1. Key Topic 2: Challenges to Elizabeth at home and abroad 1569-88
Focus 4.
The Spanish Armada
Spanish invasion plans.
Reasons why Philip used the Spanish Armada.
The reasons for, and consequences of, the English victory.

2. The Spanish Armada plan and Tactics
King Philip of Spain’s plan
The Armada was set to sail through the english channel to Calais.
The Duke of Parma, one of the most able commanders in Europe, will march his army of 20,000 troops from the Netherlands to meet the Armada at Calais.
Parma’s army will be ferried across from Calais in barges, protected by the big ships of the Armada.
The spanish forces will land in Kent and then march on London.
English Catholics will rise up against Elizabeth.
Elizabeth will have to surrender. After she is overthrown, the Catholic religion will be restored in England.
The problems of the plan
The first critical problem in the plan was how the ships of Armada and Parma’s army were going to link up. This required good communications between the ships - which were at sea - and Parma, so that his troops would be ready when the Armada arrived. However, Parma’s army could not be at Calais too soon, because their barges could easily be attacked by Dutch pirates. The timing had to be spot-on. It was not. Francisco de Bobadillo.

3. The Spanish Armada plan and Tactics
Tactics. First stage successful.
On 21 July 1588, 130 Spanish Ships carrying 17,000 men,sailed up the English channel in a crescent formation, aiming for calais to meet up with the Spanish army under the Duke of Parma, currently in the Netherlands. The English fleet left harbour in Plymouth and followed the Armada for eight days. The English navy had slightly more ships than the Spanish fleet, and had quicker ships with longer-range guns. The English fleet aimed to destroy the Spanish ships from a distance by firing cannon at them, but those eight days the English ships failed to inflict serious damage on the Armada.
Tactics. Lord Howard’s offensive
During the night, the English commander, Lord Howard, decided to go on the offensive. He ordered that eight unmanned English ships be filled with inflammable materials such as tar and gunpowder. At around midnight, these ships were set on fire and the winds carried them towards the Spanish ships in the harbour. The sight of these fireships coming towards them caused a panic among the Spanish sailors, who pulled up or cut their anchors, losing their tight battle formation. The Armada was blown towards the coast of the Netherlands.

4. The Spanish Armada 1588. Weather and leadership
The wind and weather
The impact of the fireships and the battle of Gravelines had seriously damaged the spanish ships. The next day,the wind changed direction, forcing the spanish fleet out into the north sea, so they tried to make their way back to spain around scotland and Ireland. The english gave chase for a while, but as they were running short of supplies, they decided to to turn back. Over 40 spanish ships were wrecked off the coasts of scotland and Ireland, with thousands of sailors either drowned or killed by the local inhabitants. Only about 80 ships struggled back to spanish ports by the end of the year. The unseasonal English weather played in a key role in the Armada’s defeat, from the steady breeze that blew the fireships towards Calais, to the winds that drove the Armada Northwards around the British Isles, to the storms that scattered and wrecked their ships on the coasts of Ireland and Scotland.

5. The Spanish Armada 1588. Weather and leadership
The quality of leadership
Does Elizabeth deserve her successful reputation for leading England Victory against the Armada? Once the Armada was in the channel, she could not affect events or tactics, but her commanders, Howard, Drake and Hawkins, did know what had to be done. It was her Admiral and overall commander, Lord Howard, who ordered the sending off fireships, Elizabeth had picked the right men for the job.
Eleven days after battle of Gravelines, Elizabeth appeared before troops still stationed at Tilbury, dressed in a helmet and armour, to deliver probably her most famous speech: ‘I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king and a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any Prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of any realm.’
Once again Elizabeth had created the image of the powerful leader, Gloriana, this time standing shoulder to shoulder with her ordinary subjects to defy the most powerful empire in Europe; an image which would remain long after 1588.
Phillip appointed the Duke of Medina Sidonia as his Commander of the Armada, after his first choice died in 1587.

6. The Spanish Armada 1588. Weather and leadership
Lord Howard of Effingham
Lord Charles of Effingham was the first earl of Nottingham. He followed the traditional route to promotion for a noble under Elizabeth, as a courtier and MP,and also had a less spectacular career than Drake and Hawkins. In 1570, he commanded a squadron of ships that escorted the queen of Spain on a state visit. In 1573, he became the first earl of Nottingham. In 1585 , he made Lord High Admiral by Elizabeth and in 1558,he commanded all forces at sea against the Armada and, with Drake ,was considered responsible for England’s victory.
Sir Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake, the son of a well-off Devon farmer who gained fame as a sailor and protestant preacher.
1571-2: led expeditions to plunder Mexico and Peru in the Spanish New World.
: circumnavigated the world, capturing the treasure ship Cacafuego and attacking Spanish colonies; knighted by the Queen on his return.
1585: led the attack on the Spanish West Indies as the Queen’s Admiral.
1587: ‘singed the King of Spain’s beard’ by his attack on the Spanish fleet in Cadiz, and then captured the wealthy San Felipe.
1588: Vice Admiral of the fleet which defeated the Armada.
John Hawkins
A renowned navigator and early slave trader.
1578: appointed Treasurer and Comptroller of the english navy; set about redesigning
English ships to make them more streamlined.
1588: naval commander against the Armada.

7. The Spanish Armada. Resources
1 Ships
English: 54 battleships and 140 merchant ships that had been converted.
Spanish: 64 battleships, including 22 huge galleons, and 45 converted merchant ships, plus about 20 store ships.
The winner: The spanish ships were slower and harder to manoeuvre than the English ones. John Hawkins had designed a new type of English battleships, which was faster and lower. The tall and heavy Spanish galleons could not deal with the new style English ships nipping in between them and were easy targets.
2 Weapons
English: Nearly 2,000 cannon and smaller guns.
Spanish: 2,000 cannon
The winner: Spanish cannon were heavier than the English and with shorter range. They were designed to fire once, after which it was expected that the Spanish forces would board the enemy ship. The English guns could fire consecutively. This explains why the English were able to inflict so much damage when they got among the Spanish ships at Gravelines

8. The Spanish Armada. Resources
3 Forces at sea
English: 14,000 sailors
Spanish: 30,000 thousand men, of which 8,000 were experienced sailor, 19,000 were trained soldiers and the remainder we servants and priests.
The winner: Admirals on both sides were experienced sea captains, although the majority of Spanish sailors were more used to calmer waters of the Mediterranean.
4 Forces on land
English: 20,000 soldiers, with three main armies placed at Tilbury, Essex and Kent.
Spanish: About 20,000 (the Duke of Parma’s army waiting in Netherlands.)
The winner: England did not have permanent, regular army, but all able-bodied men received annual training in case they were called up to fight.
Parma’s army was the best equipped and best trained in Europe, with ‘crank units’, but when the Armada anchored in Calais, Parma’s army was still a week’s march away, held up by Dutch rebels at Dunkrik.