Spanish Armada Research Paper

The Spanish Armada was a Spanish fleet of 130 ships ships that set sail from Spain in July 1588. All of these ships were under the command of King Philip of Spain. Philips intention was to overthrow Queen Elizabeth and restoring Catholic rule in England. I will be writing about the main five points about why the Armada failed including detailed examples and evidence.

Here are a number of reasons why the Armada was defeated.

Firstly, the weather was very powerful with strong winds and bad rain. This forced many ships onto the rocks near Ireland as the ships were blown northwards. This meant that the Armada failed because the Spanish were not ready for this and this made them lose a lot of troops and ships. I also know that the weather was very bad because a lot of sources confirm this.

Secondly, the English ships were better as they were smaller allowing them to be fast and quick, this allowed the ships to make fast work of the Armada. Also, the English ships were hard to target and virtually impossible to board. This meant that the Spanish Armada failed because they were being mowed down by the English's small ships.

Thirdly, the Spanish Armada was not in formation making them easy targets for the English. This was because burning ships and bad weather forced the ships away from their desired formation (crescent formation).

For example, in July 29, the English sent eight burning ships into the crowded harbour at Calais. This was one of the main reasons behind why the Armada lost formation. This is because these ships completely disorganized the fleet and the formation was abandoned. When this happened, the English attacked with their cannons and the devastated Armada retreated north to Scotland. This meant that the Armada failed because their ships had been removed from Calais. It also means that the English have a dangerous weapon, sending burning ships towards the