Armada Flashcards
What date was the Spanish Armada?
July to August 1588
What was the Spanish plan for the Spanish Armada?
- 130 ships packed with soldiers and ships sail from Spain up through the English channel to pick up Spanish army in the Netherlands (20,000)
- King Philip insisted to stick to the plan no matter what
Who were the English Navel commanders in the Spanish Armada?
Lord Howard, an English navel commander, and Sir Francis Drake was 2nd in command.
Who were the Spanish Navel commanders in the Spanish Armada?
Duke of Medina-Sidonia who had 0 experience at fighting at sea
As the Armada got to the English channel, what problems did the English Navy but what tactics did they have as well as the Spanish?
Problem: unable to sail out to fight the Spanish because the wind was going against them
English tactics: get behind the Armada so they go with the wind, they had around 55 ships and they stayed away from the enemy ship using cannons
Spanish tactics: crescent formation of ships and get close enough to board and take control of enemys ships
What were the designs/sailors of the ships? English and Spanish?
English: sleak ships that were faster and their sailors could do one canon per minute
Spanish: big ships that were slow for troops and resources and could only fire once per hour because they had more priests then who could fire canons
What was the Armada anchored at Calais event? Date?
Date: 6th of August 1588
Event: Armada anchored at Calais so they could wait for the 20,000 Spanish Army troops
Though the English sailed 8 ships on fire filled with explosives (fireships) and the Armada was forced to sea in choas
What was the Battle of Gravelines event? Date?
Date: 8th of August 1588
Event: Drake got closer to the ships so they could inflict damage and over 600 spanish died and hundreds were injured which led to the Armada being blown by the wind to the North sea
What happened once the Armada got blown into the North sea?
They headed around Scotland and Ireland where dozens of ships were wrecked and thousands of soldiers died because of the weather and lack of resources
What was the original plan of the Armada for the Spanish?
To take their 130 ships with 17000 men (soliders, servants and priests) from Lisbon to Calais by the Duke of Medina Sedonia.
Where the Duke of Parma marches his 20000 men from the Netherlands onto the ships to be shipped to Kent and march into London to overthrow Elizabeth.
Why did the tactics lead to failure of the Spanish Armada?
> Lord Howard used the fire ship tactic to break up the Spanish’s tight formation
English kept their distance meaning the Spanish couldnt surround and board ships
Drake and Howard placed the ships at Plymouth rather than in the narrow channel so they could follow the Armada from behind
Why did the ship designs lead to failure of the Spanish Armada?
> English had developed “race ships” and had built 25 by 1588. These were lower in water and these sleek ships were faster and more maneuverable
English were specialized in combining heavy guns and sea while the Spanish were experts in deep sea navigation which did not help in the shallow waters of the channel
Spanish galleons were heavy as the Armada fleet was not an attacking force so it was slow and had to protect the non fighting ships in the middle
english guns were designed to be reloaded quickly and fire continously
Why did the leadership lead to failure of the Spanish Armada?
> Francis Drake was the vice admiral of the navy and had many years of experience of privateering against the Spanish
The Duke of Medina Sidonia was under strict orders from Philip to meet Parma and therefore could not improvise and he had no naval background
Why did the weather lead to failure of the Spanish Armada?
> When the Spanish fleet were forced out to sea at Calais the wind made it impossible for them to get back into a crescent shape
Battle of Gravelines was fought in very bad weather with bad visibility and rough seas where 1000 Spanish sailors died and only 50 English sailors died
Consequences for the English Victory?
> The defeat of the Armada brought England together and strengthened the sense that England was living through a ‘golden age’.
It proved that England was a major naval power.
secured protestant rule in England
