Spanish Armada

For the modern navy of Spain, see Armada Española.

of Gravelines
Part of the Anglo-Spanish War
Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 1588-08-08 by Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg, depicts the battle of Gravelines - painted in 1797, when the prospect of French invasion was high on the English public agenda
Date August 8 1588 Location English Channel, near Gravelines, France (then part of the Netherlands) Result Tactical draw Strategic English/Dutch victory
Belligerents
England Dutch Republic	Spain Portugal
Commanders and leaders
Charles Howard Francis Drake	Duke of Medina Sidonia
Strength
34 warships 163 armed merchant vessels	22 galleons 108 armed merchant vessels
Casualties and losses
50–100 dead ~400 wounded	600 dead, 800 wounded, 397 captured, 4 merchant ships sunk or captured

The Spanish Armada or Great Armada (Old Spanish: Grande y Felicísima Armada, meaning "Great and Most Fortunate Navy", also known as the Armada Invencible, "Invincible Navy") was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidona in 1588.

The Armada was sent by King Philip II of Spain, who had been king consort of England until the death of his wife Mary I of England in 1558. The aim was to suppress English support for the United Provinces — part of the Spanish Netherlands — and to cut off attacks against Spanish possessions in the New World and the Atlantic treasure fleets. It was also intended to reverse the Protestant Reformation in England, and to this end the expedition was supported by Pope Sixtus V, with the promise of a subsidy should it make land.

The fleet was to be commanded by the highly experienced Álvaro de Bazán, but he died in May 1588, a few months before the sailing date, and Medina Sidonia was appointed in his place. At the outset, he had about 130 warships and converted merchant ships under his command. The plan was to sail through the English Channel and anchor off the coast of Flanders, where the Duke of Parma's army of tercios was waiting to be escorted from the Spanish Netherlands across the North Sea for a landing in south-east England.

Everything went to plan, but after forcing its way up the English Channel, the Armada was attacked by a fleet of 200 English ships, assisted by the Dutch navy, in the North Sea at Gravelines off the coastal border between France and the Spanish Netherlands. A fire-ship attack drove the Armada ships from their anchorage, and in the ensuing battle the Spanish abandoned their rendezvous with Parma's army.

The Armada was blown north up the east coast of England and attempted a return to Spain by sailing around Scotland and out into the Atlantic, past Ireland. But very severe weather destroyed a portion of the fleet, and more than 24 vessels were wrecked on the north and western coasts of Ireland, with the survivors having to seek refuge in Scotland. Of the Armada's initial complement of vessels, about 50 did not return to Spain. However, the core of Philip's fleet suffered few losses: only seven ships of the royal navy failed to make it home, and of these just three were lost to enemy action.

The expedition was the most significant engagement of the undeclared Anglo–Spanish War (1585–1604). But that significance has been exaggerated in English political writing, which still tends to treat the battle as a turning point in naval dominance in favour of the English. In fact, modern scholarship presents the battle as the starting point of an increase in Spanish naval supremacy, which only suffered a decline fifty years later, during the Thirty Years War.

Execution

File:Routes armada.gif

Route taken by the Spanish Armada

On May 28th 1588, the Armada, with around 130 ships, 8,000 sailors and 18,000 soldiers, 1,500 brass guns and 1,000 iron guns, set sail from Lisbon in Portugal, headed for the English Channel. An army of 30,000 men stood in the Spanish Netherlands, waiting for the fleet to arrive. The plan was to land the original force in Plymouth and transfer the land army to somewhere near London, mustering 55,000 men, a huge army for this time. The English fleet was prepared and waiting in Plymouth for news of Spanish movements. It took until May 30 for all of the Armada to leave port and, on the same day, Elizabeth's ambassador in the Netherlands, Dr Valentine Dale, met Parma's representatives to begin peace negotiations. On July 17 negotiations were abandoned.

Delayed by bad weather, the Armada was not sighted in England until July 19, when it appeared off The Lizard in Cornwall. The news was conveyed to London by a sequence of beacons that had been constructed the length of the south coast of England. That same night, 55 ships of the English fleet set out in pursuit from Plymouth and came under the command of Lord Howard of Effingham (later Earl of Nottingham) and Sir John Hawkins. However, Hawkins acknowledged his subordinate, Sir Francis Drake, as the more experienced naval commander and gave him some control during the campaign. In order to execute their "line ahead" attack, the English tacked upwind of the Armada, thus gaining a significant maneuvering advantage.

