Sfile1588 -The Spanish Armada

8/14/2019 Sfile1588 -The Spanish Armada

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The Spanish ArmadaThe spectacular but unsuccessful attempt by King Philip II of Spain to invade Elizabethan England. The

rmada is for the English the classic foreign threat to their country and a powerful icon of national identity.

Battle: The Spanish Armada.

Date: June to September 1588.

Place: The English Channel, the North Sea and the seas around the North and West of Scotland, theOrkneys and the West of Ireland.


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The English Fleet gives battle to the Spanish Armada: A Spanish galeas occupies theforeground, an English race galleon to her left and right. English ships carry the red crossof St George on a white background.

Combatants: The Armada (Spanish for Fleet), manned by Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians, Germans,Dutch, Flemings, Irish and English against the English Fleet assisted by the Dutch Fleet.

Generals: The Duke of Medina Sidonia andthe Duke of Parma against Lord Howard ofEffingham, High Admiral of England, SirJohn Hawkins, Sir Martin Frobisher, SirFrancis Drake, Lord Henry Seymour and SirWilliam Winter.

Size of the navies: The Spanish Armadasailed with around 160 ships. The Englishmobilised up to 200 ships in the Channel.

Unknown numbers of Dutch vesselsharassed and attacked the Armada andhemmed the Duke of Parmas forces intotheir harbour of Dunkirk.

Ships, organization, tactics and equipment:he descent of the Spanish Armada on

England in 1588 ocurred at a time ofprofound change in sea warfare. TheSpanish represented the old tradition whilethe English fought with a new design ofwarship and new tactics.

In medieval warfare at sea soldiers addedcastles to the merchant trading vessel atthe front and the rear (fore castle and aftercastle) and at the top of the mast andfought their fleets as if on land, dischargingarrows and handguns, boarding the enemyships and conducting hand to hand fighting.

The Armada: Lord Howard in the Ark attacks San

Martin, flagship of the Duke of Medina Sidonia.Both ships carry the red cross on the white

background, the crusader symbol and the symbol ofSt George.

he ships incorporated by the Spanish in the Armada represented this tradition. The main Spanishvessels were galleons, sailing ships that rode high out of the water with towering fore and after castlesfrom which handheld firearms were discharged; while the crews grappled the enemy ships so thatsoldiers could board and capture them. Their height and broad beam made these ships awkward to sail.
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The route of the Spanish Armada in 1588 up the Channel, into the North Sea and NorthAbout into the Atlantic and down the west coast of Ireland. The map shows the known

wrecks of Armada ships. Of the 120 ships in the Armada half were lost, many justdisappearing. The map shows the sites of the engagements between the Armada and theEnglish fleet at Eddystone, Portland, Isle of Wight, Calais and Gravelines. Of the Armada'scomplement of 30,000 soldiers and sailors 20,000 were lost.

English captains, particularly John Hawkins and Francis Drake, inspired a new form of ship for the

Queens Navy, the race ship, of which around 25 were built. Lower in the water, with a long prow andmuch reduced fore and after castles, these sleek ships carried more sophisticated forms of rigging,enabling them to sail closer to the wind, making them faster and more manoeuvrable than the Spanishships.

England had no standing army, so her naval vessels were crewed by sailors alone. English fighting shipsrelied increasingly on gunnery, rather than boarding, to defeat an enemy.
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The Battle of Gravelines: Vanguard engages two Spanish galleons

Initially the English attempted to disable the Armada ships with long range gunfire. This form of gunnerydid little damage other than to rigging which was easily replaced. The lesson was learnt and at theBattle off Gravelines the English closed in and fired repeated broadsides into the Spanish ships at shortrange, inflicting considerable damage and sinking several ships.

he different Spanish tradition of sea fighting prevented the Armada from countering English gunfire.Guns in Spanish ships were fired in a single salvo as a prelude to boarding; one soldier remaining byeach gun for this duty while the rest of the gun teams took their places among the boarders on deck.he Spanish crews were not trained to load and fire repeatedly during a battle and the carriages and

tackles of the guns were not designed or suitable for this function; the system of wheels and tacklerestricting recoil rather than easing it.

hroughout the Armadas journey up the Channel and at the Battles of Portland and Gravelines theSpanish struggled unavailingly to bring the nimble English ships within grappling and boarding distance;while suffering constant bombardment that killed many men, sank some ships and damaged others tosuch an extent that they foundered on the voyage home.
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The action off Portland Bill. Queen Elizabeth can be seenwatching riding a white horse (allegorical: in fact she was in London)

After Gravelines it was found that no English ships had suffered hull damage, while many of the Spanishships were severely damaged by canon fire, much of it below the waterline. Examination of Spanishcanon balls recovered from wrecks showed the Armadas ammunition to be badly cast, the iron lackingthe correct composition and too brittle, causing the balls to disintegrate on impact, rather thanpenetrating the hull. Several guns were found to have been badly cast and of inadequate composition,increasing the danger of bursting and killing or injuring the gun crews.

