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Lisbon, after many delays, and sailed on the loth of May 1588. Its nominal strength was 132 vessels, of 59,190 tons, carrying 21,621 soldiers and 8o66 sailors. But from a third to a See also:

HALF

half of the vessels were transports, galleys or very small boats, and some of them never reached the Channel. The effective force was far below the See also:

paper strength. On the loth of See also:

JUNE

June, when the Armada had rounded Cape Finisterre, it was scattered by squalls. Some of the vessels went on to the appointed See also:

RENDEZVOUS

rendezvous at the Scilly Isles, but the See also:

MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

majority anchored on the See also:

north See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast of Spain. Medina Sidonia, who found many defects in his fleet, did not finally See also:

SAIL

sail till the 12th of See also:

JULY

July. On the See also:

ENGLISH

English See also:

side all the royal See also:

NAVY

navy, and such armed See also:

MERCHANT (O. Fr. marcheant, modern marchand; from Lat. mercari, to trade, merx, goods, merchandise)

merchant See also:

SHIPS

ships as could be obtained from the ports, had been collected under the command of the See also:

lord high See also:

ADMIRAL

admiral See also:

Howard of Effingham, who had with him See also:

Hawkins, See also:

Drake and See also:

FROBISHER, SIR MARTIN (c. 1535—1594)

Frobisher as subordinate admirals.

The number of vessels is put at 197, but the majority were very small. It is impossible to See also:

state with confidence what were the relative See also:

numbers of guns carried by the two fleets. The Spaniards had more pieces, but their gunnery was inferior. The English fleet carried 16,000 or 17,000 men, of whom the large majority were sailors. About too of their ships were at See also:

Plymouth with the lord high admiral. The others were in the See also:

DOWNS

Downs with Lord See also:

Henry See also:

Seymour and See also:

Sir See also:

William See also:

Winter, to co-operate with a Dutch See also:

SQUADRON

squadron under Justinus of See also:

NASSAU

Nassau in blockading the Flemish ports, then occupied by the Spanish See also:

army of the duke of See also:

PARMA

Parma. The See also:

OBJECT

object was to prevent the proposed junction of the forces of Medina Sidonia and Parma. On the loth of July the Armada was seen off the See also:

LIZARD (Lat. lacertal)

Lizard. It sailed past Plymouth, and was followed by the English fleet. The Spaniards, who were heavy sailers, and were hampered by the transports, were much harassed by the more active English, and were defeated in all their attempts to See also:

BOARD (O. Eng. bord)

board, which it was their wish to do in order to make use of their See also:

SUPERIOR

superior numbers of men. The See also:

FLAGSHIP

flagship of the squadron of Andalucia, " Nuestra Senora del See also:

ROSARIO

Rosario," commanded by Don Pedro de See also:

VALDES, JUAN DE (c. 1500-1541)

Valdes, was crippled, See also:

fell behind and had to surrender. On the 25th of July, when the fleets were near the Isle of See also:

WIGHT, ISLE OF

Wight, a shift of the See also:

wind offered the Spaniards a See also:

CHANCE (through the O. Fr. cheance, from the Late Lat. cadentia, things happening, from cadere, to fall out, happen; cf. " case ")

chance of bringing on a See also:

close See also:

ACTION

action, but it soots changed again.

The English fleet, of which See also:

PART

part had been in some danger, escaped uninjured, and the Spaniards stood on. They anchored on the 26th of July at See also:

CALAIS

Calais. The duke of Medina Sidonia now sent an officer to Parma, calling on him to come to See also:

sea and join in a landing on the See also:

SHORE

shore of England. But Parma could not leave See also:

PORT

port in See also:

FACE (from Lat. fades, derived either from facere, to make, or from a root fa-, meaning " appear "; cf. Gr. cbatvstv)

face of Justinus of Nassau's squadron. While these messages were going and coming, Lord Howard had been joined by Lord Henry Seymour and Sir William Winter from the Downs. A See also:

COUNCIL (Lat. concilium, from cum, together, and the root cal, to call)

council of See also:

war was held, to decide on the See also:

MEASURES

measures to be taken to assail the Spaniards at Calais. The course taken was to send fireships among them. On the See also:

NIGHT

night of the 28th of July the fireships were sent in, and produced an utter panic in the Armada. Most of the Spanish vessels slipped their cables and ran to sea. Others weighed See also:

ANCHOR (from the Greek ayrcvpa, which Vossius considers is from 6yi17 , a crook or hook)

anchor, and escaped in a more orderly style. One great See also:

VESSEL (O. Fr. vaissel, from a rare Lat. vascellum, dim. of vas, vase, urn)

vessel ran ashore and was taken See also:

possession of by the English, who were however compelled to give her up by the See also:

French See also:

GOVERNOR (from the Fr. gouverneur, from gouverner, O. Fr. governer, Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, to direct, guide)

governor of Calais. On the 29th of July the scattered Spaniards, who were quite unable to restore order, were attacked by the English off See also:

GRAVELINES (Flem. Gravelinghe)

Gravelines.