Over the next week there followed two inconclusive engagements, at Eddystone and the Isle of Portland. At the Isle of Wight the Armada had the opportunity to create a temporary base in protected waters and wait for word from Parma's army. In a full-scale attack, the English fleet broke into four groups with Drake coming in with a large force from the south. At that critical moment, Medina Sidonia sent reinforcements south and ordered the Armada back into the open sea in order to avoid sandbanks. This left two Spanish wrecks, and with no secure harbours nearby the Armada sailed on to Calais, without regard to the readiness of Parma's army.

On July 27, the Spanish anchored off Calais in a crescent-shaped, tightly-packed defensive formation, not far from Parma's army of 16,000, which was waiting at Dunkirk. There was no deep-water port along that coast of France and the Low Countries where the fleet might shelter — always a major difficulty for the expedition — and the Spanish found themselves vulnerable as night drew on.

At midnight of July 28, the English set eight fireships (filled with pitch, gunpowder, and tar) alight and sent them downwind among the closely-anchored Spanish vessels. The Spanish feared that these might prove as deadly as the 'hellburners' used against them to deadly effect at the Siege of Antwerp. Two were intercepted and towed away, but the others bore down on the fleet. Medina Sidonia's flagship, and a few of the other principal warships, held their positions, but the rest of the fleet cut their cables and scattered in confusion, with the result that only one Spanish ship was burned. But the fireships had managed to break the crescent formation, and the fleet now found itself too far to leeward of Calais in the rising south-westerly wind to recover its position. In their haste to escape quickly, many Spanish ships cut their anchor lines; the loss of their anchors would prove important later in the campaign. The lighter English ships closed in for battle at Gravelines.

Battle of Gravelines

Gravelines was then part of Flanders in the Spanish Netherlands, close to the border with France and the closest Spanish territory to England. Medina-Sidonia tried to re-form his fleet there, and was reluctant to sail further east owing to the danger from the shoals off Flanders, from which his Dutch enemies had removed the sea-marks. The Spanish army had been expected to join the fleet in barges sent from ports along the Flemish coast, but communications were far more difficult than anticipated, and without notice of the Armada's arrival Parma needed another six days to bring his troops up, while Medina-Sidonia waited at anchor.

The English had learned much of the Armada's strengths and weaknesses during the skirmishes in the English Channel, and accordingly conserved their heavy shot and powder prior to their attack at Gravelines on August 8. During the battle, the Spanish heavy guns proved unwieldy, and their gunners had not been trained to reload — in contrast to their English counterparts, they fired once and then jumped to the rigging to attend to their main task as marines ready to board enemy ships. Evidence from wrecks in Ireland shows that much of the Armada's ammunition was never spent.

In 2002 Dr Colin Martin of the University of St Andrews claimed that many Spanish ships carried cannon shot that was the wrong size for their cannon. The equipment had been gathered from a wide variety of sources in the Spanish Habsburg lands which were world-wide and, in Europe, scattered between the Heel of Italy, southern Portugal and the Ems estuary. The notion of standardization had barely been explored at this stage.

With its superior maneuverability, the English fleet provoked Spanish fire while staying out of range. Once the Spanish had loosed their heavy shot, the English then closed, firing repeated and damaging broadsides into the enemy ships. This superiority also enabled them to maintain a position to windward so that the heeling Armada hulls were exposed to damage below the water-line.

The main handicap for the Spanish was their determination to board the enemy's ships and thrash out a victory in hand-to-hand fighting. This had proved effective at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, but the English were aware of this Spanish strength and avoided it.

Eleven Hispanic ships were lost or damaged (though the most seaworthy Portuguese Atlantic-class vessels escaped largely unscathed). The Armada suffered nearly 2,000 battle casualties before the English fleet ran out of ammunition. English casualties in the battle were far fewer, in the low hundreds. The Spanish plan to join with Parma's army had been defeated, and the English had afforded themselves some breathing space. But the Armada's presence in northern waters still posed a great threat to England.

Pursuit

On the day after Gravelines, the wind had backed, southerly, enabling Medina Sidonia to move the Armada northward (away from the French coast). Although their shot lockers were almost empty, the English pursued and harried the Spanish fleet, in an attempt to prevent it returning to escort Parma. On 12 August, Howard called a halt to the chase in the latitude of the Firth of Forth off Scotland. But by that point, the Spanish were suffering from thirst and exhaustion. The only option left to Medina Sidonia was to chart a course home to Spain, along the most hazardous parts of the Atlantic seaboard.