Detailed records kept in the Spanish archives listed the equipment carried in each ship. From theserecords it was seen that the Armada carried guns of significantly greater weight than the English fleet.Study of the wrecks found off the Scottish and Irish coasts showed the largest guns not to be part ofthe ships armament but a siege train to be used on land after the invasion. The two fleets were muchon a par in terms of size and numbers of operational guns.

he wrecked Spanish ships were discovered to contain a significant amount of the ammunition they hadbrought from Spain, while the English ships are known to have run out of ammunition by the end of theBattle of Portland and required replenishment before the Battle of Gravelines. However, much of theammunition recovered from the wrecks proved to be of the wrong calibre for the guns carried in theships.

A further important advance in the English service was the predominance of the sea captain over all onboard his ship with a single clear chain of command; a principal decisively established by Drake when hehanged a recalcitrant gentleman called Doughty aboard the Golden Hinde. In the Spanish service thesea captain remained a lowly person, forced to defer to military officers and many others. It was neverquite clear who gave the decisive orders on a Spanish ship. An interesting example of this dilemma wasrevealed when the Santa Maria de la Rosa in attempting to anchor in Blasket Sound off the South West

coast of Ireland in September 1588, struck the terrible Stromboli rock. The pilot, who should have beenentitled to take any decision on the ships safety, cut the anchor cable and attempted to hoist a sail tobeach the catastrophically damaged vessel. Misinterpreting his actions a Spanish land officer killed him.Winner: The Elements and the English navy.


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A Portuguese galleon

The Navies:The Spanish Navy comprised:he Portuguese Galleons:

So Martinho (48 guns: Flagship of the commander-in-chief,

the Duke of Medina Sidonia and Maestre de Francisco deBobadilla, the senior army officer)So Joo (50 guns).So Marcos (33 guns).So Felipe (40 guns).San Luis (38 guns).San Mateo (34 guns).Santiago (24 guns).Galeon de Florencia (52 guns).San Cristobel (20 guns).San Bernardo (21 guns).Augusta (13 guns).Julia (14 guns).

Biscayan Ships:Santa Ana (30 guns: Flagship of Juan Martinez de Recalde,Captain General and second in command of the Armada).El Gran Grin (28 guns).Santiago (25 guns).La Concepcion de Zubelzu (16 guns).La Concepcion de Juan del Cano (18 guns).La Magdalena (18 guns).

An Armada Galleon


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San Juan (21 guns).La Maria Juan (24 guns).La Manuela (24 guns).Santa Maria de Montemayor (18 guns).Maria de Aguirre (6 guns).Isabela (10 guns).

Patache de Miguel de Suso (6 guns).San Estaban (6 guns).

Castilian Ships:San Cristobal (36 guns: Flagship of Diego Flores de Valds).San Juan Bautista (24 guns).San Pedro (24 guns).San Juan (24 guns).Santiago el Mayor (24 guns).San Felipe y Santiago (24 guns).La Ascuncion (24 guns).Nuestra Senora de Begona (24 guns).La Trinidad (24 guns).Santa Catalina (24 guns).San Juan Bautista (24 guns).Nuestra Senora del Rosario (24 guns).San Antonio de Padua (12 guns).

Andalusian Ships:Nuestra Senora del

Rosario (46 gunsFlagship of Don Pedro deValds).San Francisco (21 guns).San Juan Bautista (31guns).San Juan de Gargarin (16guns).La Concepcion (20 guns).Duquesa Santa Ana (23guns).Santa Catalina (23 guns).La Trinidad (13 guns).Santa Maria de Juncal(20 guns).San Barolome (27 guns).Espiritu Santo.

Guipzcoan Ships:Santa Ana (47 guns:Flagship of Miguel deOquendo).

A merchant vessel commandeered for the Armada: print by PeterBrueghel.


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Santa Maria de la Rosa(47 guns).San Salvador (25 guns).San Esteban (26 guns).Santa Marta (20 guns).Santa Barbara (12 guns).

