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King Philip II of Spain was determined to crush the rebellion. He sent an army under the Duke of Alva to defeat the rebels, who were led by William, Prince of Orange. However, after the ...
- WJEC How was the Armada defeated?
The strength of the Spanish fleet came from its crescent...
- History
The threat of invasion by Spain loomed large for much of...
- WJEC How was the Armada defeated?
- Overview
- Background to the invasion
- The Spanish fleet
- The English fleet
- Opening of the naval conflict
- Defeat of the Armada
- Significance
Spanish Armada, the great fleet sent by King Philip II of Spain in 1588 to invade England in conjunction with a Spanish army from Flanders. England’s attempts to repel this fleet involved the first naval battles to be fought entirely with heavy guns, and the failure of Spain’s enterprise saved England and the Netherlands from possible absorption in...
Philip had long been contemplating an attempt to restore the Roman Catholic faith in England, and English piracies against Spanish trade and possessions offered him further provocation. The Treaty of Nonsuch (1585) by which England undertook to support the Dutch rebels against Spanish rule, along with damaging raids by Sir Francis Drake against Spanish commerce in the Caribbean in 1585–86, finally convinced Philip that a direct invasion of England was necessary. He decided to use 30,000 troops belonging to the veteran army of the Spanish regent of the Netherlands, the duke of Parma, as the main invasion force and to send from Spain sufficient naval strength to defeat or deter the English fleet and clear the Strait of Dover for Parma’s army to cross from Flanders over to southeastern England.
Britannica Quiz
After nearly two years’ preparation and prolonged delays, the Armada sailed from Lisbon in May 1588 under the command of the duke of Medina-Sidonia, a replacement for Spain’s most distinguished admiral, the marquess de Santa Cruz, who had died in February. Medina-Sidonia was an experienced administrator who proved to be resolute and capable in acti...
The English fleet was under the command of Charles Howard, 2nd Baron Howard of Effingham; he was no more experienced an admiral than Medina-Sidonia but was a more effective leader. His second in command was Sir Francis Drake. The English fleet at one time or another included nearly 200 ships, but during most of the subsequent fighting in the Englis...
Gales forced the Armada back to the port of A Coruña (in northern Spain) for refitting, and it finally got under way again in July. The Armada was first sighted by the English off Lizard Point, in Cornwall, on July 29 (July 19, Old Style). The larger part of the English fleet was then at Plymouth, dead to leeward, but by a neat maneuver was able to get to the windward, or upwind, side of the enemy (i.e., west of the Armada, given the prevailing west winds) and hence gain the tactical initiative. In three encounters (off Plymouth, July 31 [July 21]; off Portland Bill, August 2 [July 23]; and off the Isle of Wight, August 4 [July 25]), the English harassed the Spanish fleet at long range and easily avoided all attempts to bring them to close action but were unable to inflict serious damage on the Spanish formation.
The Armada reached the Strait of Dover on August 6 (July 27) and anchored in an exposed position off Calais, France. The English also anchored, still to windward (west of the Armada), and were reinforced by a squadron that had been guarding the narrow seas. The first certain news of the Armada’s advance reached Parma in Flanders the same day, and he at once began embarking his troops in their invasion craft, but the process required six days, and the Armada had no safe port in which to wait for him nor any means of escorting his small craft across the coastal shallows where Dutch and English warships cruised to intercept them. This defect in Spanish strategy was to prove disastrous.
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At midnight on August 7–8 (July 28–29), the English launched eight fire ships before the wind and tide into the Spanish fleet, forcing the Spanish ships to cut or slip their cables (thus losing their anchors) and stand out to sea to avoid catching fire. The Spanish ships’ formation was thus completely broken. At dawn on the 8th the English attacked...
The defeat of the Armada saved England from invasion and the Dutch Republic from extinction, while dealing a heavy blow to the prestige of the greatest European power of the age. Tactically, the Armada action has enduring historical significance as the first major naval gun battle under sail and as the moment from which, for over two and a half cen...
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
May 2, 2018 · The Spanish Armada was a large naval fleet sent by Spain in 1588 to invade England. Outmaneuvered and outgunned, the Spanish Armada was defeated.
The strength of the Spanish fleet came from its crescent formation plan – but when the English broke this up with their fire ships, the Spanish became vulnerable and exposed to attack.
FactorDetailLeadersThe Duke of Medina Sidonia led the ...PlanningThe strength of the Spanish fleet came ...No reinforcementsThe Spanish plan relied on stopping to ...TacticsSpanish tactics were to get close enough ...Why did the Spanish Armada happen? Years of religious and political differences led up to the conflict between Catholic Spain and Protestant England. The Spanish saw England as a competitor in trade and expansion in the ‘New World’ of the Americas.
Faster and more maneuverable than the larger Spanish galleons, its ships were able to attack the Armada as it sailed up the Channel. Several subordinates advised Medina Sidonia to anchor in the Solent and occupy the Isle of Wight , but he refused to deviate from his instructions to join with Parma.
Feb 17, 2011 · The threat of invasion by Spain loomed large for much of Elizabeth I's reign, culminating in the launch of the Armada in 1588. The failure of this attack enhanced the queen's popularity with...
