The Fall of The Spanish Armada - Research Paper Example

The Fall of The Spanish Armada When Queen Elizabeth I took over the English throne around 1558, the nation was weak and disoriented. There were many factions that disapproved of the ruling empire, and few friends outside the boundaries. Among the close allies was Spain, a superpower at the time under King Philip II. The Spanish king had close ties with the English throne by marriage to Queen Elizabeth I sister, Mary. Mary’s death was a blow to the Spanish king. He decided to propose to Elizabeth to savor the ties with England, but Elizabeth turned the offer down. Elizabeth was very ambitious and followed her father’s religion, protestant. In her rule, she declared the English religion as the Church of England, and not Catholicism. This upset the Spanish king who hated Protestants. This was the beginning of their differences. In her first thirty years of reign, Queen Elizabeth I of England made sure that peace prevailed in the country. Trade and commerce was thriving and the England ships were encompassing the territory, further across to the West Indies. This expansion of commerce became a source of conflict with Spain and Portugal. The two super powers, Spain and Portugal, were the rulers of the New World. They were practicing trade monopoly and the invasion of English traders was positively welcomed. The traders from England broke through the barriers establishment set up by Spanish and Portuguese army, and went to sell the black seized from Africa, making enormous profits. On their way back to England, the traders, notably Sir Francis Drake and John Hawkins, would attack the Spanish ships and steal their gold (Arthur). Queen Elizabeth was aiding the traders with ships and finances, and had a share from the profits and the stolen treasure from the Spaniards. The pirates from England went on with their attacks on ships from and to Spain. Some of the Spanish shipments were carrying supplies to countries opposing Protestantism, while others were bound to Spain, carrying treasures and slaves for Spain. The Spanish ports in South America and Caribbean also suffered attacks. Elizabeth was said to share part of the loot, but the worst thing was that she used part of the loot to enforce Protestant movements in Europe that were against the Spanish Catholicism Empire. These actions from England deteriorated the relations between the two nations, but Philip did not want to attack Elizabeth directly. The Rodolfi Conspiracy of 1571 gave King Philip a chance to go against Queen Elizabeth. The conspiracy was set to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I and empower her Protestant cousin, Mary Queen of Scots. The relation between England and Spain suffered greatly due to both parties. Elizabeth was giving a safe haven for the Dutch individuals who were harassing Spanish ships. Around 1570, the famous pirate and soldier, Francis drake, sailed around the globe destroying Spanish colonies and their shipments (Mattingly 47). To counter this move, the Philip conquered Portugal and strengthened his military powers. Elizabeth offered an asylum for the overthrown Portuguese leader Don Antonio, and gave him authority to lead harassment of the Spanish ships by the English army. In the quest of seeking ally nations against Spain, Elizabeth started negotiations with France. In response to an attempt by the French forces to fight the Spanish navy off Terceira, the Spanish navy destroyed the French forces easily, fatally injuring most of the soldiers. Spain had regained confidence in its naval superiority. In 1584, there was an attempt on the life of Elizabeth. She ordered a serious campaign aimed against the Spanish ships and the Caribbean holdings, placing Frobisher and Drake as the leaders. In the year that followed, the queen ordered close to five thousand soldiers ruled by the earl of Leicester to shore up after their leader, William of Orange, died. In addition to these acts, the queen ordered the execution of Mary, her protestant rival in February 1587. The Spanish King at the time, King Philip II, made a decision to put an end to the attacks by the English traders by invading England. The marquis of Santa Cruz was delegated with the initial plan of the Armada. He was Spain’s veteran and accomplished captain in the battles of Terceira and Lepanto. His initial plan incorporated 510 warships and more than 95,000 men for the invasion plan. When the proposal reached Philip, he scaled down the number of warships to 310 and set the main objective of the fleet as securing the English Channel and joining force with the duke of Parma in invading England (Konstam 42). Parma had been waging war against the English Protestants. With the Armada fleet raging towards the English Channel and Parma leading the invasion, England had slim chances of surviving the invasion. Fortunate, or unfortunately for Spain, England did not wait for the complete formation of the Armada fleet. Led by Drake, a fleet of twenty-three English warships sailed towards Spain with a mission to strike in April 1587. Drake proceeded with the attack with haste before the queen