The Spanish Armada

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Due to the surviving letters from members aboard both English and Spanish ships involved in the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, it is easily possible for Historians to piece together the information to find a recount of the events in August 1588.

Whilst re-suppling their 66 ships in Plymouth, the English fleet were caught by surprise by the Spanish Armada and were trapped due to an incoming tide. Although the Spanish 'council of war' proposed that the Spanish fleet ride into shore and attack the English from there, the commander of the fleet Medina Sidonia refused to do so due to orders from King Phillip II. Instead they sailed east, followed by the English fleet when the tide had finally turned on the 20th of July.

A letter to the English government commenting on the progress of the Armada reports that there were between “125 and 130 vesselles great and small” and that there were “about 73” great ships. The language used in this letter shows that they were not certain about the number of ships and this was just an estimate, but it is likely that the Spanish fleet was as big as they had reported it to be.

Overnight the English fleet put themselves upwind of the Armada, giving themselves a huge advantage when they attacked on the 21st of July. The Armada had strategically placed themselves in a crescent formation making it harder for the English fleet to attack. The English fleet kept their distance from the Armada in an effort to prevent being grappled, an effort made easier due to the manuveriobilty of the English ships.

A letter from John Hawkins (the Rear Admiral of the English Fleet) to Francis Walsingham (the Principal Secretary to the Queen) describes the events from the 21st to the 29th of July, including the...

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...e was no chance of any restoration of Catholicism in England.

In the 16th century, England was a small nation compared to the massive, influential and seemingly invincible power that was Spain, therefore the defeat of the Spanish Armada was a cause to celebrate for the English, as they marked their place as an important and powerful country. The balance of world power was shifting from Spain to England and France, meaning that exploring and settling was no longer limited to the Spainairds.

The defeat of the Spanish Armada also demonstrated the strength of the English navy and their new techniques of warfare such as effective long-range weapons: previous to this battle, naval battles often consisted of boarding the enemy's ship and engaging in man-to-man combat. Due to the manouvrability of the English ships they were able to effectively use long-range weapons.

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