San Buenaventura (21guns).La Maria San Juan (12guns).Santa Cruz (18 guns).Doncella (16 guns).Asuncion (9 guns).San Bernabe (9 guns).Nuestra Senora deGuadalupe (1 gun).La Madalena (1 gun).

A Baltic Hulk or Urca like El Gran Grifin that sank on Fair Isle: print by Peter Brueghel

A Portuguese galleon: print by Peter Brueghel.

Levantine Ships:

La Regazona (30 guns:Flagship of Martin deBertandona)La Lavia (25 guns).La Rata Santa MariaEncoronada (35 guns).San Juan de Sicila (26guns).La Trinidad Valencera(42 guns).La Anunciada (24 guns).San Nicolas Prodaneli (26guns).La Juliana (32 guns).Santa Maria de Vison (18guns).La Trinidad de Scala (22guns).

Hulks:El Gran Grifon (38 guns:Flagship of Juan Gmezde Medina)San Salvador (24 guns).Perro Marino (7 guns).

Falcon Blanco Mayor (16guns).Castillo Negro (27 guns).Barca de Amburg (23guns).Casa de Paz Grande (26guns).San Pedro Mayor (29guns).


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El Sanson (18 guns).San Pedro Menor (18guns).Barca de Danzig (26guns).Falcon Blanco Mediano

(16 guns).San Andres (14 guns).Casa de Paz Chica (15guns).Ciervo Volante (18 guns).Paloma Blanca (12guns).La Ventura (4 guns).Santa Brbara (10 guns).Santiago (19 guns).David (7 guns).El Gato (9 guns).San Gabriel (4 guns).

Esayas (4 guns).

Neapolitan galeases:San Lorenzo (50 guns:Flagship of Don Hugo deMoncado).Zniga (50 guns).Girona (50 guns).Napolitana (50 guns).

Galleys of Portugal underDon Diego de Medrano:4 ships (each of 50guns).

Squadron of Xebecs andother ships under DonAntonio de Medoza(including pinnaces): 24ships (5 to 10 guns).

Complement of the Fleet:132 ships.8,766 sailors.21,556 soldiers.

2,088 convict rowers.


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The English Navy comprised:

Ark (flag ship of Lord Charles Howard of Effingham)Elizabeth BonaventureRainbow (Lord Henry Seymour)Golden Lion (Thomas Howard)White Bear (Alexander Gibson)Vanguard (William Winter)Revenge (Francis Drake)Elizabeth (Robert Southwell)Victory (Rear Admiral Sir John Hawkins)Antelope (Henry Palmer)Triumph (Martin Frobisher)Dreadnought (George Beeston)Mary Rose (Edward Fenton)Nonpareil (Thomas Fenner)Hope (Robert Crosse)Galley BonavoliaSwiftsure (Edward Fenner)Swallow (Richard Hawkins)ForesightAidBullTiger


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The new English 'race' ship that the Spanish could not catch to

board and whose cannon did so much damage to the Armada's ships

TramontanaScoutAchatesCharlesMoonAdviceMerlinCygnetBrigandineGeorge (hoy)Spy (pinnace)Sun (pinnace)

Some 150 other coasters, ships and barks.

The 8 fire ships:Bark TalbotHopeThomasBark Bond


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Palace of El Escorial; where Philip II, King of Spain, planned the invasion of England by theArmada

Reclusive and autocratic, Philip drew up his detailed plans for the Armada in the palace of Escorial,north of Madrid, consulting few and listening to little advice.
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The execution of Mary Queen of Scots

Philips scheme required an enormous fleet of vessels, provided by Spain, his newly acquired kingdom of

Portugal and his kingdom of Naples, with such other vessels as could be commandeered, to sail fromthe Iberian Peninsular to the English Channel and land a substantial Spanish army, partly carried in theArmada, but mainly provided by the Spanish garrison in the Netherlands, on the coast of Kent. Once hisarmy had conquered England, Phillip II would appoint a new king or assume the throne himself.


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Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma: Spanish commander in the Netherlands,who failed to co-operate with the Duke of Medina Sidonia, commander of the Armada

he King selected an experienced naval veteran, the Marquis de Santa Cruz, to command the Armada.Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, an eminent general and Phillips commander against the Dutchrebels, would command the troops brought across the Channel from the Spanish Netherlands.


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King Philip II of Spain, thearchitect of the Armada

invasion of England in 1588

Phillip laboured under severalmisconceptions: one was that theCatholics of England would assistthe invading Spanish troops againsttheir own sovereign (in fact the firstcontingent of troops for thedefence of England was raised by a

Catholic nobleman; ViscountMontague). Another was that aseaborne invasion could be effectedin the presence of a powerful andundefeated English fleet. A thirdwas that the Spanish forces in theNetherlands could get to sea inspite of the numerous and activeDutch fleet. A fourth was that theDuke of Parma was prepared tocommit his professional reputationto such a hazardous scheme.