Tilbury speech

Main article: Speech to the Troops at Tilbury

The threat of invasion from the Netherlands had not yet been discounted, and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester maintained a force of 4,000 soldiers at West Tilbury, Essex, to defend the estuary of the River Thames against any incursion up-river towards London.

On August 8, Queen Elizabeth went to Tilbury to encourage her forces, and the next day gave to them what is probably her most famous speech:

I have come amongst you as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved in the midst and heat of the battle to live or die amongst you all, to lay down for my God and for my kingdom, and for my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too.

The return to Spain

Main article: Spanish Armada in Ireland

The Spanish fleet sailed around Scotland and Ireland into the North Atlantic. The ships were beginning to show wear from the long voyage, and some were kept together by having their hulls bundled up with cables. Supplies of food and water ran short, and the cavalry horses were driven overboard into the sea. Shortly after reaching the latitude of Ireland, the Armada ran straight into a hurricane — to this day, it remains one of the northernmost on record. The hurricane scattered the fleet and drove some two dozen vessels onto the coast of Ireland. Because so many Spanish vessels had lost their anchors during the escape from the English fireships, they were unable to keep themselves from being driven onto the deadly Irish shore. (See Protestant Wind)

A new theory suggests that the Spanish fleet failed to account for the effect of the Gulf Stream. Therefore they were much closer to Ireland than planned, a devastating navigational error. This was during the "Little Ice Age" and the Spanish were not aware that conditions were far colder and more difficult than they had expected for their trip around the north of Scotland and Ireland. As a result many more ships and sailors were lost to cold and stormy weather than in combat actions.

Following the storm, it is reckoned that 5,000 men died, whether by drowning and starvation or by execution at the hands of English forces in Ireland. The reports from Ireland abound with strange accounts of brutality and survival, and attest on occasion to the brilliance of Spanish seamanship. Survivors did receive help from the Gaelic Irish, with many escaping to Scotland and beyond.

In the end, 67 ships and around 10,000 men survived. Many of the men were near death from disease, as the conditions were very cramped and most of the ships ran out of food and water. Many more died in Spain, or on hospital ships in Spanish harbours, from diseases contracted during the voyage. It was reported that, when Philip II learned of the result of the expedition, he declared, "I sent my ships to fight against the English, not against the elements". Although disappointed, he forgave the Duke of Medina Sidonia.

Consequences

English losses were comparatively few, and none of their ships were sunk. But after the victory, typhus and dysentery killed many sailors and troops (estimated at 6,000–8,000) as they languished for weeks in readiness for the Armada's return out of the North Sea. Then a demoralising dispute occasioned by the government's fiscal shortfalls left many of the English defenders unpaid for months, which was in contrast to the assistance given by the Spanish government to its surviving men.

Although the victory was acclaimed by the English as their greatest since Agincourt, an attempt in the following year to press home their advantage failed, when an English Armada returned to port with little to show for its efforts. But the boost to national pride lasted for years, and Elizabeth's legend persisted and grew well after her death. The repulse of Spanish naval might gave heart to the Protestant cause across Europe, and the belief that God was behind the Protestant cause was shown by the creating of commemorative medals bearing the inscription He blew with His winds, and they were scattered. A little over a year later, Philip II remarked during a chat with a monk who was working in his garden that, "It is impiety, and almost blasphemy to presume to know the will of God. It comes from the sin of pride, Even kings, Brother Nicholas, must submit to being used by God's will without knowing what it is. They must never seek to use it." The supply of troops and munitions from England to Philip II's enemies in the Netherlands and France continued and high seas buccaneering against the Spanish persisted but with decreasing success. The Anglo-Spanish war thereafter generally favoured Spain.

It was half a century later when the Dutch broke Spanish dominance at sea in the Battle of the Downs in (1639). The strength of Spain's tercios — the dominant fighting unit in European land campaigns for over a century — was broken by the French at the Battle of Rocroi (1643).

