Why did the Spanish Armada Fail?

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Why did the Spanish Armada Fail?

The Armada could have succeeded the plan was simple and could have been effective. The Spanish had the strongest army in Europe and the English defences were not exactly good. The plan was very simple, but could have been deadly if it had worked. The main reasons for it not working out were the communication problems. The messenger ships travelled the same speed, as the Armada so they were nearly useless and the communication between Parma’s army and the Armada were not good. On top of all of this the Armada had received message that Parma’s army was not ready when they were at Calais, which caused a big problem for the Spanish.

Communication was not the only problem the planning was put together so quickly, King Philip hadn't thought of the area at all. The coast where Parma's army were waiting the coast was very shallow and not a very steep gradient at all. The sand was less than 20 metres deep for up to a mile out to sea and the Armada’s ships needed at least 20 metres. This meant that the ships couldn't pick up the army. That problem was soon solved when the army managed to get lightweight barges to transport the army across. A new problem arose, how they got across to the Armada without the Dutch fleet seeing them and attacking them. If they were spotted the Dutch could kill them all and the Armada couldn't do anything about it because of the shallow water.

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The main commander for the Armada died in February 1588 so the King had to pick a new leader. He chose the Duke of Medina Sidonia. He was chosen because he was the greatest noble in Spain at that time. He had no experience and not much support. And he is seasick! The Duke led the Armada to the port at Calais without much of a problem. When the English sent in their fireships the problems started, the Armada's formation had broken up and the English were coming in for the attack. Luckily he managed to keep himself out ...

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