The Battle Between the Spanish Armada and the British Fleet
~1588~

In the later part of the 16th century, Spain was the major international 
power and either ruled, colonized, or exercised influence over much of 
the known world.  Spanish power was at it's height and Spain's leader, 
King Philip II, pledged to conquer the Protestant heretics in England 
that began as a result of the Reformation.  
	
Philip held personal hostility towards England's Queen Elizabeth I and 
was desirous of eliminating a major sea-going rival for economic reasons. 
 Elizabeth encouraged Sir Francis Drake and other English seamen to raid 
Spanish ships and towns to invest in some of their wealth.  The English 
also began to aid the Dutch Protestants who were rebelling against 
Spanish rule.  The Treaty of Nonsuch (1585) along with damaging raids by 
Drake against the Spanish commerce finally convinced Philip that a direct 
invasion of England was necessary.  Philip wanted to restore England to 
Catholicism, keep his wealth he discovered, and prove that his country is 
still looked upon as all-powerful.
	
King Philip disliked Elizabeth with a passion.  He tried to plot against 
her ages ago with Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, in 1568.  She was beheaded 
in 1587 for she pose a threat to the queen and England's safety.  Finally 
Philip decided he had to do something about it himself.  He drew up a 
flawless plan that wouldn't underrating England's ability to defend 
herself, Philip organized a brilliant fleet, which he called his Spanish 
Armada.  It was called 'Invincible', the fleet of unprecedented size and 
strength.  His Armada consisted of about 130 ships from his Mediterranean 
and Atlantic fleets, from the Portuguese navy and his allies, with as 
many as 8,000 seamen and possibly 19,000 soldiers.  These ships were to 
join 30,000 troops who had been fighting in the Spanish Netherlands under 
Philip's commander, the Duke of Parma.  Don Álvaro de Bazán, Marquis of 
Santa Cruz, who had initially organized the Armada, did not live to 
command it.  His successor, Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, Duke of Medina 
Sidonia, was no less intelligent and courageous.  The men were 
inexperienced and their knowledge of ships and battles was poor.  Their 
ships were mainly line-of-battle ships, and the rest being mostly 
transports and light craft.  They were conscious that even their best 
craft were slower and less reliable than those of the English and less 
well armed with weapons, but they counted on being able to force boarding 
actions if the English offered battle.  The Armada set sail from Lisbon 
on May 9, 1588, but gales forced it back soon after.  The voyage was not 
resumed until July 22.
	
Since November 1587 the English and the Dutch had been aware of Philip's 
intentions.  To prevent a juncture of Parma's army with the Armada, they 
had several troops patrolling the Netherlands coast.  The English fleet 
was under command of Charles Howard, 2nd Baron Howard of Effingham Ships 
were anchored at Plymouth on the English Channel to blockade and destroy 
the Armada before it left the Spanish coast.  On July 29, 1588, the wind 
direction made this impossible and the Armada was already first sighted 
off the Scilly Isles, near the coast of Cornwall in southwestern England. 
 

The Armada reached the Strait of Dover on August 61 (Having already 
entered the English Channel on July 30) and anchored at Calais, France.  
This is where Medina Sidonia had planned to meet Parma in Flanders.  The 
Dutch gunboats prevented the barges from meeting the Armada and this 
defect in their strategy was to prove disastrous.
	
In the early hours of August 7-8, the English launched eight fire ships2 
into the Spanish fleet, forcing the Spanish ships to cut or slip their 
cables, thus losing their anchors, and stand out to sea to escape the 
flames.  The 'Invincible' Armada's formation was thus completely broken. 
                                                        At dawn on the 
8th about 60 English ships attacked the disorganized Spanish ships off 
the French port of Gravelines.  Three Spanish ships were sunk or driven 
ashore, and the others were badly battered.  During all the battles, the 
wind direction and speed and waves and currents had a great effect on the 
movement of the ships.  Both the west wind and the English fleet now 
prevented the Armada from rejoining Parma, and it was forced to make the 
passage back to Spain around the northern tip of Scotland.  The English 
fleet turned back in search of supplies when the Armada passed the Firth 
of Forth and there was no further fighting, but the long voyage home 
through the autumn gales of the North Atlantic proved fatal to many of 
the Spanish ships.   		
	
Only about 60 ships are known to have reached Spain, many too badly 
damaged to be repaired, and perhaps 15,000 men perished.  The English 
lost several hundred, possibly several thousand men to disease and 
casualties in battle.
	
The Armada was victim of ill-trained and undermanned crews, and non 
organization in its command.  The defeat of the Spanish Armada saved 
England from invasion and the Dutch Republic from extinction, and it 
marked a turning point between the era of Spanish world domination and 
the rise of  Britain to the position of international supremacy.  The 
once all-powerful Spain was now recognized as being defeated.  Other 
nations could now take courage in colonizing and exploring in the 
Americas.  The Protestant religion had survived its worst threat.  And 
England remained victorious and powerful, gaining the wealth they once 
envied.

Summary & Conclusion

The Spanish Armada was a fleet of armed ships that tried to invade 
England in 1588.  The Spanish fleet had been called the "Invincible 
Armada" because the Spaniards thought it could not be defeated.  But the 
English fleet defeated Spain.  The failure of the Armada was a great blow 
to the prestige of Spain, the world's most powerful country at that time. 
 Spain remained a major power after the battle, but the English merchants 
and sailors challenged the Spaniards with greater confidence throughout 
the world.  
I feel that the English deserved their victory.  They had been trying to 
escape Spanish influence for some time and wanted to free themselves from 
religious disagreements.  Spain was in over it's head when Philip decided 
to organize his Armada.  They already had so much power and wealth, but 
King Philip was selfish and corrupt, and he wanted more.  The British 
fleet defeated the Spaniards with great courage and intelligence.  They 
prove to the world that Spain was not higher than any of them; and that 
all the countries could challenge against Spain for a piece of wealth and 
power that it at once most highly possessed.






References

Britannica Encyclopedia

The Defeat of the Spanish Armada
 written by George W. Goldman

New World Encyclopedia