The Spanish Armada

The Spanish Armada was an ill conceived and badly executed plan that King Philip of Spain had dreamed up to remove the Protestant Queen Elizabeth 1^st from the throne of England, backed up by the Pope who offered monetary assistance for her removal. The Pope also tried to have Elizabeth assassinated by a man he recommended to Philip, a certain Roberto di Ridolfi. However the plot failed and relations between Spain and England broke down.

The whole story of the Spanish dreams of conquering England is far too long and involved to be produced in a few pages. In a nutshell, King Philip of Spain, who had married Queen Mary 1^st of England in 1554, the daughter of Henry 8^th and Catherine of Aragon, wanted to conquer the protestant countries of Europe and bring them back into the Catholic religion. The marriage did not last very long as Mary could not produce a child : then in 1556, Philip's father, Charles 5^th abdicated in his son's favour, so Philip returned to Spain. He had already taken the Netherlands and Belgium : France was considered an ally by Philip when 30,000 protestants were slaughtered in France at the Massacre of St. Bartholomews Day in 1572. The Pope ordered bonfires and fireworks to celebrate the event and Philip wrote to Queen Catherine of France congratulating her on having a son, Charles 9^th, who could order such a splendid massacre. Charles was only ten years old at the time and his mother ruled as regent. Civil and religious wars were rampant in France over many years and Protestants were hounded out and killed across the nation. Philip's ambitions of a wholly Catholic Europe led to his planning an invasion of England.

In 1580, Philip took Portugal, adding all of that great nation's possessions to Spain's. He now had ports on the Atlantic from which to repair and launch his ships.

Francis Drake and John Hawkins, two English adventurers continually harried and destroyed Spanish shipping in the Caribbean and plundered their cargoes of silver and diamonds. Queen Elizabeth, while denying any knowledge of their exploits, knighted Francis Drake.

In 1584 Philip began assembling his fleet, four years before the final execution of the plan. This was ample time for the English to prepare and also to make plans to harass and hinder the Spanish. Philip began gathering ships, scouring the continent for arms and ammunition, repairing old hulks and fitting them out. In 1586 twenty five hulks with shrouds, pitch and sails left the Baltic for Lisbon. Nine more sailed from Hamburg with similar cargoes. They all sailed around the north of Britain in case they were apprehended by Drake and Hawkins. Their plan came to nothing, as all the hulks were captured. With General Parma in charge of his army in the Netherlands and Admiral Santa Cruz in Lisbon overseeing the fleet, the plan was born to sail the armada from Lisbon, meet up with Parma's troops in the Netherlands and sail across the channel to invade England. They spent years gathering stores, assembling armaments, buying guns from the Italians, the Germans and even from the English. Later, when it was realised that they would need far more shot then they had, they started to cast their own. This was ill-advised, as later when the shipwrecks were investigated by archaeologists it was found that most of their shot was faulty, being cast wrongly it had no range and was prone to disintegrate before hitting a target.

In 1587 Drake sailed from England with 21 ships. His orders were, 'to prevent or withstand such enterprises as might be attempted against her highness.' In effect he had the authority to destroy as much of the gathering armada as he could. He sailed to Cadiz and arrived there with only five ships, the others were not so fast and were trying desperately to keep up with him. Not waiting for the stragglers, he entered the port where there were almost a hundred ships in various stages of preparation. Despite being fired on by the forts around the harbour and beating off attacks from the Spanish galleys, they destroyed thirty ships and captured six. This expedition was later called, ' The singeing of the King of Spain's beard.' Drake sailed on to Cape St. Vincent, the most southerly tip of Portugal, sinking enemy ships as he went. Many coasters were carrying barrels bound for the ships in Cadiz to store food in, and Drake sank them all. This cost the Spanish dear the following year when they needed barrels to store their food in, consequently food rotted before it could be consumed.

Off Lisbon on the way home he captured the San Felipe, a huge Portuguese ship carrying silk, spices, ivory and gold to the value of £140,000.

From September 1587, Philip sent a string of letters to Santa Cruz, urging him to sail. Santa Cruz was not ready so he stayed put. Then Philip told him to divide the fleet into two armadas, the first to go straight to the Netherlands and load Parma's troops, then to join up with the second armada for the invasion. When Santa Cruz told him he still wasn't ready, Philip ordered Parma to get across the channel on his own. Parma replied that he would not risk his men invading without an escort: Philip backed off. In February 1588 Santa Cruz was still not ready. Philip was furious but it had no effect on Santa Cruz, as on 9^th February, he died. A few days later, his Vice Admiral died too. Then was revealed the utter chaotic mess that the preparations were in. Many of the ships were still unseaworthy, supplies were rotting and ship's captains were helping themselves to guns, ammunition, stores and spares, with no consideration for anyone else. King Philip had to appoint an administrator who could sort out this total mess and he appointed The Duke of Medina Sidonia.