King Philip II of Spain

Philip wrote a stream of written orders and directions to the Marquis de Santa Cruz and the Duke ofParma setting out in detail every aspect of the operation. In accordance with these instructions theArmada assembled at Lisbon and the necessary ammunition and stores were gathered and loaded ontothe ships.


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at Lisbon and sail within two weeks.

he Armada comprised squadrons of different types of vessel.he principal naval ships were the great galleons of Portugal,

sailing vessels with guns and naval crews.

Philip drafted into the Armada vessels built for Mediterranean conditions: pre-eminent among thesewere the Neapolitan galleys; long low ships with banks of oars pulled by convicts. 3 of the 4 galleysfoundered in the storm in the Bay of Biscay early in the journey north. A compromise vessel intended tohave the robustness of the galleon and the manoeuvrability of the galley were the galeases, havingmasts and oars, of which the Armada had four.

Central to the Armada was the mass of merchant vessels, known as hulks or urcas, converted for war bythe addition of higher fore and after castles and a greater complement of guns and carrying the Spanisharmy with its artillery and baggage. Many of these ships came from the towns of the Hanseatic Leaguein the Baltic. Flagship of the hulk squadron was the Gran Grifon from Rostock.

The title page a contemporary English translation of Medina Sidonias orders for the Armada. The illustration is of a Portuguese galleon of the Armada.

Spanish archives suggest an impressive operation in providing supplies for the expedition, but concealits inadequacies: stores loaded too early that went bad before the Armada sailed, leaking water barrels,cannon balls of the wrong calibre, food incompetently pickled rotting in the hogsheads. Nevertheless thesupplies were sufficient for the fleet to remain at sea for four months, although the ships companies


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that survived to return to Corunna and Santander in late September 1588 arrived near to starvation.

he Armada set sail from Lisbon on 28th May 1588 (British date or Old Style), picking its way out of theagus River and working north up the Portuguese coast until it reached Corunna on the north west

coast of Spain.

Ships of the Armada at anchor

he journey from Lisbon revealed the unwieldy nature of the Armada. The larger galleons, tall bulky

floating castles designed for boarding and hand to hand combat, were slow and unweatherly. Many ofthe merchant vessels were designed for the easier conditions in the Mediterranean; used only to sailingbefore the wind, dealing with adverse conditions by simply anchoring and waiting for the wind to shift.Several of the ships incorporated banks of oars; suitable for the Mediterranean, but hazardous in theheavy seas of the Atlantic coast. With its various vessels the Armada could sail at an average of 2 knots with a favourable wind.

he Armada took three weeks to sail the 300 miles from Lisbon to Cape Finisterre, a journey in which itwas struck by disease, hunger and thirst. On arrival off Corunna, Medina Sidonia grappled with the urgeto enter the harbour and seek replenishment of his stores. As a he waited a savage and unseasonablestorm struck the fleet, dispersing many of the ships as far as the Scilly Isles and wrecking several on theFrench coast including three of the four galleys. The Armada took refuge in Corunna and spent the next

month loading further stores while pinnaces rounded up the vessels scattered across the Bay of Biscay.


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The Spanish Armada leaving Ferroll

During the stay in Corunna Medina Sidonia wrote to Philip II hinting that the initial leg of the journeyfrom Lisbon had shown the Armada not to be capable of fulfilling the role Philip had assigned to it. Philip

took no notice. In mid- July 1588, the Armada sailed for England.

In the meantime Lord Howard of Effingham, LordHigh Admiral of England commanding the EnglishFleet in Plymouth, urged on by the impetuous Drake,had brought his ships into the Bay of Biscay, intenton attacking the Spanish in Corunna harbour. Thesoutherly wind that enabled the Spanish to sail northprevented Howards fleet from sailing further southso that, fearful of missing the Armada, Howardreturned to Plymouth, to await the arrival of the

Spanish ships in the Channel.

After the passage across the Bay of Biscay theArmada arrived off the Scilly Isles on 19th July 1588.

Philips orders to Medina Sidonia were that he was tosail up the Channel keeping to the English shoreuntil he reached Margate Point, where he was torendezvous with the ships from Dunkirk carryingParmas army and ensure that Parma landed inEngland.

