Comparing the two fleets together you can understand why the King of Spain was so confident:
SPANISH FLEET- 130 ships(65 big and 65 small),
9 guns on average per ship,
163 cannons, 326 periers (medium range),
and 635 culverins ( long range).
18,973 men.
ENGLISH FLEET- 197 ships(34 big and 163 small),
12 guns on average per ship,
55 cannons, 43 periers and 1,874 culverins.
1,540 men.
The Spanish fleet had over 12 times the amount of soldiers the English had. That isn’t surprising when you know that the Spanish had the most advanced army in their day. The English would just ask anyone to bring whatever they could and fight with it. If the Spanish could land in Kent and march to London, it looked as though the English would be defeated. The English would try to stay away, more small ships and more long range guns to fight with.
Before the Armada went, Philip received a letter from Medina Sidonia. It contained lots of negative thoughts on why Medina Sidonia thought he shouldn’t go. It included things like ‘ I don’t know anything about England and sea warfare’, ‘I am seasick’ and ‘I have no money to spend’. Philip kept him on as commander , probably because as Sidonia was a duke he may have been being modest or underestimating himself.
The Armada set off from Spain. Along the English Channel, the ships adopted a crescent-style formation. The idea of this was clever because if the English came too close, the edges of the crescent could move inwards and surround them. As the Spanish had more short range guns they could blast them with them or grapple on to the ship and over rule them with their vast quantity of men. If in another instance the English tried to attack them from behind, the wings of the crescent could turn around and the English would be in the same problems as before.
The English fleet was commanded by a man called Lord Howard. During the battle of the Armada, he sent a message to Lord Walsingham, the Queen’s chief minister. It said, ‘At nine ‘o’ clock we fought them until one. In this fight, we will not dare go near them, as their fleet is so strong. There will be nothing neglected that may work to their destruction’. This gives me the impression that he does not believe that the Armada can be stopped, and also that he doesn’t know how to. At this stage of the battle, it appears the English are going to be defeated by the King of Spain’s Armada and England will become Catholic again. That doesn’t happen though.
The Spanish Armada failed for four reasons.
Firstly, the Duke of Parma was to meet the Armada at Calais. The army that Parma was with would be picked up by the ships, and taken to Kent. The Duke of Parma was delayed though and sent a ship out to the fleet telling them he would not be ready by the following Friday. This meant the Armada had to anchor. The harbour was not very big, meaning that the Spanish ships were exposed to attacks.
Secondly, as the Spanish were exposed, the English thought up an idea to give the Spanish a shock. As Robert Carey, a sailor, who was with the fleet, wrote, they sent fireships: ‘….. our council of war had six old ships and filled them with burning materials. They were sent loose, with one man steering them towards the Armada. Luckily, the tide led them comfortably towards the ships. It was dark, and the Spanish had no choice but to cut their anchors and get out the way.’
Thirdly, the Spanish were caught napping and cut their anchors, so now they had no means of stopping. They slowly drifted up the East Coast. The English followed them, sinking a few ships but not as many as they would have hoped. The Armada sailed harmlessly on right over Scotland.
Finally, the Armada failed due to storms. The English had their anchors to stop and take shelter, but all the Spanish could do was to sail on and hope the storms would die down. Over 20 Spanish ships were sunk along the Irish coast, and out of the 130 ships that sailed out of Spain only 44 returned. When news came to the Queen that the English were victorious, she put on the medals: ‘DEUS AFFLAVIT ET DISSIPATI SUNT’. Latin for: ‘ God blew and they were scattered’.
The most important reason on why the Spanish Armada failed is that the Duke of Parma was delayed when the Armada arrived in Calais. If he had been there, the fireships would not have been sent by the English, the Armada may not have been caught up in the storms and they would not have had to cut the anchors, thus being destroyed by the storms. If Parma had been on time, England would surely have been defeated.
The Spanish Armada failed in 1588 because the general of the Spanish army was not there when the Armada arrived in Calais. They anchored, and as the harbour was so small they were exposed. The English sent fireships in the night and the Spanish fleet cut their anchors. They sailed up the East Coast, the English sinking a few ships. Over 20 ships were destroyed along the Irish Coast, due to storms. 44 of the 130 Spanish ships returned. If any of these were taken out of the equation, the Armada might have succeeded.