The Duke was not happy and tried his best to wriggle out from the responsibility, but Philip would not let him and he reluctantly took over in Lisbon. It took him months to sort out the mess, taking guns off one ship, putting them on another, arguing and wrangling with disillusioned Captains and crews, ordering new stores for the ships, trying to get repairs to vessels completed, careening some vessels to make sure their bottoms were watertight. Some of the vessels, he found to be quite inadequate for use in major battles as they were Mediterranean vessels designed to carry large numbers of troops but were not of substantial enough construction to withstand heavy bombardment as the English ships were. The hulks that stores had been delivered on had been requisitioned and tall fighting castles fore and aft had been built on them. The massive Portuguese warships that were designed for battle would be filled with troops and act as massive transporters.

The armada sailed from Lisbon finally only to be hit by bad weather, the high castles on the ships making them nearly impossible to steer, the wind hitting them anywhere else other than on the stern rendering the sails almost useless. In three days they had made only five miles. They battled on, the soldiers laying down below in dark, stinking conditions, their water putrid and the food rotten. The stores had been on the ships for years when Santa Cruz had stocked them. Dysentry broke out and seasickness was rampant. Most of the armada reached Corunna on June 14^th, some being scattered by the storm they had encountered, and Duke Medina Sidonia wrote to the king begging for fresh food and water. On June 24^th the Duke again wrote to his king, outlining his worries that the armada was not up to the job, the weather being atrocious and the men dying in the ships. He begged the king to make peace with Elizabeth and call off the invasion. Twenty eight ships were still missing. Meanwhile, General Parma had also written to the king from the Netherlands, telling of the terrible conditions his men were living under in their tents, how they were dying from illness brought on by the weather. He also suggested that Philip make up with Elizabeth. It all fell on deaf ears and Philip told them that the invasion would go ahead. On 5^th July twelve of the missing ships turned up and on that same day the Duke had a letter from the king ordering him to sail on 10^th July. Then, on the 12^th another letter from the king. This time he told them, 'It is my wish that you leave port and start your voyage the day you receive this letter, without so much as an hour's delay, and even if it means leaving twelve or fifteen ships behind.'

Still they delayed and it wasn't until the 20^th that they finally set sail. They still did not have the fresh food that they needed as their pleas for this essential commodity went unheeded. One hundred and thirty one ships set sail with 24,607 seamen and soldiers. The armada finally made it to the English Channel, but they chose to sail up it on the English side as King Philip had warned them that they were to stay away from the French side due to shoals and banks which would shipwreck them. This was another gaffe by the king as the banks and shoals were nowhere near where he said they were. On the 27^th another gale hit them and the stern of the Diego Flores was damaged. The English Navy was ready for them and they attacked from just off Plymouth. The Spaniards could see the English pursuing them but they were not as fast as the English ships, so they couldn't make a run for it. Drake and Hawkins caught up with them and battle commenced. The Spanish fleet was sailing abreast across the channel, so close together that the English could not get between them. They therefore harried those on the outsides and went after the rearguard galleon, the 'San Juan de Portugal.' Hawkins, Drake and Fobisher poured shot into her, crippling her before moving on to other targets. In the afternoon when the Duke signalled his armada to reform, there was much confusion, ships rammed each other, two were disabled and the 'San Salvador' suddenly exploded with a mighty roar as its powder magazine went up. On board were the Vice Admiral of a squadron, all of the finances for the expedition and the paymaster general. Her stern was completely blown off. The 'Rosario' was trailing astern with her rigging gone and her mainmast down and the Duke decided to abandon her to her fate as the English were closing in on her. The next day, at dawn, Drake called on the Rosario to surrender which she did. She was then towed into Dartmouth. During that day, Monday, hostilities were on hold as the English fleet were serviced with food and ammunition.

