8/19/2023 0 Comments Naval formations in spanish armada![]() The Spanish suffered heavy casualties at close range they had intended to board the English ships rather than fire on them, and they used very little of their ammunition as the English ships pounded them. The English were able to hit the Armada with several shots, doing terrible damage to their ships and crews. Drake had his ships sail into the Spanish formation, and the ships were so close that the musketeers from both sides could fire at each other. 50 Spanish ships formed their own defensive crescent, and Drake sailed on to attack it. However, Howard returned with his fleet and joined in the attack. Drake decided to lead the rest of the fleet to attack the Spanish fleet, and Medina Sidonia held back the English fleet for an hour, giving the rest of the Armada time to reform. The next morning, following a fireship attack the night before, Howard and his ships looted the Spanish ship which had run aground, costing them valuable time. On 7 August, Drake and Howard planned their main attack on the Spanish Armada off Gravelines. No Spanish ships were burnt, but their formation was broken and one ship was grounded, leaving them in a state of confusion. The Spanish destroyed two of them, but the remainder surged into the Spanish fleet, forcing them to cut their cables and break their crescent formation. At midnight on 28 July, the English set alight eight fireships and sent them into the Spanish fleet. The Spanish had no deep-water port in which they could find shelter, and they did not divert any of their vital ships to fight off the Dutch blockade, leaving themselves vulnerable. However, Parma was forced to wait for six days as he prepared his army to move again, and Medina Sidonia's fleet was blockaded by a fleet of 30 Dutch flyboats under Justinus van Nassau. On 27 July, the Armada anchored off Calais, where Parma's army, reduced by disease to 16,000, was expected to be waiting. On 23 July, the two fleets met again off Portland, and the Armada decided to retreat to Calais as Martin Frobisher and Drake attacked them. The Spanish ships Rosario and San Salvador had to be abandoned after colliding, and, at nightfall, Drake had the ships looted, stealing gunpowder and gold. Because the Spanish would have the advantage in close-quarter fighting, the more maneuverable English ships kept beyond grappling range and bombarded the Spanish ships from a distance. The English launched a ferocious two-pronged attack on the Armada, with Drake commanding an 11-strong squadron from Revenge and Howard leading the bulk of the fleet from Ark Royal. The two squadrons of the 55-strong English fleet zig-zagged with the wind to attack the 120-strong Spanish fleet (with 350 soldiers on each ship), which had formed a prearranged, crescent-shaped battle formation. On 20 July, the English sailed out of Plymouth Sound to attack the Spanish fleet, splitting their forces. The Spanish had the opportunity to attack the English fleet at Plymouth harbor, but King Philip had ordered the Spanish fleet not to engage the English unless it was absolutely necessary the Armada instead sailed on to Calais as planned. In July 1588, the English admirals Lord Howard of Effingham and Francis Drake planned to attack the massive Armada in the English Channel, but they faced inland winds and were forced to wait, bowling as they awaited better weather. ![]() The English responded by assembling a makeshift fleet of 34 warships and 163 armed merchant vessels, and they set sail from Plymouth, Devon to attack the Armada as it entered the channel. King Philip gave command of the fleet to the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an incompetent admiral who frequently asked to be dismissed, but was refused due to King Philip's need for a man of high status to lead the invasion fleet. In the Low Countries, they were to be joined by an additional 30,000 Spanish troops. On, a fleet of 130 Spanish Navy ships, 8,000 sailors, and 18,000 soldiers set sail from Lisbon towards the English Channel, where it would join forces with the Spanish armies in the Habsburg Netherlands for a full-scale invasion of England. In 1588, Pope Sixtus V allowed King Philip II of Spain to collect crusade taxes and granted his men indulgences, giving his blessing for a Catholic invasion of Protestant England.
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