The Spanish Armada.

Most British people have heard of the "Armada" but know little about it, other that is was defeated and is a significant event in - particularly, English History. But why did it happen at all, and who was involved? Here's a condensed version.

"In 1492 Columbus sailed the Ocean blue", and discovered what he thought was China, or India. Whatever, he faded from the scene while an increasingly agressive group of adventurers sailed from Spain having heard of "El Dorado" the land of gold.

The treasures they sent back on the transatlantic fleets swelled the Spanish coffers of King Philip II, a very devout, even obsessive Catholic who was apalled at the rise of Protestant feeling in the Netherlands (Holland and Belgium). Philip sent his armies to subdue the anti-Catholics, however across the waters in England, Queen Elizabeth, who's father Henry VIII had deposed the Catholic church for purposes of convenient marriages, sided with the Protestant rebels and made matters worse by chopping off the head of her Catholic cousin and pretender to the English throne, Mary Queen of Scots.

England at this time, around 1580, was in a bit of a depression so the Army and Navy were poorly paid, and trouble on the continent was bad for the English wool trade with Belgium. The French and English knew about the Spanish gold shipments so Elizabeth turned a blind eye to the odd bit of piracy by her naughty pals Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins who built their own fleets of ships as privateers. Now this is important: A privateer must be swift, carry carefully balanced guns however be able to make long sea journeys. The English Shipyards did away with the mediaeval High "Castled" ships of Henry VIII and produced low, slim, speedy and manouverable craft which could outpace and outgun the lumbering transports of the Spanish which had to carry huge bulk and stores long distances.

An English Ship of the 16th Century

Philip II in his new palace in Madrid "El Escorial", was convinced that God had charged him with the saving of the Catholic faith. In fact it is unavoidable that he knew if he conquered England he could consolidate the Netherlands and later France. Elizabeth had effectively declared war on him and in 1585 he issued orders to use the Army at that time in the Netherlands to cross the Dover strait (He knew the Romans and the Normans had done it!) under the protection of a great fleet which would also carry siege weapons and thousands of additional troops. His commanders set about assembling the fleet in Lisbon, which Philip had just conveniently conquered along with Portugal.

The fleet of 125 ships was to be made up of about 20 quality fighting ships which were the hunter-killers, 40 bulky transports or Galeasses which carried siege supplies and troops, and numerous smaller vessels which were variously armed. Things started to go wrong almost from the start. The man in charge, the elderly Marquez de Santa Cruz, died and was replaced by the Duke of Medina Sidonia who was unqualified in sea warfare and less than enthusiastic about the venture , especially when he saw the enormity of the task. Secondly, there was bickering and infighting amongst the many powerful, but ineffectual Lords involved in the hierarchy of management. Thirdly, the King, residing at the Escorial, was removed from all the problems and fobbed off any excuses by irritated and peremptory memo's to his commander in chief.

Medina Sidonia was a trier, however he had endless problems embargoing fleets from Spains posessions in The Mediterranean, Basque country and Andalucia, assembling them, crewing them (the smart ones were all in South America making good money) and above all, arming them with the bewildering array of Spanish guns - Culebrines, Sacres, Pedreros, Cañones which fired shot of many sizes and types necessitating management of a high order to make sure each gun had the correct equipment. Here is another important point. The Spanish used land cannon with large wheels. These took up a large amount of room on deck so normally only one side of the ship could load at a time. The English artillery was based on a carriage with a small wheel which allowed the gun to run in after firing and be loaded inboard while the Spanish had to lean over the side to clean and load.

Below: An English "Truck" mounted ship Cannon and a European "all purpose " field cannon.

The enormous task proceeded with many delays due to unending problems including rotten stores, deaths, defecting crews and finally Philip lost his temper and commanded the fleet to sail which they did, straight into an Atlantic storm which wrecked several of the more rotten hulks and forced them to scatter into Corunna and back to Lisbon. Eventually the huge fleet lumbered out and headed North arriving off the English Channel on 30th july 1588 where the English, through the inventor of Espionage, Lord Walsingham had beacons set up to convey the news along the coast.

Whether or not Francis Drake was playing bowls is immaterial. The English fleet of 105 ships (only 35 of these were Royal Navy ships, and many were lighty armed) was out of Plymouth and to windward, the advantage, of the Spanish in plenty of time.

A Contemporary sketch of the Spanish Fleet with the English in hot Pursuit.