Duke Medina Sidonia had not heard from the Army General, Parma since March, so he had no idea where Parma was or what he was doing. On Tuesday the English navy attacked again just off Portland, Drake taking fifty ships with him out to sea and flanking the armada, pouring shot into them. Hawkins performed his new tactic: all of his ships sailing in line astern, penetrating the bulk of the Spanish fleet and pouring shot into them as they sailed past. Although causing substantial damage to the Spanish, at the end of the day the Duke's ships were able to slowly proceed up the Channel. Next day there was no wind and all vessels were becalmed, unable to inflict much damage on each other. The English were able to renew their ammunition and food stores. On Thursday the calm weather was still hindering the efforts of the English to destroy the enemy. Admiral Howard was so frustrated that he ordered rowing boats to tow some of his ships after the Spanish galleons. Not much damage was inflicted. Friday they were still becalmed and spent the time on repairs to their vessels. Saturday with the wind back up, they sailed on, the English pursuing the Spanish who were keeping just out of range. The Duke had still heard nothing from Parma and he was advised that to wait for him off Dunkirk would be suicidal as there was no shelter for shipping on that part of the coast. He decided to wait at Calais. By evening the English had caught him up and the armada was surrounded by 230 ships. Now the Duke was trapped. Parma couldn't send troops out to him from Dunkirk as the Dutch were patrolling the coast, and the Duke could not take the armada to eliminate the Dutch due to sandbanks and shallow water.

Meanwhile, Parma had taken charge of the boats that were to ferry the soldiers out to the armada. The boats that he'd requisitioned were totally useless for the job intended as they were canal and river boats, normally pulled by horses on the river banks. A good swell would swamp them with disastrous results. The inspector general of the fleet was there, Don Jorge Manrique and he told Parma what he thought of his boats, and it was not good. A blazing row erupted!

By the Sunday evening the English had prepared fire boats to send in among the Spanish ships. They were packed with combustible materials and gunpowder. A skeleton crew sailed the boats into the armada, set them alight, and were then picked up before they exploded. The Duke signalled that all vessels were to buoy their anchors and then cut the cables, freeing the ships to return later and pick up their anchors again. They did this but in their panic to escape the fire ships in the dark, there were collisions, fouling of cables and general mayhem.

The next morning the armada was scattered over a distance of ten miles and the English started to pick them off. Some of the armada were so badly damaged that they limped into Calais, followed by the English. Two hundred English sailors clambered aboard the stricken ships after a terrific gun battle, and decimated the Spanish. Drake's squadron sailed in line astern, pouring shot into Medina Sidonis's ship. Hawkins, Frobisher and Seymour followed with their squadrons and the Spanish were routed. They fled, as best they could, into the North Sea. Fourteen galleons were sunk in the battle, six hundred Spanish were killed and eight hundred wounded. The English fleet chased the armada up the North Sea, finally leaving them when it was realised that they would sail around the North of Scotland to escape. The fight had gone out of the armada.

The beaten armada sailed around Scotland and down the west coast of Ireland, carrying out essential repairs as they went. Being unfamiliar with that part of the Atlantic Ocean they were unaware of the dangers on that coast. Gales and storms can be whipped up with incredible speed and the fleet, already damaged with missing masts, not enough canvas and huge holes in their sides sailed into the teeth of a gale. The ships were scattered, many being driven on to the rocky shore, others managing to anchor in sheltered bays, and others finding creeks and rivers to sail into to escape the weather. Don Francisco de Cuellar wrote to a friend the following year of his experience, 'It was a dangerously exposed anchorage. The ships stayed there for four days, hoping for better weather. On the fifth day a great storm sprang up, the waves as high as heaven. Our cables snapped and we were driven ashore, all three ships upon a beach covered with very fine sand, shut in on one side, on the other great rocks. Within an hour all three ships were broken to pieces with only 300 escaping. More than one thousand were drowned, gentlemen, captains and other officials.'

Duke Medina Sidonia's ship made it back to Santander on 23^rd September. The Duke was very ill, with a fever and dysentery. Too weak to walk he was lowered into a boat to go ashore. With no accommodation ashore the crew had to stay aboard. The official that King Philip appointed to supervise the situation at Santander wrote,' If they are brought ashore the hospital would be so overcrowded that infection would spread, and if they are left to lie in the stench and wretchedness of the ships, those who are fit will fall ill. It is impossible to attend to so many.'

Of the 30,000 who sailed in Spanish ships, 20,000 were killed, many in battle, others from sickness, as typhus, scurvy and influenza were rife.

Medina Sidonia pleaded with the king to release him of further duties as he was too sick to attend to anything. Philip released him.

The Duke of Parma was castigated by Philip, told that he had let the king down and was told he would be replaced in the Netherlands.

Protestant Europe was greatly relieved at the defeat of the armada.England could not rest on its laurels for too long as Philip attempted two more invasions of England, both being repulsed.

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