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The Armada of 1588

Spain's existence as a great power depended in large measure on the supply of treasure which she received from the mines of Mexico and Peru. English seamen were constantly becoming more active in America, and in Europe were siding with her rebellious subjects in the Netherlands. Many of the disputes between the two nations grew out of their religious differences, for England was now Protestant, while Spain remained Catholic.

Philip himself believed that he was divinely commissioned to extirpate the dragons and monsters of heresy. As the adventure with the enchanted horse had been specially reserved for Don Quixote, so the "Enterprise of England," in the inflated language of the time, was said to have been reserved for Philip. Several times a Catholic invasion of England had been distinctly contemplated. The Duke of Alva was to have tried it. Don John of Austria was to have tried it. The Duke of Guise was to have tried it. The nearest and latest occasion had been after the Conquest of Portugal and the great defeat of the French at the Azores in 1583. The Spanish navy was then in splendid condition, excited by a brilliant victory, and led by an officer of real distinction, Alonzo de Bazan, Marques de Santa Cruz.

William the Silent was murdered in the Catholic interest. Henri Quatre was murdered in the Catholic interest, and any one who would do the same to the English Jezebel would be counted to have done good service. Elizabeth had to defend herself with such resources as she possessed. She could not afford to demand open satisfaction ; but she could send secret help to the Prince of Orange ; she could allow her privateers to seize Spanish treasures on the high seas or plunder Philip's West Indian cities.

In 1588, King Philip II of Spain put the Duke of Sidonia in charge of the Grande y Felicísima Armada, [rendered as "Great and Most Merry Navy", "Great and Happiest Navy", and "Great and Most Fortunate Navy"] or Armada Invencible, "Invincible Navy". With the goal of invading England, 131 ships and 17,000 men set out for Dunkirk, where they were to join forces with the Duke of Parma and pick up another 16,000 men. The Spanish Armada of 1588, called derisively by non-Spaniards "The Invincible Armada", sailed from Lisbon in May, but adverse winds and storms delayed its appearance off southwest England until July 30. The Spanish plan was to sail up the Channel; to join with transport vessels which would ferry the army of the Duke of Parma across from the Spanish Netherlands to England, to land the troops and defeat the English, and to have Philip resume his reign as King of England, a title he had acquired by his marriage to Mary Tudor. For a time the fate of the Spanish monarchy and of English freedom hung in the balance. Every man and every ship were needed for the defense of the English nation and institutions.

The plan of action had been secretly arranged. One of the many plots was formed for the murder of Elizabeth. Santa Cruz and the Spanish navy were to hold the channel. The Duke of Guise was to cross under their protection and land an army in Sussex. The Catholics were to rise, set free Mary Stuart, and make her Queen. This was the scheme. Wearied out with Mary's perpetual plots, Elizabeth, when Santa Cruz's preparations were far advanced, sent her to the scaffold, and the blow of the axe which ended her disconcerted every arrangement which had been made. There was no longer a Catholic successor in England to whom the crown could go on Elizabeth's deposition.

The Armada was the most powerful armament which had ever been collected in modern Europe, a hundred and thirty ships-great galleons from a thousand to thirteen hundred tons ; galliasses rowed by three hundred slaves, carrying fifty guns; galleys almost as formidable, and other vessels, the best appointed which Spain and Italy could produce. They carried nine thousand seamen, seasoned mariners who had served in all parts of the world, and seventeen thousand soldiers, who were to join the Prince of Parma and assist in the conquest of England. Besides them were some hundreds of nobles and gentlemen who, with their servants and retinues, had volunteered for the new crusade.

They were divided into six squadrons, each with its Vice-Admiral and Capitana, or flag-ship. The Duke carried his standard in the San Martin, of the squadron of Portugal, the finest vessel in the service, and, as the Spaniards thought, in the world. The other five, of Biscay, Castile, Andalusia, Guypuscoa. and the Levant, were led by distinguished officers. There was but one commander in the fleet entirely ignorant of his duties, though he, unfortunately, was Commander-in- Chief.

The state of the stores was so desperate, especially of the water, that it was held unsafe to proceed. The salt meat, salt fish, and cheese were found so foul throughout that they were thrown overboard for fear of pestilence, and the rations were reduced to biscuit and weevils. The water was the worst of all, as when drunk it produced instant diarrhea. The Duke had no confidence in himself nor the officers in him - he was aheady despondent, and his disquieted subordinates along with him. The Duke intended to persist in a course which he believed to be for his Majesty's honor. The fresh meat was supplied as the Don Pedro advised. The sick recovered; not one died, and all were soon in health again. Fresh supplies were poured down out of the country. The casks were refilled with pure water. In short, the sun began to shine once more, and the despondency fit passed away.