Two further wars between England and Spain were waged in the 17th century, but it was only during the Napoleonic Wars that the British navy established its mastery at sea at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

Ships involved

England and the Netherlands

• Ark Royal (built as 'Ark Raleigh' bought by Elizabeth I and renamed) (flag, Lord High Admiral Charles Howard)
• Elizabeth Bonaventure (George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland)
• Rainbow (Lord Henry Seymour)
• Golden Lion (Lord 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 Bonavolia
• Swiftsure (Edward Fenner)
• Swallow (Richard Hawkins)
• Foresight
• Aid
• Bull
• Tiger
• Tramontana
• Scout
• Achates
• Charles
• Copulation
• Advice
• Merlin
• Spy (pinnace)
• Sun (pinnace)
• Cygnet
• Brigandine
• George (hoy)
• 34 merchant ships
• 30 ships and barks
• 33 ships and barks
• 20 coasters
• 23 coasters
• 23 coasters
• Disdain (included in above)
• Margaret and John (included in above)
• 30 Dutch cromsters blockading the Flemish coast
  

Fireships expended 7 August: (included in above)

• Bark Talbot
• Hope
• Thomas
• Bark Bond
• Bear Yonge
• Elizabeth
• Pastel
• "Cure's Ship"

Spain and Portugal

Portuguese

São Martinho 48 (section flag, Duke of Medina Sidonia)
São João 50 (Martinez Recalde, section vice-flag)
São Marcos 33 (Don Lopez de Mendoza) — Sunk 10 September near coast of Ireland
São Felipe 40 (Don Francisco de Toledo) — Aground and abandoned by own crew on 8 August between Nieupoort and Ostend, later captured by Dutch 9 August
São Luis 38 (Don Agustin Mexia)
São Mateus 34 —(D. Diego Pimentel) Aground 8 August between Nieupoort and Ostend, captured by Dutch 9 August
Santiago 24
Galeon from Florence 52 (or San Francesco Florentian galeon included in the portuguese fleet, Niccolo Bartoli)
Sao Crístovao 20
San Bernardo 21
Augusta 13
Julia 14

Biscayan

Santa Ana 30 (section flag, Juan Martínez de Recalde)
El Gran Grin 28 (section vice-flag) — Aground c. 24 September, Clare Island
Santiago 25
La Concepcion de Zubelzu 16
La Concepcion de Juan del Cano 18
La Magdalena 18
San Juan 21
La María Juan 24 — Sunk 8 August north of Gravelines
La Manuela 12
Santa María de Montemayor 18
María de Aguirre 6
Isabela 10
Patache de Miguel de Suso 6
San Esteban 6

Castilian

San Crístobal 36 (section flag, Diego Flores de Valdés)
San Juan Bautista 24 (section vice-flag)
San Pedro 24
San Juan 24
Santiago el Mayor 24
San Felipe y Santiago 24
La Asuncion 24
Nuestra Señora del Barrio 24
San Linda y Celedon 24
Santa Ana 24
Nuestra Señora de Begoña 24
La Trinidad Bogitar 24
Santa Catalina 24
San Juan Bautista 24
Nuestra Señora del Rosario 24
San Antonio de Padua 12

Guipúzcoan

Santa Ana 47 (section flag, Miguel deflag) — Damaged 8 August, wrecked 16 September, Blaskett Sound, Ireland
San Salvador 25 — Damaged by explosion and captured c. 31 July
San Esteban 26 — Wrecked 20 September, Ireland
Santa Marta 20
Santa Bárbara 12
San Buenaventura 21
La María San Juan 12
Santa Cruz 18
Doncella 16 — Sank at Santander after returning to Spain
Asuncion 9
San Bernabe 9
Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe 1
La Madalena 1

Levant

La Regazona lgonio 30 (section flag, Martín de Bertandona)
La Lavia 25 (section vice-flag)
La Rata Santa María Encoronada 35 (Leiva)
San Juan de Sicilia 26 (formerly Brod Martolosi) — Blew up (possibly sabotage from English agent) 5 November Tobermory Bay, Scotland
La Trinidad Valencera 42 — aground 8 August
La Anunciada 24 (formerly Presveta Anuncijata) — Scuttled 19 September at Shannon River mouth
San Nicolas Prodaneli 26 (formerly Sveti Nikola)
La Juliana 32
Santa María de Vison 18
La Trinidad de Scala 22