Parma understood Philips orders to require theArmada to eliminate the English and Dutch Fleetsfrom the Channel and then escort his transportsfrom Dunkirk to England. Parma had no intention ofleaving Dunkirk without the protection of theArmada, if he intended to leave at all.

Lord Howard of Effingham, Lord High Admiral of England and commander of theEnglish Fleet against the Armada

Philip did not appear to appreciate the inconsistency in his plans as to where and how the twocommanders were to meet. A staff with a working knowledge of the conditions in the Netherlands would


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have known of the powerful threat posed by the Dutch navy, making it out of the question to sailtransport vessels unescorted from any of the ports available to Parma. At the same time the Armadahad not been equipped with pilots familiar with the Netherlands coast so that it was incapable of safelyapproaching any of Parmas harbours, situated as they were behind long and dangerous coastal sandbanks.

A Dutch ship leaves port to do battle with the Armada

While Philips plan was an extraordinary feat, it was fundamentally unworkable. Parmas resources werealready fully stretched in the Netherlands; ultimately Spain would lose the war against the Dutch revolt.Yet Philip expected Parma to spare sufficient forces to land in England, conquer the country and removeQueen Elizabeth from her throne. The English were already fighting in the Netherlands and Parma hadfirst hand experience of the strength and determination of the country and its commitment to theProtestant faith. Parma could spare 16,000 men for the invasion of England from the war against theDutch, including reinforcements sent to him from Italy and Spain. Medina Sidonia had orders to providehim with a further 6,000 from the Armada, but Parma doubted that he would fulfill this commitment.Parma knew from information coming across the Channel that the English authorities were mobilising upto 200,000 troops across the country to repel the invasion. King James of Scotland, in spite of being theson of the executed Mary Queen of Scots, was committed to supporting Queen Elizabeth. An invasion ofEngland could only end in disaster and disgrace. While not prepared openly to defy his uncle, the Kingof Spain, Parma appears to have decided to give minimal co-operation.


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Drake playing bowls on Plymouth Ho as the arrival of the Spanish Armada in the Channel is

announced

hat evening with the ebb tide Howard and six of his ships left Plymouth, sailing out into the Channeland heading west, followed the next morning by twenty to thirty more ships.

The beacon fires lit across England warning of the Armadas arrival in the Channel

he Armada had also been seen from the land and the first of the chain of beacons fired, alerting therest of the kingdom from Devon to Northumbria.
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The Armada in the Channel

On the night of 20th July 1588 Howards and Drakes ships arrived off the Eddystone Rock where thetwo fleets caught sight of each other. That night Howards vessels worked their way to the west takingthe weather gauge from the Spanish.

For the rest of the week the Armada made its ponderous way up the Channel, the vulnerable merchanthulks in the centre of its formation surrounded by the fighting ships, while Howards faster and moremanoeuvrable vessels attempted to pick off the Spanish with long range gunnery.


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Sir Francis Drake, one of Lord Howards commanders against the Armada and the captain ofthe Revenge

he Armada suffered little damage from the English fire, but two ships were lost: Nuestra del Rosariosuffered a damaging collision and was forced to fall out of the formation, eventually being taken byDrakes Revenge, and San Salvador suffered an explosion in her powder store that blew off a substantialsection of the ships aft. She was evacuated and set adrift until she was captured and towed intoWeymouth, still filled with crewmen killed and injured by the blast.

From the moment of his arrival off Cornwall Medina Sidonia pestered the Duke of Parma, with lettersdelivered to his headquarters in Ghent by the captains of fast pinnaces, pressing Parma to say whetherhis army was ready to embark and where he would meet the Armada. Parma made no reply.


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The commission issued to a Spanish officer of the Armada by Philip II of Spain

Philips instructions were for the Armada to press on to Margate Head, there to meet the Duke of Parmaand his fleet which was to have crossed the Channel. Medina Sidonia was expressly ordered not todeviate from his course or to raid any English towns the Armada might pass.

In the absence of confirmation from Parma that he would be at the rendezvous off Margate Head andwith increasing evidence of their inability to neutralise the English fleet, Medina Sidonia and his seniorofficers resolved to meet Parma off the Flanders coast. King Philip had not allowed for this change andthe Armada had no pilots familiar with the dangerous and complex coast line of the Low Countries. Theonly course Medina Sidonias senior officers could devise was for the Armada to make for Calais andanchor while contact was made with Parma and his intentions discovered.


