On the 28th of May, 1588, The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, set sail from Lisbon, Portugal, heading for the English Channel. It will take until the 30th of May for all ships to leave port. I have a family interest in the Armada because the elder brother of my tenth great-grandfather, Sir Anthony Standen, was an Elizabethan Spy working for Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth’s spymaster. Standen supplied Walsingham with all the intelligence on the Armada that he could possibly have wished for.
In the annals of maritime history, few expeditions are as legendary and impactful as the first Spanish Armada. There were three Spanish Armadas, but the first is the most well known. This grand naval force, dispatched by King Philip II of Spain in 1588, was a mission not only of warfare but also of religious conviction, political intrigue, and national pride. The Armada’s journey and ultimate defeat shaped the geopolitical landscape of Europe and left an indelible mark on history.
The roots of the Armada trace back to the religious and political tensions between Protestant England and Catholic Spain during the late 16th century. King Philip II, a staunch Catholic, saw Protestant England under Queen Elizabeth I as a heretical threat that needed quelling. The execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic with a claim to the English throne, in 1587 further fuelled the animosity, prompting Philip to plan an invasion of England.
Philip’s grand vision was a two-pronged strategy: to amass a formidable naval fleet, the Armada, and to coordinate with Spanish forces stationed in the Netherlands. The plan was to sail the fleet to the English Channel, defeat the English navy, and then transport additional troops across the Channel to launch a full-scale invasion of England.
The plan, however, was fraught with challenges from the outset. The Armada, comprising 130 ships, was a logistical nightmare. With a crew of over 30,000 men, including soldiers, sailors, and galley slaves, the task of provisioning and coordinating such a vast force was daunting. Yet, despite the challenges, in May 1588, the Armada set sail from Lisbon under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia.
The English, aware of the impending threat, readied their own naval defences. Commanded by Charles Howard and the legendary Sir Francis Drake, the English fleet was smaller but boasted faster, more manoeuvrable ships. The stage was set for a colossal naval confrontation.
As the Armada made its way up the English Channel in July 1588, it soon became apparent that the Spanish ships struggled with the weather conditions and the English tactics of hit-and-run attacks. The English, exploiting their ships’ superior speed and firepower, harried the larger, clumsier Spanish galleons without engaging in close combat.
The decisive engagement occurred off the coast of Gravelines, near the border of France and the Spanish Netherlands. The English fleet, using fireships to scatter the Spanish formation, launched a ferocious attack. The Spanish ships, unable to form their defensive crescent, were battered by English cannon fire. The tactical brilliance of the English commanders and the tenacity of their crews led to a stunning reversal of fortune for the Armada.
After the Battle of Gravelines, the beleaguered Armada attempted to retreat northward around Scotland, intending to return to Spain via the Atlantic. This proved disastrous. The fleet encountered severe storms, and many ships were wrecked on the rugged coasts of Scotland and Ireland. Of the original 130 ships, fewer than half returned to Spain.
The defeat of the Armada was a pivotal moment in European history. It marked the decline of Spain as the preeminent maritime power and heralded the rise of England as a global naval force. The victory bolstered Queen Elizabeth’s rule and established a sense of national pride and identity that resonated throughout England.
The failure of the Spanish Armada had profound implications. For Spain, it was a humbling blow to its prestige and power. The financial strain of the expedition contributed to a decline in Spanish influence. Conversely, for England, the victory reinforced its naval dominance and encouraged an expansionist mindset that would eventually lead to the British Empire.