could recall the fleet. Elizabeth was not willing to attack Spain, and was still undecided even after sending the Drake led fleet. On his way to Cadiz, a Spanish port, Drake and his fleet had damaged a significant amount of Spanish ships and stolen enough Spanish supplies to push them to Lisbon. By 10 May the same year, the English fleet had unleashed terror to the Spanish ships at Cascaes Bay destroying twenty-four of them (Mattingly 215). Drake sailed the fleet further to Cape St. Vincent attacking the Portuguese base and destroying the Spanish barrel supply that were very essential for the planned invasion of England. Drake was ruthless and determined to cause more damages to Spain, and the only problem he encountered was the need of reinforcement. Drake and the fleet had to return to England. On his way back, he further destroyed Azores and conquered San Felipe, which proved useful with the information on the Portuguese-Spanish and India trade. In fact, the information obtained from San Felipe was the foundation of the British East India Company. Nevertheless, the Armada fleet was still under assembly. The preparation for the invasion took several years, as King Philip II assembled a fleet of his best and largest naval warships, called Armada in Spanish. The initial plan to invade England had been delayed by unfavorable weather until 1588 (Konstam 59). The Spanish ships had a new design that were smaller than the galleons but were heavily armed and faster in sailing. In July 19, the Armada was sighted in St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall. Consequently, the news of its arrival was conveyed to London through a system of beacons that connected to the south coast. Unfortunately, the English fleet was at Plymouth harbor, trapped by the incoming tides. The Spaniards in the Armada had a meeting and decided to attack the English ships at the anchor and proceed to attack England. In contrary to the plan, the Duke of Medina Sidonia sailed past the anchor heading towards the Isle of Wight. Fifty-five English ships were on the trail of the Spanish fleet from Plymouth, under the command of Lord of Howard of Effingham, and Sir Francis Drake in second command. The rear commander was Sir John Hawkins. England was now in war with Spain. A fleet of forty English and Dutch ships was ordered to lie in the coast of Flanders to prevent the planned junction between the Armada and the Duke of Parma. The fleet was under the command of Justin of Nassau. The queen of England informed the nation of the possible war with Spain. The Armada anchored in a defensive crescent format near Dunkirk at Calais, where they were expecting to join forces with Parma’s army. The army with the duke of Parma had been significantly reduced due to disease to around 16,000. The communication between the two Spanish armies was difficult. Medina Sidonia was waiting at the anchor, but the planned enforcement with Parma’s army would probably take six days minimum. In Calais, the Spanish had the freedom to anchor offshore and purchase fresh vegetables and other supplies, as the governor at Calais was a Catholic sympathizer. The Dutch and the English ships were approaching in pursuit of the Armada at the anchor, but Medina Sidonia declined to attack preserving the ships for his protection. The Dutch and English warships were waiting for the Parma’s navy to attack, off Dunkerque (Konstam 135). The armada could not sail any closer to meet Parma’s men as the Dutch had removed all the navigation buoys and markers from the sandbanks along the Fleming coast. The night was disastrous for the Spanish fleet. The English fleet took advantage of the night to attack the Armada by loading eight regular warships with brimstone, gunpowder, and pitch, and casting them towards the Spanish fleet. The Spanish fleet was in panic, believing that the ships were the hell-burners, which had proved to be very effective in the Siege of Antwerp. Nevertheless, the Spaniards intercepted two of the boats but the others proceeded. None of the Spanish ships was damaged, but some of the sips broke the crescent formation. The principal warships and the Medina Sidonia flagship held their position but the other ships scattered randomly in confusion. This made the Armada fleet vulnerable and gave the English army a chance to attack. Eventually, the fleet was far off the leeward side of the Calais prone to the rising winds of Southwestern. The English had been observing the Spanish army since the confrontation at the English Channel and had learnt their weaknesses and strengths. They were only to advance within a hundred meters of the Armada to penetrate through the fleet. The Spanish army had good training with ground battle, a fact that the English army acknowledged as their strength. In addition, the Spanish heavy cannons were most effective within short range. With this in mind, the English naval force (reinforced with men from the Eastern Squadron and fresh supply of ammunition) waged an attack on the Armada for the first time. The English modern tactics incorporated use of long-range ship-guns. In contrast, the Spaniards were following the