Another ship was added, and at the final muster there were a hundred and thirty-one vessels, between seven and eight thousand sailors and seventeen thousand infantry, two thousand slaves, and fourteen hundred officers, priests, gentlemen, and servants. Two months of summer were still left when the Armada made its second start out of Corunna on Friday, July 22, with fresh heart and better provision. On July 31st the English were engaged.

The English ships were superior to the Spanish in speed and power and weight of artillery, and to board them against their will was entirely hopeless. The Spanish vessels were a little larger than the English ships, but they were not suited at all to the vicious seas and winds of the Channel. Moreover, the English vessels were more heavily armed and were manned by the seafarers of the coast towns, who had been fighting and beating Spaniards for the last twenty years, while the Spanish ships were crowded with soldiers. The heavier guns of the English were better handled than the lighter weapons of the Spaniards and the speed of the English ships enabled their captains to manojuver to suit themselves.

Sir John Hawkins had introduced new lines into the construction of the English ships. The high castles at poop and stem had been reduced, the length increased, the beam diminished. They could sail perhaps within five points of the wind. They showed powers, at any rate, entirely new to Recalde, for they seemed to be able to keep at any distance which they pleased from him. They did not try to break his line or capture detached vessels. With their heavy guns, which he found to his cost to be of weightier metal and to carry farther than his own, they poured their broadsides into him at their leisure, and he could make no tolerable reply. To fight at a distance was contrary to Spanish custom, and was not held worthy of honorable men. But it was effective ; it was perplexing, it was deadly.

On the night, July 28, 1588, Lord Howard floated eight fire-ships into the very midst of the Armada, as the huge galleons lay crowded together at anchor. The affrighted Spaniards cut their cables and fled to the open sea, being drifted by the wind in a wavering line along the coast. At dawn Drake's fearless " sea-dogs " attacked the broken line, and the battle lasted until sunset, with the advantage on the side of the English, whose speed was double that of their clumsy foes, and who were able to fire four shots to the Spaniards' one. One Spanish galleon after another was captured, sunk, or forced on shore, and the still large but panic-stricken Armada was driven northward.

After a week of fighting, the Armada had got the worst of it, but still there it was, to outward appearance, not much damaged. The most disappointing of the ships which took part in the Armada were the galleys. This campaign demonstrated their almost complete uselessness. After a week and a half of confused naval maneuvers and battles, on August 8th the Armada suffered heavy damage and was scattered in the North Sea. Of the 120 Spanish ships that entered the English Channel only 54 returned to Spain.

The defeat of the Armada was one of England's greatest victories and one of the world's decisive battles; it was the "beginning of the end" of Spain as the dominant nation in Europe, and the beginning of English ascendancy. The sea power of Spain was broken, and Englishmen might found colonies on the unoccupied shores of America in comparative security. The defeat of the Spanish Armada, therefore, was an event of the first importance in the history of English colonization. With history, this great achievement, the period of discovery and exploration closes and that of colonization begins.

Philip's two later attempts to invade England, were in 1595, when an actual landing was made in Cornwall, and Penzance was destroyed, and in 1597, when a large fleet was sent against England, but it was dispersed by a storm, and it returned to Spain without accomplishing anything. The 1595 Drake-Hawkins expedition to America was seriously delayed by the invasion attempt of that year, as it was feared that a large-scale landing of Spaniards was being planned, and the English government wanted to keep their ships on hand for such an event.

In 1595 there were reports in England, more alarming than ever, of Philip's preparations and intentions came fast and thick from the spies. In July colour was given to these reports by the sudden raid of four galleys with 400 Spaniards on the Cornish coast. The country around Newlyn and Penzance was burnt and devastated, and the towns and villages were destroyed. The country levies in a panic fled, leaving Sir Francis Godolphin, their commander, with only five or six gentlemen to stand by him, and the triumphant Spaniards ostentatiously attended Mass upon a hill overlooking the smoking ruins of Penzance. Rumours flew through England that the Armada was now to be avenged. But after all, the whole business was but a flash in the pan. The four vessels had been driven from Brittany into Penzance by the stress of weather and lack of drinking water, and the invaders, finding the place unprotected, had worked their will. They soon grew frightened at their own temerity, and took advantage of a northern breeze to run back in safety to Blavet. But the raid thoroughly alarmed the Queen.