This article is a part of all information about the Spanish Armada. Here is the complete list.
How was Spain before sailing of Armada?
How was Prince Phillip? What was his policy?
When did the Spanish armada sail?
When did England know about Armada?
How was the early fight between the Spanish and the English?
How did the battle with Spanish armada progress?
How did the Dutch help in fight with Spanish Armada?
How was the Chase, fire and final countdown?
How was England’s resistance against the armada?
What was the significance of British defeating the Spanish armada?
The Spanish Armada of 130 Ships
Contents
On May 19th, 1588, with more than 130 ships ‘The Invincible Armada’, as it was called at that particular time was ready to sail under the leadership of Phillip who was eagerly waiting to make a conquest on England. This was one of the biggest naval battles to ever take place in history. Spain had amassed huge wealth and power and was planning this attack since more than two to three years. It was delayed because in 1587 Sir Francis Drake’s raided on the port of Cadiz which came as a big shock. Nevertheless, The Giant Naval Fleet of ships finally sailed in May 1588. It comprised of around 130 ships and more than 30,000 men, more than half of the population was the army and the ships were fully loaded with arms and armaments to carry-on the attack and raid.
The Bad Weather
It was set from Lisbon towards the English Channel. The mission and thrust behind the sail were to transport army men and ammunition to England from the Netherlands. This involved a lot of planning and Phillip had done a good preparation. He was very sure of winning. But the fate had something else destined for it and his formidable fleet. The weather was in no way in the support of Spain. The tempest storms and the anger and fury of the weather gods turned over the tables for Spain. England got lucky and was fully supported by the weather gods. It was a matter of great luck and fortune for them to win eventually. But one of the main reasons was the bad weather that did not let Spain succeed. It took Spain more than a month to reach the Southern Coast of England and by this time, England had made their own preparations. They were ready to face the Spanish Armada. Initially, England was no match for Spain.
The Tough Fight Ensued
On July 21 st, English navy started its attack by bombarding the Spanish fleet. By this time, English naval fleet had become larger in number and planned a strategic attack on the Spanish Armada. The English Naval Base started throwing bombs from a safe and sure-shot distance on the seven-mile-long Spanish fleet. This was destructive. Gradually, the Spanish naval base started dwindling. It started to decrease in number because of the strong attacks by the English ships.
The Spanish Retreat
The English had long-range guns and a good number of soldiers. They took full advantage of their positions and continued a massive attack on the Spanish ships, This proved devastating for Spain. They had to start retreating. On July 28th, The Spanish retreated and diverted to Calais. France. However, The English ships chased and followed them with heavy ammunition and continued their attacks, they kept on bombarding the Spanish ships. Spain also put up a fight but was losing strength. The heavily armed English ships overpowered the Spanish Armada.
The Final Blow
The Spanish Armada tried to escape to the Netherlands but were stopped by a Dutch fleet and the Spanish Armada had to face the wrath of the English base. Again, the Spanish Armada tried to escape and retreated North towards Scotland. But by this time, The so-called Invincible Armada had lost its strength, the left number of ships were also running short of supplies. Other than this, there became a lack of utilities. Spain started to retreat back to Spain through the North Sea around Ireland. The journey was fraught with dangers and perils. Somehow, the Spanish Armada reached Spain in the month of October. By this time, more than half of the Armada was completely destroyed and wrecked. Even the weather had not supported and favoured the Spaniards.
Queen Elizabeth, The Great
Queen Elizabeth had finally succeeded in defeating and overpowering Spain. England now emerged as a superpower. England’s influence grew and it became the owner of some of the biggest naval fleets and weapons of that time.
