How England Defeated the Spanish Armada

Prelude to War

The 16th century was a time of intense religious tension in England. Determined to undo the changes made during the Reformation by her father, Henry VIII, the Catholic Queen Mary I began a bloody campaign against Protestants. During her five-year reign, hundreds were burned at the stake.

In 1558, Mary I died, and the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I took over. She made worship in the Church of England compulsory and executed her Catholic cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. King Philip II of Spain, Mary I's widower, proposed marriage to Elizabeth, hoping to sway her towards Catholicism, but she rebuffed his advances. Philip's anger towards England intensified due to Francis Drake, an English privateer nicknamed El Draque (the Dragon), who was notorious for plundering Spanish ships laden with gold, silver, and other treasures.

In 1577, Elizabeth I meets Drake for the first time and says to him, “I want you to sail around the world taking Spanish treasure.” Three years later, he comes back again, and Elizabeth gives him a knighthood. This is a real insult to Spain.

Geoffrey Parker, Professor of History at Ohio State University and co-author of Armada: The Spanish Enterprise and England’s Deliverance in 1588

Things came to a head in 1585 when Drake landed in Galicia, in north-west Spain. There, he and his men sacked churches, kidnapped priests for ransom, and desecrated sacred ground. Horrified, Philip II decided there was only one measure of revenge—he must attack England.

The Spanish Armada

King Philip II’s plan was clear. A vast number of warships would set off from Spanish-annexed Lisbon and rendezvous with an additional army that would depart from its current position in the Spanish Netherlands. Then, they would jointly invade England. The Spanish Armada was an impressive sight, comprising 130 ships in all. It was divided into squadrons, each led by experienced naval officers. Morale was high among the men, who thought the English didn’t stand a chance.

The Armada was first spotted off the coast of Cornwall on July 19th, 1588. It is said that when Sir Francis Drake was informed of the Spanish ships, he insisted on finishing his game of bowls (in reality, when the Armada was first spotted, winds and incoming tides prevented the English ships from setting sail from Plymouth harbour). When the tide eventually turned, the English fleet set off to confront the Armada. It was commanded by Lord Howard of Effingham, with Sir Francis Drake as the vice-admiral.

The English fleet, composed of faster, more manoeuvrable ships, engaged the Spanish in a series of hit-and-run attacks. The English used innovative tactics, such as maintaining a distance to utilise their long-range cannons effectively, avoiding the close-quarter combat the Spanish favoured. The English managed to push the Spanish fleet out of the Channel towards Calais, in northern France. Even there, the English did not let up. In the early hours of July 28th, the English deployed fireships—essentially ships that had been set alight and aimed at the enemy fleet. This tactic was used not just to cause damage but to ignite panic. And it worked—anchors were swiftly cut, and the Armada left the port in disarray.

The next major battle occurred at Gravelines, around ten miles east of Calais, on July 29th. As before, the more manoeuvrable English ships adopted the tactic of standing off from the Spanish warships to avoid being boarded. They then rapidly closed in to launch their own salvos. In fact, the English onslaught was so intense that they began to run out of ammunition. Five Spanish ships were destroyed in the Battle of Gravelines, and many others were severely damaged. Around 2,000 Spanish men were killed or wounded, compared to only 100 English injuries. Driven into the North Sea, the Armada faced a serious predicament. With the English fleet blocking their direct route home, the Spanish commanders grappled with a critical decision: how to salvage their battered mission and return to safety.

Retreat

The retreat of the Armada was disastrous. The fleet attempted to return to Spain by sailing around the north of Scotland and the west coast of Ireland. Along the way, they encountered severe storms, treacherous waters, and a lack of provisions. Many ships were wrecked, and thousands of men lost their lives.

When the battered remnants of the Armada finally reached Spain, only about half of the original fleet had survived. This was a humiliating defeat for Philip II, which dealt a colossal blow to Spain’s prestige around the world.

Chroniclers say it's the worst disaster since the Moorish conquest in 711. On the scale of disaster, that's pretty bad.

Geoffrey Parker, Professor of History at Ohio State University and co-author of Armada: The Spanish Enterprise and England’s Deliverance in 1588

In England, there was a national upswell of pride in its naval prowess and a huge surge in popularity for Queen Elizabeth I. However, it was not quite the beginning of English naval mastery, as Elizabeth refused to commit the necessary finances. Indeed, it was not even the end of the war with Spain, which would continue until just beyond Elizabeth’s death in 1603.

The English defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 is a testament to the complexities of military strategy and the unpredictability of war. While the Spanish sought to impose their will through overwhelming force, they were met with innovative tactics, resourcefulness, and determination from the English. The Armada's defeat marked a pivotal moment in European history, shifting the balance of power and laying the groundwork for England's emergence as a major naval and colonial power.