The Spanish Armada
by: Austin Hartman
Was the Spanish Armada worth it for
Philip II ?
Key People
Philip II- King of Spain
Queen Elizabeth I- Queen of England
Sir Francis Drake- Loyal subject to Queen Elizabeth and huge hero from the
victory over Spain
Mary, Queen of Scots- ex wife of Philip II, Elizabeth half-sister
Medina Sidonia- General picked by Philip II to lead the Armada
Spain VS. England
Spain side - The Spanish Armada was armed with numerous amount of battle
utilities such as gunpowder, cannons, guns, swords, and many other weapons
to go to war. They had a fleet with over 130 ships and 22 galleons. The
spanish was looked at as impossible to beat with their crescent shape they
sailed in. The smaller but faster ships were on the the outsides while the
galleons, the much larger ships, were in the middle of the smaller ships.
Some of the smaller ships known as the zebras or patches would supply the
galleon with ammunition.
Spain VS. England
England’s side - England had an advantage by hearing
word Spain was coming so they took action. Unlike Spain,
they had the home advantage and was ready to defend it.
The best thing they had was when they needed supplies,
they didn't have to go far for them. That allowed England
to have more firepower.
Reasoning for attack
There were multiple reasons why Spain wanted to overthrow England. Spain
controlled the Spanish Netherlands at this time, which is now modern day
Holland and Belgium. Holland wanted their independence due to them not
wanting to be forced to be made Catholic. They were Protestants so they had
to secretly practice it. Eventually, Spain investigated with spies and they
would capture and kill the violators called Inquisition. England would help the
Protestants and that angered Philip II. He wanted to put a stop to this so he
sent spanish soldiers or sea dogs to the English Channel to have a easy
passage way from Spain to the Spanish Netherlands. Since Philip was married
to Mary, she said he would inherit the throne after her death.
Problems for the Armada
● Drake attacked Cadiz harbour and destroyed some of the ships in the
fleet.
● the Armada’s barrels of their food and water became rotten and it went
to waste.
● the Armada was supposed to pick up soldiers at the Spanish Netherlands
but were cut off by the English.
● After A successful general named Medina Sidonia was sent off to lead the
fleet. the only problem was he had never been to sea and he got seasick.
● They sailed off in April but had to return due to multiple ships being
destroyed by a horrible storm.
Sir Francis Drake
A loyal subject to Queen Elizabeth I, He was a hero to the people of England.
He is famous for leading England into victory over the Spanish Armada and
the attacks on the Spanish ports( he signed the King’s beard). Before the
war, he was a Protestant that sailed around the world. The Matthew
Mcconaughey of this time.
Timeline
1586- Philip II was creating a battle plan and he also at this time was
appointed successor to England after Mary died.
April-June- Sir Francis Drake attacked the harbor of Spains and captured and
destroyed supplies and ships.
June 19- The Spanish went to attack but were stopped by storms.
August 9- More winds and storms pulled the Spanish back and delayed them.
August 12- The English told the Armada to retreat and surrender.
September 11- October 14- Surviving ships of Spain returned to Spain after
the horrible storms, wrecking majority of their fleet.
Summary
Spain was angry at the English for helping Protestants in Spain behind their
backs so Philip II ordered an invasion on England called the Spanish Armada.
Before they could even get to England, they had variety of problems that
backfired on them. When they finally reached England, they looked tough to
beat with their shape they sailed in but when the Armada went to pick up
soldiers from the Netherlands, the English attacked them.Many battles
occurred but in the end, Spain lost more than they came with and suffered
the most. It was a solid victory for the English and made Sir Francis Drake
even more famous than he was before.
Deaths on both sides
● The spanish side had more losses than England. over
20,000 spanish soldiers and sailors were killed. That is
a loss rate of nearly 50%. Only 67 out of 130 ships
returned back to Spain.
● Englands side did not really take much of a loss. They
did not lose a single ship and only 100 men were killed
in battle but over 7,000 English sailors died from
disease (mostly dysentery and typhus) during the war.
The Power of Poseidon
●
The Spanish Armada had the worse luck with the sea.
Almost every time they tried to attack, the storms
would delay them or wipe them out. The sea life for
the Spanish was not the most pleasant time.
Work Cited
●
“ The Spanish Armada”.
HistoryLearningSite.co.uk.2014.Web
●
Lee, Robert E. "The Spanish Armada Overview I."
Introduction to Geography 100. Green River Seattle
Central Community Colleges. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
<http://staff.washington.edu/rel2/geog100-UW/Scena
rios/The_Spanish_Armada_Overview_I.html>.
●
"The Spanish Armada : Sir Francis Drake." The Spanish Armada : Sir Francis Drake. Chalfont
Web Design, 1 Jan. 2002. Web. 12 Nov. 2014. <http://www.britishbattles.com/spanishwar/spanish-armada.htm>.