Ireland, vigilance against the threat posed by Spanish power in Flanders, and the protection of Elizabeth's person and the ‘Englishness’ of her queenship.

Under the command of the duke of Medina-Sidonia, not a professional commander but experienced in fleet logistics, the Armada took three weeks to make Corunna from Lisbon. From the Lizard Point in Cornwall on 29 July its disciplined crescent formation was only twice broken by English forces (two of its ships were lost) before it reached Calais on 6 August. Here Parma had failed to prepare his troops, and had critically underrated Dutch naval forces, which sealed off his sea exits. The Armada's congestion made it vulnerable to Howard's fireship attack on the night of 7 August, and on the following day there was heavy Spanish loss of life in a sustained battle off Gravelines. The shoaling coast and southerlies of increasing strength prevented Medina-Sidonia from standing in again for Calais, and deteriorating weather drove a dispersed Armada up the North Sea, pursued by Howard whose ordnance, and the health of his crews, were now spent. Driven round Scotland and Ireland, in unseasonably severe weather, two-thirds of the Armada were brilliantly navigated back home, but upwards of 30 ships were lost in the Hebrides and western Ireland. Some 11,000 Spaniards may have died. Although the elements had principally saved England, the campaign brought her high international repute, while Spain proved she could place a huge naval force in northern latitudes. The campaign's outcome saw neither state radically altering its policies.

David Denis Aldridge

Spanish Armada , 1588, fleet launched by Philip II of Spain for the invasion of England, to overthrow the Protestant Elizabeth I and establish Philip on the English throne; also called the Invincible Armada. Preparations, under the command of the marqués de Santa Cruz, began in 1586 but were seriously delayed by a surprise attack on Cádiz by Sir Francis Drake in 1587. By the time the expedition was ready Santa Cruz had died, and command was given to the duque de Medina Sidonia . The Armada consisted of 130 ships, including transports and merchantmen, and carried about 30,000 men. It was to go to Flanders and from there convoy the army of Alessandro Farnese, duke of Parma, to invade England. It set out from Lisbon in May, 1588, but was forced into A Coruña by storms and did not set sail again until July. Medina Sidonia's orders were to proceed straight up the English Channel and refuse battle until he had made junction with Parma. This gave the initiative to the English, whose main fleet, commanded by Charles Howard (later earl of Nottingham ), sailed out from Plymouth to achieve the windward side of the Spanish and attacked at long range. Three minor actions followed, in which the Armada was somewhat damaged but its formation unbroken. On Aug. 6, Medina Sidonia anchored off Calais, from which position he hoped to make contact with Parma. The following night the English sent fire ships into the anchorage, causing the Spanish fleet to scatter, and then attacked (Aug. 8) at close range off Gravelines. Unable to re-form, the Armada was severely battered, but a sudden change in the wind enabled most of the ships to escape northward. In attempting to sail home by Scotland and the west coast of Ireland, the Spanish ships were dispersed by storms; their provisions gave out; and many of those who landed in Ireland were killed by English troops. Only about half the fleet reached home.

Bibliography: See G. Mattingly, The Armada (1959); A. McKee, From Merciless Invaders (1964); W. Graham, The Spanish Armadas (1972).

Armada, Spanish The invasion fleet sent against England by Philip II of Spain in July 1588 comprised some 138 vessels, perhaps 7,000 seamen, and 17,000 soldiers. The number of soldiers would be doubled once the forces of the duke of Parma in Flanders were embarked. English naval forces comprised 34 royal warships and some 170 privately owned ships under the command of Lord Howard of Effingham. The quality of English guns and their handling were of an order with which the Spaniards could not compete, yet the English, in turn, could not compete with Spanish soldiery if it came to hand‐to‐hand fighting at sea, or on land. Philip II's purposes behind the Armada were to end English attacks on Spain's commerce with her American dominions, to assert his sovereignty in Flanders, and, above all, to bring heretic England back into the fold of Rome.

Under the command of the duke of Medina‐Sidonia, the Armada took three weeks to make Corunna from Lisbon. From the Lizard Point in Cornwall on 29 July its disciplined crescent formation was only twice broken by English forces before it reached Calais on 6 August. Here Parma had failed to prepare his troops. The Armada's congestion made it vulnerable to Howard's fireship attack on the night of 7 August, and the following day there was heavy Spanish loss of life in a sustained battle off Gravelines. Deteriorating weather drove a dispersed Armada up the North Sea, pursued by Howard. Driven round Scotland and Ireland, in unseasonably severe weather, two‐thirds of the Armada were brilliantly navigated back home, but upwards of 30 ships were lost in the Hebrides and western Ireland. Some 11,000 Spaniards may have died. Although the elements had principally saved England, the campaign brought her high international repute, while Spain had proved she could place a huge naval force in northern latitudes.

Spanish Armada (Sept.–Oct. 1588). The Spanish Armada, defeated in its attempt to invade England, had orders to sail around Scotland and the west of Ireland. In stormy weather at least 23 ships were wrecked on the Irish coast. Fitzwilliam gave orders to execute Spaniards coming ashore, and 6,194 were reported drowned, killed, or captured. English fears that the Spaniards would join forces with the Irish proved unfounded. The main reaction of the native population was to rob both survivors and corpses. In Irish‐controlled districts of the north, certain lords—O'Rourke, MacSweeney, O'Cahan, and MacDonnell—aided the escape of up to 500 survivors to Scotland. Some 2,400 survivors from various ships gathered at Killybegs and attempted to reach Scotland in the Girona but sank off the north Antrim coast. Some survivors wrote accounts of their adventures in Ireland, the best known being that of Captain de Cuellar. Today the archaeological legacy gives the Armada undue prominence in Irish history. The event may have heightened English fears of Spanish intervention in Ireland, and Irish hopes of such an outcome; but for, most people it was an unexpected windfall of little lasting significance.

Hiram Morgan

Spanish Armada A large naval and military force that PHILIP II of Spain sent to invade England at the end of May 1588. It consisted of 130 ships, carrying about 8000 sailors and 19,000 infantrymen, under the command of the inexperienced Duke of MEDINA SIDONIA. The Spanish fleet was delayed by a storm off Corunna, and was first sighted by the English naval commanders on 19 July, then harassed by them with long-range guns, until it anchored off Calais. Unable to liaise with an additional force from the Low Countries led by FARNESE, its formation was wrecked by English fireships during the night and as it tried to escape it suffered a further pounding from the English fleet before a strong wind drove the remaining vessels into the North Sea and they were forced to make their way back to Spain round the north of Scotland and the west of Ireland. Barely half the original Armada returned to port.

Armada, Spanish (1588) Fleet launched by the Catholic Philip II of Spain against England to overthrow the Protestant Elizabeth I. English support for the rebels in the Spanish Netherlands and pirate attacks on Spanish possessions convinced Philip that England must be conquered. The 130 ships of the Armada were supposed to collect troops from the Netherlands but, hampered by English attacks and poor planning, it proved impossible. After an indecisive engagement with the English off Gravelines, the Spanish ships ran out of ammunition. Their commander, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, withdrew around n Scotland, suffering severe losses through shipwreck and disease. Though a blow to Spanish prestige, the defeat had little effect on the balance of naval power.

Spanish Armada see Armada, Spanish .

Spanish Armada See Armada