Spanish+Armada

=Spanish Armada=

The Spanish Armada was a fleet that sailed from Lisbon, Portugal to England on May 28, 1588. The full body of the fleet took two days to leave the port. The fleet was made up of 151 ships, 8,000 sailors, 18,000 soldiers and wielded 1,500 brass guns and 1,000 iron guns. The purpose of the Spanish Armada was to overthrow Elizabeth I of England to stop English involvement in the Spanish Netherlands and the English attacking Spanish merchant ships in the Atlantic. The fleet's mission was to sail to Gravelines in present day northern Belgium and escort an army across the English channel to England. The mission eventually failed due to the early English attacks on the Armada, especially during the Battle of Gravelines. They also failed because of the horrible weather conditions.

Before the Spanish Armada began, Queen Elizabeth had heard mutterings of the intended invasion of England by Spain for some time. She was not, however, at first concerned about the rumors. She had heard such rumors for almost 30 years, and easily dismissed them. Her Councilors were not so dismissive. It eventually became clear to Elizabeth, that this time the Spanish were really going to send a fleet against England. Although the Queen had spent considerable amounts of money funding the Netherlands campaign, she now employed all her efforts in raising funds to ensure that when the Spanish fleet came, England would be prepared.

At dawn on July 21st the English fleet engaged the Armada off of the coast of Plymouth. The Armada was in a defensive formation when the English fleet first attacked. Opposing them the English were in two sections, Drake to the North in Revenge with 11 ships, and Howard to the South in Ark Royal with the bulk of the fleet. The Armada was eventually defeated by the English.