Armada, Spanish, the great naval armament sent by King Philip
II of Spain, in 1588, for the conquest of England, in order
thereby

“to serve God, and to returne unto his church a great many contrite souls that
are oppressed by the heretics, enemies to our holy Catholic faith, which have them
subject to their sects, and unhappiness.” (Expedit. Hispan. in Angl. Vera Descriptio,
A. D. 1588.)

The fullest account of this armament is given in a_ book
published, about the time it set sail, by order of Philip, under the
title La Felicisima Armada que el Rey Don Felipe nuestro Senor mando
juntar en el Puerto de Lisboa 1588. Hecha por Pedro de Pax Salas. A
copy of this work was procured for Lord Burleigh, so that the
English government was beforehand acquainted with every detail
of the expedition. (This copy, containing notes up to March, 1588,
is now in the British museum.) The fleet is therein stated to have
consisted of 65 galleons and large ships, 25 urcas of 300 to 700
tons, 19 tenders of 70 to 100 tons, 13 small frigates, 4 galeasses
and 4 galleys, in all 130 vessels, with a total tonnage of 57,868
tons. They were armed with 2,431 guns, of which 1,497 were of
bronze, mostly full cannon (48 pdrs.), culverines (long 30 and 20
pdrs.), &c.; the ammunition consisted of 123,790 round shot and
5,175 cwt. of powder, giving about 50 rounds per gun, at an
average charge of 4'/y Ibs. The ships were manned with 8,052
sailors, and carried 19,295 soldiers and 180 priests and monks.
Mules, carts, &c., were on board to move the field artillery when
landed. The whole was provisioned, according to the above
authority, for 6 months. This fleet, unequalled in its time, was to

proceed to the Flemish coast, where another army of 30,000 foot
and 4,000 horse, under the duke of Parma, was to embark, under
its protection, in flat-bottomed vessels constructed for the
purpose, and manned by sailors brought from the Baltic. The
whole were then to proceed to England.

In that country Queen Elizabeth had, by vigorous exertions,
increased her fleet of originally 30 ships, to some 180 vessels of
various sizes, but generally inferior in that respect to those of the
Spaniards. They were, however, manned by 17,500 sailors, and
therefore possessed far more numerous crews than the Spanish
fleet. The English military force was divided into two armies, one,
of 18,500 men, under the earl of Leicester, for immediately
opposing the enemy; the other, 45,000, for the defence of the
queen’s person. According to a MS. in the British museum,
entitled “Details of the English Force Assembled to Oppose the
Spanish Armada,” (MS. Reg. 18th c. xx1.), 2,000 infantry were also
expected from the Low Countries.

The armada was to leave Lisbon in the beginning of May, but,
owing to the death of the admiral Santa Cruz, and_ his
vice-admiral, the departure was delayed. The duke of Medina
Sidonia, a man totally unacquainted with naval matters, was now
made captain-general of the fleet; his vice-admiral, Martinez de
Ricalde, however, was an expert seaman. Having left Lisbon for
Corunna for stores, May 29, 1588, the fleet was dispersed by a
violent storm, and, though all the ships joined at Corunna with
the exception of four, they were considerably shattered, and had
to be repaired. Reports having reached England that the
armament was completely disabled, the government ordered its
own ships to be laid up; but Lord Howard, the admiral, opposed
this order, set sail for Corunna, learned the truth, and, on his
return, continued warlike preparations. Soon after, being in-
formed that the armada had hove in sight, he weighed anchor and
accompanied it on its way up the channel, harassing the Spanish
ships whenever an opportunity presented itself. The Spaniards, in
the mean time, proceeded to the coast of Flanders, keeping as
close together as possible. In the various minor engagements
which took place, the handier ships, more numerous crews, and
better seamanship of the English, always gave them the victory
over the clumsy and undermanned Spanish galleons, crowded as
they were with soldiers. ‘The Spanish artillery; too, was very badly
served, and almost always planted too high. Off Calais the armada
cast anchor, waiting for the duke of Parma’s fleet to come out of
the Flemish harbors; but it soon received word that his ships,

being unfit for fighting, could not come out until the armada had
passed the straits and driven off the Anglo-Dutch blockading
squadron. It accordingly weighed again, but, when in sight of
Dunkirk, was becalmed between the English fleet on one side and
the Dutch on the other. Lord Howard prepared fire-ships, and
when, during the night of Aug. 7, the breeze sprang up again, he
sent 8 of them among the enemy. They produced a perfect panic
in the Spanish fleet. Some ships weighed anchor, some cut their
cables, drifting before the wind; the whole fleet got into confusion,
several ships ran foul of each other and were disabled. By
morning order was far from being restored, and the several
divisions were scattered far and wide. Then Lord Howard,
reinforced as he was by the ships equipped by the nobility and
gentry, as also by the blockading squadron under Lord Byron, and
ably seconded by Sir Francis Drake, engaged the enemy at 4 A.M.
The battle, or rather chase (for the English were evidently
superior on every point of attack), lasted till dark. The Spaniards
fought bravely, but their unwieldy ships were unfit for the
navigation of narrow waters, and for a moving fight. They were
completely defeated, and suffered severe loss.

The junction with the duke of Parma’s transports having thus
been foiled, a landing in England by the armada alone was out of
the question. It was found that the greater part of the provisions
on board had been consumed, and as access to Spanish Flanders
was now impossible, nothing remained but to return to Spain to
lay in fresh stores. (See “Certain Advertisements out of Ireland
Concerning the Losses and Distresses Happened to the Spanish
Navie on the Coast of Ireland,” London, 1588—Examination of
Emanuel Fremosa, who served in the San Juan, 1,100 tons,
flag-ship of Admiral Ricalde.*) The passage through the channel
being also closed by the English fleet, nothing remained but to
round Scotland on their way home. The armada was but little
harassed by the fleet of Lord Seymour sent in pursuit, as that fleet
was badly supplied with ammunition and could not venture on an
attack. But after the Spaniards had rounded the Orkneys dreadful
storms arose and dispersed the whole fleet. Some ships were
driven back as far as the coast of Norway, where they fell on the
rocks; others foundered in the North sea, or struck on the rocks
on the coast of Scotland or the Hebrides. Soon after, fresh storms
overtook them on the west coast of Ireland, where above 30

Miscellany: A Collection of Scarce, Curious, and Entertaining Pamphlets and Tracts, etc.,
Vol. I, London, 1808, p. 129.— Ed.

vessels were lost. Those of the crews who escaped on shore were
mostly killed; about 200 were executed by command of the lord
deputy.” Of the whole fleet not more than 60 vessels, and those in
the most shattered condition, and with famine on board, reached
Santander about the middle of September, when the plan of
invading England was definitively given up.