early tactics of firing at close range once, boarding the enemy ship, and proceeding to fight the enemy crew with weapons that spread fire in the ship. The Spaniards gun crew did not have the skills of reloading the guns once they fired, and they had little chance of trying the same in the battle. Their ships had model that allowed them to carry large cargo for storage of supplies for long sailing trips plus other necessary equipments for land once the sailors reached their destiny (Mattingly 165). This made them slow. The English ships had great maneuvering capability that helped the English navy defend their coastal waters. The gun crew had great skills in reloading the cannons, mounted on truck making the reloading process possible onboard. They provoked the Spanish naval forces but stayed out of the one hundred meter range, firing repeatedly to the Spanish Armada and damaging their broadsides. The English fleet ensured that they maintained a windward position to avoid damages below the waterline. The battle, ranging for a day, saw the destruction of five Spanish ships from the Armada. Howard wrecked San Lorenzo, a galleon in the fleet, at Calais after serious fighting between the Spaniards and their slaves, and the Dutch and the English navy and army. The latter took possession of the galleon wreck. Several others sank in Island of Walcheren and Blankenberge, foundering and being captured by the Dutch. The larger part of the Spanish Armada was seriously damaged, most notably the Spanish-Portuguese galleons, which fought individually against the English fleets. The Armada was desperate. The fleet could not join with Parma as the Dutch had them off by a blockade. They were running out of ammunition. Nevertheless, they still were a threat to England as the fleet was still significantly big, around one hundred warships. During the offensive at the Channel, the Spanish army had used most of their ammunition harassing the English ships. Medina Sidonia and the Armada fleet were cornered. The fleet could not join forces with Parma as the Dutch small fleet had formed a blockade, and neither could they fight back as the English fleet was more armed and had relatively many soldiers. The Armada, under the leadership of Median Sidonia, sailed back to the homeward in retreat. The only hope the Spanish fleet had of conquering England successfully was reinforcing the army with Catholic who might have risen against Queen Elizabeth rule in Scotland. Despite this possibility, Median Sidonia’s order was to sail back homewards, even with inadequate supplies for the fleet. The defeated fleet, or what remained of the great Armada, sailed around Scotland into the North Atlantic. Most of the ships had severely damages and displayed signs of wear from the long voyage. The voyage proved to be disastrous as the Gulf stream moved them north and east instead of west, a situation that was made worse by the fact that most of the ships had cut off their anchors at Calais while escaping the English fire ships. The result was that many sailors and ships were lost to the stormy weather than in the actual combat with the English and Dutch forces. At the end of the voyage back home, only 67 ships and around ten thousand men survived the invasion plan. Even so, most of the men suffered from diseases contracted during the trip and died in Spanish hospitals and other inside Spain. The defeat of the Spanish Armada was the beginning of the Spanish Empire downfall since its establishment by Columbus. The Dutch became independent and the protestant movements grew throughout Europe. England began its quest to greatness with the capability of their naval forces. The English navy had the chance to explore and venture into the world (Frounde 572). English explorers had the freedom to move around establishing colonies, with a great interest in North America. Ultimately, England became dominant in the social, political, and religious lifestyles of North America, while the South and Central America. The conflict between the two nations also established a base for the English trade with India. If the Armada and Parma joined forces, England would not have had the power to fight the Spanish army, as they did not posses the military capability to do so. Protestantism would have been under threat. Again, the rise of England as a powerhouse would have been delayed significantly, with the Spanish empire stretching possibly over North America (Frounde 510). The fall of the Armada resulted in reinforcement of English nationalism and establishment of Protestantism as the nation’s religion. Work cited Frounde, James Anthony. History of England - From the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada - Vol I: Henry the Eighth. Mumbai: Thompson Press, 2007. Print. Konstam, Angus. The Spanish Armada: The Great EnterPrise Against England 1588. New York: Osprey Publishing, 2009. Print. Mattingly, Garrett. The Defeat of the Spanish Armada. New York: Random House, 2005. Print. R. Arthur. The Defeat of the Spanish Armada. Retrieved on November 22, 2011, from http://historytemple.blogspot.com/2009/05/defeat-of-spanish-armada.html Read More