The engagement was hot, and, though the English did not succeed in taking any of the Spaniards, they destroyed some of them, and their superiority in sailing force and gunnery was now so obvious that the duke of Medina Sidonia lost See also:

heart. His large vessels wereindeed so helpless that only a timely shift of the wind saved many of them from drifting on to the See also:

banks of See also:

FLANDERS (Flem. Vlaanderen)

Flanders. See also:

OFFICERS

Officers and men alike were completely discouraged. It was now recognized that an invasion of England could not be carried out in face of the more active English fleet and the proved impossibility of bringing about the proposed See also:

union with Parma's army. Suggestions were made that the Armada should sail to See also:

HAMBURG

Hamburg, refit there, and renew the attack. But by this See also:

time the Spanish force was incapable of energetic action. Medina Sidonia and his council could think of nothing but of a return to Spain. As the wind was See also:

WESTERLY

westerly, and the English fleet barred the way, it was impossible to sail down the Channel. The only alternative was to take the route between the north of See also:

Scotland and See also:

Norway. So the Armada sailed to the north. Lord Howard followed, after detaching Lord Henry Seymour to remain in the Downs. He watched the Spaniards to the See also:

Firth of Forth.

The English had at that time little knowledge of the seas beyond the Firth, and they were beginning to run See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short of See also:

food and See also:

AMMUNITION

ammunition. On the 2nd of See also:

AUGUST (originally Sextilis)

August, therefore, they gave up the pursuit. Medina Sidonia continued to the north, till his pilots told him that it was safe to turn to the See also:

west. Up to this time the loss of the Spaniards in ships had not been considerable. If the See also:

WEATHER (O. Eng. weder; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Du. weder, Dan. veir, Icel. ve8r, and Ger. Wetter and Gewitter, storm; the root is wa- to blow, from which is derived " wind ")

weather had been that of a normal summer, they would probably have reached See also:

home with no greater loss of men than was usually inflicted on all fleets of the See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age by See also:

SCURVY (Scorbutus)

scurvy and See also:

FEVER (Lat. febris, connected with fervere, to burn)

fever. But the summer of 1588 was marked by -a See also:

SUCCESSION (Lat. successio, from succedere, to follow after)

succession of See also:

GALES (mod. Calvi)

gales of unprecedented violence. The damaged and weakened Spanish ships, which were from the first greatly undermanned in sailors, were unable to contend with the storms. It is not possible to give the details of the disasters which overtook them. Nineteen of them are known to have been wrecked on the coasts of Scotland and See also:

Ireland. The crews who fell into the hands of the English officers in Ireland were put to the See also:

SWORD (0. Eng. sweord; ultimately from an Indo-European root meaning to wound)

sword. Many more of them disappeared at sea. Of the See also:

TOTAL

total number of the vessels originally collected for the invasion of England one-half, if not more, perished, and the crews of those which escaped were terribly diminished by scurvy and See also:

STARVATION

starvation.

The failure of the Armada was mainly due to its own interior weakness, and as a military operation the English victory was lessglorious than some other less renowned achievements of the See also:

BRITISH

British fleet. But the repulse of the great Spanish armament was an event of the first See also:

HISTORICAL

historical importance. It marked the final failure of King Philip II. of Spain to establish the supremacy of the See also:

HABSBURG, or HAPSBURG

Habsburg See also:

DYNASTY (Gr. &vvaareta, sovereignty, the position of a hevnori7r, lord, ruler, from SuvaaBay to be able, Suvaµas, power)

dynasty and of the See also:

Church of See also:

Rome, which he considered as being in a See also:

PECULIAR

peculiar sense his See also:

charge, in See also:

EUROPE

Europe. From that time forward no serious See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt to invade England was, or could be, made. It became therefore the unconquerable supporter of that part of Europe which had thrown off the authority of the See also:

pope.. The Armada had much of the See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character of a crusade. Though Philip II. had See also:

POLITICAL

political reasons for hostility to See also:

Queen See also:

Elizabeth, they were so intimately See also:

BOUND, or BOUNDARY (from O. Fr. bonde, Med. Lat. bodena or butina, a frontier line)

bound up with. the struggle between the See also:

Reformation and the See also:

COUNTER

Counter Reformation that the See also:

SECULAR (Lat. saecularis, of or belonging to an age or generation, saeculum)

secular and the religious elements of the conflict cannot be separated from one another. The struggle was therefore not one between armed forces in See also:

NATIONAL

national rivalry alone. It was a trial of- strength between two widely different conceptions of See also:

LIFE

life and of the state—between the See also:

MEDIEVAL

medieval and the See also:

MODERN

modern worlds. The See also:

VOLUNTEERS

volunteers of all ranks who came forward in large numbers on both sides were fighting for a religious cause as well as for the interests of their respective peoples.

End of Article: ARMADA, THE

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