Strangely at this time, Medina Sidonia called for a council of war at sea. You'd have thought they had a plan beforehand but it seems they needed one last argument before going into battle and so it proved...more squabbling and arm waving on the flagship before they did what they meant to do all the time and head for the rendezvous with the Spanish army at Calais. Before they got far into the Channel the English under command of Admiral Lord Howard began to harass the vast fleet which proceeded in a broad curved formation with outlying "horns" threatening to close in on any ship which attempted to close the weak centre. This is where The Armada's third problem arose. Medina Sidonia had been sending messages via fast ships to The Duke of Parma, commanding the land army for weeks but had no reply. Only now did he get the message that the land army was "not quite ready". Tricky, when you have 120+ unmanouverable fat ships on a shallow coast being harassed by nimble English warships. Medina Sidonia ordered the fleet to anchor near Calais. (The French of course refused to allow the Spanish to use any of their ports) and the English fleet, seeing their opportunity sent in their fireships - old and dilapidated hulks loaded with tar, gunpowder, rope and anything combustible towed upwind of the anchored Spanish then set afire and released. Deadly!

The Spanish, seeing the danger simply cut their anchor cables (this was also to cost them later) and tried to make for the open sea. This was the beginning of the end for the Armada, as the Dutch, skilled seamen, had a fleet of small but well armed "Cromsters", highly manouverable light warships which operated on the shallow waters of the Eastern North sea, forcing the great and panicked transports towards the English coast where Howards galleons caused them greater grief. Many Spanish ships grounded on the shallows of the Netherlands and their crews were brutally executed by the locals who owed them no favours.

Medina Sidonia tried to rally his fleet, but as soon as they were through the Dover strait it seems even the fleet commander, who had no stomach for the fight from the start, had given up and he headed North leaving the remains of the fleet, still harried by the English in the west, and the brutal Cromsters in the East, to scatter and struggle northward in adverse weather with a vague plan to break out into the Atlantic and try to head south to the Bay of Biscay.

In England there was still confusion and near panic. For two whole weeks they had no news of the Armada. Howard, his ammunition lockers empty continued to appeal for supplies to the Queen, and to fret over the lack of information. Eventually as news arrived of Spanish shipwrecks in Scotland and Ireland, the nation realised that the danger was past, and celebrated. Queen Elizabeth however never settled all of the costs and even the heroes of the hour were poorly dealt with after the panic had subsided.

Meanwhile the scattered Spanish fleet stumbled Northward, the crews sick, the ships in poor condition as they had been from the start of the great adventure. The pilots on board struggled with lack of charts or information and one by one the ships, without anchors to save themselves, foundered on Fair Isle, and Western Scotland. Ireland, seemingly a Catholic sanctury beckoned, however as ship after ship piled onto the coast, bandits fell on those who survived the waves and slaughtered them for the clothes they wore. The "lucky" rich survivors were stripped naked of their finery and imprisoned to be ransomed later. The weather could not have been worse, westerly gales forced the stragglers to wallow their way back to Spain where the arrived over a period of months.

Of the original fleet of 120 ships (5 sank on their way to England at the start of the adventure!) only 40 arrived back in Spain. Medina Sidonia sent word ahead to the King by fast cutter and then put his ship into Santander where he loaded his baggage on to a few carts and headed for his home near Jerez.

Philip II on receiving news from the army of Flanders, and ships which straggled into the northern ports, fell into a deep depression. He had wagered not only his treasury and indebted his country, but had involved the Pope and all of Spains posessions elsewhere. The collapse of the Armada and the "Adventure of England" was the end of Spain's Golden Age. Despite this there were two more attempts to land an army in Ireland,however Walsinghams' marvellous espionage and the use of bribery and torture revealed these plans and they were beaten off easily.

What often escapes attention is that the "Armada Plan" could very easily have been successful. Englands land defences were pathetic and the sea battle was won mainly by the command of privateers and their own ships and skilful crews and gunners, rather than by the Royal Navy. If The duke of Parma had good weather to land his fleet in Kent, and had they landed the siege weapons from the Armada, they could well have defeated the small resources of the English and taken London with the support of the Armada.

What defeated the Spanish above all was over confidence, poor communications and bad management. The King could not accept his commanders advice that all was not well so he proceeded on the assumption that "God would Provide". Unfortunately for the King, God sent him bad weather, a tenacious enemy, poor communications and the hatred of Northern Europe for the Spanish attempts to dominate their lands and their religion.

Principal sources: "The Spanish Armada" by Colin Martin & Geoffrey Parker.

"Spain and the Netherlands 1559-1659" by Geoffrey Parker.

"The Mary Rose" H.M.S.O. London.