Military intelligence and tactics are vital. I mentioned The Ship Inn in a recent post. It possesses the most magnificent stained glass window. The banner in the window says “Ye Shippes of Fowey Haven preparing to welcome ye Armada.” The Ship Inn also displays a poster concerning the battle of Trafalgar.
Since I discovered my distant relative, Sir Anthony Standen’s role in defeating the Armada, I’ve been very interested in the Spanish Armada. Because Standen provided Walsingham with all the military intelligence on the Armada that he had wished for, it must have had an effect. The Spanish commander, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, had no naval experience. That was vital information that Standen probably provided. Sidonia also had no flexibility from King Phillip’s orders. The intelligence that the Armada had to rendezvous with Parma’s army in Calais was also crucial. The English attack on the Spanish fleet with fire-ships was decisive.
I don’t know what role espionage played in the battle of Trafalgar. Certainly the intelligence relayed to Nelson’s fleet by a frigate watching the Spanish and French fleets leave Cadiz proved to be crucial. The poster in the Ship Inn specifies the Spanish and French superiority over the English fleet. They had more ships, more men, and more guns. We had Nelson, whose leadership had been honed serving under Admiral Sir John Jarvis, and whose tactical genius he learnt from Admiral Lord Hood. Tactics and intelligence trump numbers.
If you want to know more about Sir Anthony Standen, my book The Spy who Sank the Armada tells his story. I have followed all the known facts of his life, and have painted in the why’s and how’s of his achievements. My book is available from Amazon in paperback, kindle and audiobook. It’s also free to read on kindle unlimited.