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The Spanish Armada : the decisive action off Calais; the English attack at midnight led

by the eight fire ships that forced the Spanish to cut their cables and escape to the East

In the meantime the Armada was pursued and harried up the Channel by Howards fleet until on 23rdJuly 1588 the Armada reached Portland Bill where the wind veered to the North East, giving the weathergauge to the Spanish and enabling them to turn and attack the pursuing English ships. A spirited butconfused battle ensued. At one point in the engagement Lord Howard ordered a number of ships tofollow him in a line ahead attack, reserving fire until close quarters had been reached; the vessels beingVictory, Elizabeth, Golden Lion, Mary Rose, Dreadnought and Swallow. It seems unlikely that this attackdeveloped fully.


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The Battle of Gravelines: at which the English Fleet dispersed the Spanish Armada and

forced it into the North Sea.

he English ships inflicted little damage on the Armada, in spite of firing off much of their ammunition,probably because they did not stand in close enough. The Spanish were unable to achieve the essentialingredient for their style of naval warfare, that is by coming alongside the enemy, grappling the shipstogether and capturing by boarding; the English ships being too nimble. The battle ended inconclusively.On the next day the Spanish contemplated a turn into the Solent, approaching around the east tip of theIsle of Wight, but the wind was not correct and they resumed their progress up the Channel.

On 27th July 1588 the Armada anchored off Calais. None of the Spanish officers were happy at the

arrangement, but there was no question of taking the Armadas large ships on up the Channel withoutlocal pilots, with the near certainty of grounding on the sandbars that marked the coast to the East.Medina Sidonia sent further urgent messages to Parma in an attempt to discover his intentions and forthe first time received a reply; Parma was not yet ready.


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A merchant vessel commandeered for the Armada: print by Peter Brueghel

he Spanish Fleet anchored in a tight knit group to reduce the danger of being picked off by Howardsmarauding ships. All were aware that this rendered the Armada particularly vulnerable to attack by fireships and on the next night that was exactly the tactic that was deployed against them. At midnight on28th July 1588 eight vessels filled with combustible material and manned by skeleton crews sailed down

on the Armada. As they approached the anchored fleet the eight ships burst into flames.

Alert to the danger of such an attack the Spanish had posted picquet vessels that attempted to tow thefire ships into shallow water where they could be beached until they burnt out, but without success,other than in one instance. The Armada was forced to apply the reserve order; cut anchor cables andsail away to the East as quickly as possible (the loss of the main anchors in this way was to havedevastating consequences later when ships attempted to anchor off the coasts of Scotland and Irelandin fierce storms but were driven onto the shore).With dawn, Medina Sidonia found the Armada scattered and the English fleet in full attack. OtherSpanish ships beat back to join the flagship, San Martin, and a fierce battle took place, known as theBattle of Gravelines from the port on the coast.


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The Spanish Armada: The Battle off Gravelines

his time the English closed with the Spanish ships and used their guns at close range, the shotspenetrating the wooden hulls of the Spanish ships, frequently below the water line. The Spanish inflictedlittle damage on the English ships.

Beaten in the battle the Spanish were carried up into the North Sea; two ships sunk and most of theremainder damaged by gunfire, with high casualties among the crew and soldiery.

Although the tactical results of the fighting were not decisive the Armada was strategically defeated. Itwas no longer feasible, if it ever had been, to mount a military invasion of England. The only courseopen to the Armada was to return home.

A contemporary illustration showing the Armada in crescent formationpursued down the Channel by the English Fleet of Lord Howard of Effingham


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he prevailing winds were westerly and Howards fleet lay in the mouth of the Channel. Unable toretrace his steps Medina Sidonia was forced to order his fleet to sail for home by the North Aboutroute round the tip of Scotland and down the west coast of Ireland; a daunting prospect for a fleet shortof food and water, with many of the ships severely battle damaged and unsuited in design for suchinhospitable waters. It was a cruel addition that the storms from the Atlantic were that yearunseasonably bad.

Queen Elizabeth addressing her troops at Tilbury

he Spanish possessed no charts that could help them navigate the route around Scotland and Ireland.Medina Sidonia gave his captains sailing instructions running to just a few lines with the most cursory ofdirections.

Around half of the ships in the Armada were sunk in the storms that raged around Scotland and Irelandin the autumn of 1588.
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The ships of the Armada storm tossed on the route North About round the Northern tip ofScotland

El Gran Grifin was wrecked on Fare Isle to the North of Orkney. San Marcos was wrecked on the Irish coast. San Felipe and San Mateo were grounded in the Netherlands and captured by the Dutch. Florencia was scrapped after her return being beyond repair. El Gran Grin was wrecked off the Irish coast and the surviving crew hanged by English troops. La Maria Juan sank during the Battle of Gravelines. San Juan was wrecked off the coast of Ireland. La Trinidad disappeared and is presumed to have sunk in the Atlantic. San Juan Bautista sailed into Blasket Sound off the south west coast of Ireland and was finally scuttledby Admiral Recalde. Urca Duquesa Santa Ana was wrecked off the coats of Ireland. Santa Ana reached San Sebastian on the north coast of Spain but blew up.