Hulks

El Gran Grifón pogitor 38 (section flag, Juan Gómez de Medina) — Aground 8 August
San Salvador 24 (section vice-flag)
Perro Marino 7
Falcon Blanco Mayor 16
Castillo Negro 27
Barca de Amburg 23 — sank
Casa de Paz Grande 26
San Pedro Mayor 29
El Sanson 18
San Pedro Menor 18
Barca de Danzig 26
Falcon Blanco Mediano 16 (Don Luis de Cordoba?) — Wrecked c. 25 September
San Andres 14
Casa de Paz Chica 15
Ciervo Volante 18
Paloma Blanca 12
La Ventura 4
Santa Bárbara 10
Santiago 19
David 7
El Gato 9
San Gabriel 4
Esayas 4

Neapolitan galleasses

San Lorenzo 50 (Don Hugo de Moncado) — Aground, captured 8 August, distracting the English fleet
Zúñiga 50
Girona 50 — Wrecked in Ulster
Napolitana ("Patrona") 50
Bazana — Wrecked c. 26 July near Bayonne

22 pataches and zabras (Don Antonio Hurtado de Medoza)
4 galleys of 5 guns each (Diego de Medrano)
vessels under Parma

Other meanings

1. Spanish Armada (Armada Española) can also describe the modern navy of Spain, part of the Spanish armed forces. The Spanish navy has participated in a number of military engagements, including the dispute over the Isla Perejil. This is not a reference to the Armada above — "armada" simply means "navy" in Spanish.
2. In Tennis slang, Spanish Armada is used to refer to the group of highly ranked Spanish players, such as Rafael Nadal, Felix Mantilla, Albert Portas, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Moyá, and others.

See also

• Black Legend
• Spanish Armada in Ireland
• Francisco de Cuellar
• Fernando Sánchez de Tovar
• Carlos de Amésquita
• Speech to the Troops at Tilbury
• Spanish Navy
• Spanish Empire

References

• Armada (1988) ISBN 0-575-03729-6
• A History of England, from the Defeat of the Armada to the Death of Elizabeth, Edward Cheyney ISBN 1428629106
• The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, Garrett Mattingly ISBN 0-395-08366-4
• England and the Spanish Armada (1990) ISBN 0-7317-0127-5
• The Expedition of Sir John Norris and Sir Francis Drake to Spain and Portugal, 1589, edited by RB Wernham ISBN 0-566-05578-3
• The Enterprise of England (1988) ISBN 0-86299-476-4
• The Return of the Armadas: the Later Years of the Elizabethan War against Spain, 1595–1603, RB Wernham ISBN 0-19-820443-4
• Sir Francis Drake: the Queen's Pirate, Harry Kelsey ISBN 0-300-07182-5
• The Spanish Armada, Michael Lewis (1960). First published Batsford, 1960 — republished Pan, 1966
• The Spanish Armada, C. Martin & G. Parker. (1988) ISBN 0-241-12125-6
• The Spanish Armada: the Experience of the War in 1588, Felipe Fernández-Armesto ISBN 0-19-822926-7
• The voyage of the Armada (1981) ISBN 0-00-211575-1
• Richard Bagwell, Ireland under the Tudors vols. 2 & 3 (London, 1885–1890)
• John O'Donovan (ed.) Annals of Ireland by the Four Masters (1851)
• Cyril Falls Elizabeth's Irish Wars (1950; reprint London, 1996) ISBN 0-09-477220-7
• T.P.Kilfeather Ireland: Graveyard of the Spanish Armada (Anvil Books, 1967)
• Winston Graham The Spanish Armadas (1972; reprint 2001) ISBN 0-14-139020-4
• The Prince, Nicolo Machiavelli — numerous editions, including ISBN 1-85326-306-0
• Historic Bourne etc., J.J.Davies (1909)
• Chambers Biographical Dictionary, J.O.Thorne. (1969) SBN [sic] 550-16001-9
• Dutch Republic and the links from it give an insight into the politics in the Netherlands which ran parallel with political developments in England.
• BBC-ZDF etc TV coproduction Natural History of Europe
• Discovery Civilization Battlefield Detectives — What Sank The Armada?

Online resources

• The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, Wes Ulm. Insight into the context, personalities, planning and consequences.
• translation of Francisco de Cuellar's account of his service in the Armada and on the run in Ireland
• Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada — a learning resource and teachers notes from the British Library
• Before, During and After the Armada: England's changing attitudes to Spain, 1588-1598 — an essay by M. G. Sanchez

Bibliography

• The Armada, Garrett Mattingly, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1959