The Armada Set Sail - And Almost Immediately Things Began to Go Wrong

The Armada Set Sail - And Almost Immediately Things Began to Go Wrong

By the spring of 1588, England knew that an invasion was coming. Across the sea, Philip II of Spain had assembled one of the largest fleets Europe had seen.

The plan was complicated. The Armada was to sail through the English Channel, link up with the Duke of Parma’s army in the Low Countries and help secure its crossing to England.

In May 1588, the fleet began leaving Lisbon.

Around 130 ships carried thousands of sailors and soldiers under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, but the voyage did not begin smoothly.

Bad weather and other difficulties disrupted the fleet, and the Armada was forced to put into Corunna before continuing. The stop gave the fleet time to regroup and refresh its water supplies before attempting the voyage again.

Eventually, the Armada sailed again and entered the English Channel in July.

On the 19th of July, using the English calendar then in use, it was sighted near the Lizard, off the coast of Cornwall.

Tradition says that Francis Drake was playing bowls on Plymouth Hoe when news arrived and insisted there was still time to finish the game before taking to sea.

It is a wonderful story, although exactly what happened is uncertain.

The English fleet began working its way out of Plymouth. Once at sea, Howard and his commanders manoeuvred to gain the windward position before beginning their pursuit of the Armada up the Channel.

The Spanish ships sailed in their famous crescent-shaped formation, with stronger vessels helping to protect the rest of the fleet. It was designed to make it difficult for the English to break through and attack the more vulnerable ships.

The English, however, did not want to fight the kind of battle the Spanish expected. They used their manoeuvrability and their position to windward to attack with gunfire while avoiding, where possible, the close fighting and boarding actions that would favour the Spanish.

There were several clashes as the Armada moved eastwards, but the English had not yet stopped it.

In fact, despite the fighting, Medina Sidonia eventually reached Calais with much of his fleet still intact.

Philip II’s invasion plan was still alive, but it depended on the Armada making contact with Parma and enabling his army to cross safely from the Low Countries.

Coordinating that crossing was proving far more difficult than Philip’s plan had allowed for.

Next: The English Attacked the Armada - But They Still Hadn’t Stopped the Invasion.

Had you been standing on the English coast watching that huge fleet approaching, would you have believed England could stop it?

Image: English Ships and the Spanish Armada, August 1588, anonymous English School, 16th century. Royal Museums Greenwich. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.