Santa Maria de La Rosa was wrecked in Blasket Sound on 11th September 1588.


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The Santa Maria de la Rosa foundering in Blasket Cove off the South West coast of Ireland.Only one member of the crew survived; a sixteen year old Italian boy name Giovanni.

Giovanni was interrogated by English officials and then hanged

San Estban foundered off the Clare coast of Ireland. The surviving crew were hanged.

La Lavia: this ship carrying the Armada Judge Advocate General was believed to have foundered offthe Irish coast. La Rata Encoronada went aground and was burnt in Blacksod Bay, County Mayo. San Juan de Sicilia blew up in Tobermory Bay in Scotland. La Trinidad Valencera foundered in Kinnagoe Bay, Donegal. La Anunciada was scuttled in the Shannon estuary. Juliana sank off Donegal. Crew survivors are believed to have settled in Ulster. Falcon Blanco Mayor: a Hamburg ship commandeered by the Spanish was taken by Drake in theChannel returning to her home port. Castillo Negro sank off Ireland. Barca de Amburg sank off Ireland although her crew were taken on board other ships that in turnsank. San Pedro Mayor was wrecked on the Devon coast after sailing North About. Falcon Blanco Mediano was wrecked off Connemara. Most of the surviving crew were hanged. Santiago foundered off Ireland. San Lorenzo ran aground off Calais after the fire ship attack. Patrona reached Le Havre after the North About journey near disintegration. Girona was wrecked off Antrim. Princesa, galley, was wrecked off Bayonne. Diana, galley, was wrecked off Bayonne.

A Mediterranean merchant ship like Santa Maria de la Rosa,that sank in Blasket Bay with only one survivor: print by Peter Brueghel


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he main body of the Armada reached Corunna on 11th September 1588, comprising less than half ofthe ships that had sailed north in late June. Most of the ships were on starvation rations and had run outof water. Several were so badly damaged as to be scrapped. The remaining ships to survive straggledback to the north coast of Spain through October 1588.

Casualties: The contemporary Spanish record stated that 65 ships survived the Armada and 65 were

lost. Of the lost, 41 were major ships. Of the 30,000 soldiers and crew in the Armada probably 20,000died during the voyage; of wounds, by execution (by the English in Ireland), but mostly of starvationand disease. They continued to die after the Armada had reached Spanish ports.

It is said that there was no noble family in Spain that did not lose a son in the Armada.

he Armada carried a large number of horses and mules for the invasion force. These animals were putover the side in the North Sea as it was considered that there was insufficient water for the journeyhome. An English ship later saw the mass of animals swimming in the sea.English casualties were slight. No ship was lost other than the eight fire ships.

Mary Queen of Scots abdicating her throne under duress

Follow-up:he English admirals remained fearful that the Armada would return from the North Sea and the fleet

remained on alert for some six weeks.On hearing news of the disaster Philip II vowed that he would continue his attempts to remove Elizabethfrom the throne of England.he Duke of Medina Sidonia returned to his estates, carried during the long journey in a litter. He was

banned from attending at court.Recalde, his redoubtable second in command, was carried from his ship and died soon afterwards,refusing to see family or friends.

Anecdotes and traditions:


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Both Spanish and English ships seem to have flown the red cross on a white background; the Spanishbecause Philip II considered the Armada to be a crusade to remove a heretic queen and the cross wasthe crusader emblem; the English because the cross of St George was the national emblem.

Examination of the wrecks off Ireland showed the Mediterranean merchant ships to have been slightly

built compared with ships of war or even Atlantic going merchant ships. The sole advantage of thesevessels was their greater size and availability. They could only sail before the wind and thebombardment they suffered in the Channel made the chances of their survival during the terribleourney North About slight in the extreme.

Pope Sixtus V pledged a million ducats as his contribution to the cost of removing the heretic QueenElizabeth from her throne. Cannily Sixtus V said he would pay the money once the Spanish landed inEngland.

Among the many foreign vessels commandeered by the Spanish for the Armada was the Florencia, a

galleon belonging to the Duke of Tuscany. The Florencia, on her maiden voyage to the East Indies, putinto Lisbon where she was seized. By the time the Florencia returned from the voyage North Aboutshe was ruined beyond repair.

