spanish armarda

Question 1

Technology as a reason for Spanish armada being defeated

Answer 1

• English use of fireships
• English had lighter and faster ships, with long range culverins
• Spanish had big, slow ships and short range guns

Question 2

Weather as a reason for Spanish Armada being defeated

Answer 2

• Delayed Spanish invasion
• Scatted their ships and broke their formation

Question 3

Location as a reason for Spanish armada being defeated

Answer 3

• English knowledge of seas around British isles better
• Narrowness of English channel

Question 4

Leadership as reason for Spanish Armada being defeated

Answer 4

• Elizabeth used excellent, trusted commanders
• Philips choice of commanders was poor
• Philip was inflexible with his plan

Question 5

Tactics as reason for Spanish Armada being defeated

Answer 5

• Spanish invasion poorly planned
• Spanish poorly prepared
• English used more effective tactics

Question 6

what were fireships and how were they effective? (Technology/tactics)

Answer 6

• 8 Old ships filled with tar and oil and set on fire
• Sent towards Spanish fleet while anchored at Calais, causing them to cut ropes and flee into the sea, breaking formation

Question 7

Why was ship design and weaponry effective? (technology)

Answer 7

• Fast, manoeuvrable English ships meant Spanish couldn’t get close, and use their short range guns before boarding
• English culverins could be reloaded quickly, whereas Spanish guns took up lots of space, and took a long time to reload

Question 8

How did weather delay the Spanish invasion?

Answer 8

Whilst they originally left Lisbon in May, they ran into storms, losing supplies and having to turn back for repairs

Question 9

Examples of winds hindering Spanish ships

Answer 9

-7th august- vital for fireships to work
- 8th august- battle of Gravelines- English had wind and currents in their favour
- Winds forced Spanish to retreat around British coast and onto rocks
-Winds on the way home drove many ships into rocks around Ireland- 65 of 151 ships returned to Spain

Question 10

Examples of expert commanders use by Elizabeth

Answer 10

• Francis Drake, Lord Howard, Hawkins and Frobisher
• Drake and Howard were experts at hit and run tactics

Question 11

Examples of Philip II’s poor leadership

Answer 11

• Appointed Medina Sidonia, who had no naval experience
• Inflexible plans- didnt listen to advice as he didn’t understand difficulty of coordinating Parma’s army in Netherlands and his Armada

Question 12

Examples of Spanish poor preparation

Answer 12

• planned to invade England with Parma’s army, however never managed to join the two as couldn’t reach Netherlands
• Armada has 151 ships, Elizabeth managed to have 200 ships ready for use by using privateers and trading companies