In case any member of the Armadas crews missed the religious context of the expedition Philip II setthe watchwords for the fleet as: Sunday- Jesus, Monday- Holy Ghost, Tuesday- Most Holy Trinity,Wednesday- Santiago, Thursday- The Angels, Friday- All Saints and Saturday- Our Lady.

Queen Elizabeth I at Tilbury addressing her soldiers

As part of the mobilisation of the South of England, the Earl of Leicester, Elizabeths favourite anderstwhile English commander in the Netherlands, gathered 5,000 troops at Tilbury in the ThamesEstuary. The Queen reviewed Leicesters force. Elizabeth is reported to have spoken to her officers and


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said I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart of a King of England.

Queen Elizabeth reviews the Earl of Leicester's troops at Tilbury during which she made herrenowned speech

A quite startling feature of the Spanish Armada was the contrast in treatment Spanish prisonersreceived from the English depending on where they were captured. Spanish officers and crew taken inthe Channel or wrecked on the Scottish coast seem to have been treated with consideration andrepatriated as soon as Parma sent a ship to collect them. On the other hand those taken by the Englishin Ireland after escaping from their foundering ships were all hanged or beheaded, other than verysenior officers. The explanation, such as it is, seems to have been that the English Lord Deputy inIreland, Sir William Fitzwilliam, feared that the Spanish would arm and lead an Irish revolt, which tosome extent is what did happen. Fitzwilliam was never sure whether vessels coming ashore were fromthe Armada or a new Spanish descent specifically aimed at fomenting revolt in Ireland. Fitzwilliamsinstruction to his subordinates along the coast of Ireland stated: " we authorise you to make inquiryby all good means, both by oath and otherwise, to take all the hulls of ships, stores, treasures, etc. intoyour hands and to apprehend and execute all Spaniards found there of what quality so ever. Torturemay be used in prosecuting this inquiry.


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Armada ships in deep trouble in the storms off the coast of Ireland

When the Armada was in the North Sea two ships captains were arrested and sentenced to death forfailing to keep station on the flagship, this being a capital offence in the Spanish navy. One was hangedand the other, Francisco de Cuellar of the San Pedro, was reprieved by Medina Sidonia, only to be shipwrecked on the coast of Ulster several days later while still in the custody of the Judge AdvocateGeneral, who sadly was drowned. De Cuellar survived, thanks to the assistance of a local Irish chiefwhose castle he defended against the English, crossed to Scotland where he and some one hundred andtwenty wrecked Spaniards were collected by a ship sent from the Netherlands by the Duke of Parma.his ship was attacked by the Dutch and wrecked on the coast of Flanders, leaving De Cuellar one of

three survivors to return to Spain.


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Captain Alonso de Leiva, captain of La Rata Encoronada,shipwrecked three times on the coast of Western Ireland, finally dying

Captain Alonso de Leiva abandoned his stranded ship, La Rata Encoronada, in Blacksod Bay, CountyMayo, and, after capturing a small Irish castle with his crew, marched across country to join the UrcaDuqesa Santa Ana, moored in the next bay. De Leiva was wrecked for a second time off the coast ofDonegal when the Santa Ana was driven onto the shore by the storms. Again de Leiva and his men tooka castle and held it against the English, leaving it to join the galeas Girona. Girona set sail for Spain onlyin her turn to be smashed onto the Antrim coast with complete loss of life, including the intrepid deLeiva.


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On 15th September 1588 three Spanish ships were wrecked on the Sligo coast; one thousand bodieswere counted on the single stretch of beach.

Several of the Spanish ships reached Spain in a sinking condition; one urca going down in harbour.he galleon Santa Ana exploded and sank at Santander, while another ship ran aground, the crew being

too exhausted to take in the sails and anchor. Thousands of Spanish crew died of disease andexhaustion in the months following the return of the Armada.

The Falcon Mayor, a hulk from Hamburg, returned to her home town and resumed normal maritimelife. In 1589 she was recognized by Drake sailing in the Channel and taken.

The religious authorities in Spain were at a loss to explain why God allowed the Armada to fail: it wasfinally decided the reason was that the Spanish had taken too long to evict the Moors from Granada inthe previous century.

References: The literature on the Armada is extensive. A sample: The Voyage of the Armada by David Howarth. The Defeat of the Spanish Armada by Garrett Mattingley. Full Fathom Five: Wrecks of the Spanish Armada by Colin Martin.


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Sfile1588 -The Spanish Armada

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