The Spanish Armada How does a so called “invincible” navy fail to destroy the inferior British Navy? The Spanish Armada was said to be the “invincible” navy that fell in the late 1500s. They were called invincible because of their ocean experience due to exploration, which ironically a newer smaller British military defeated. Philip II, King of Spain and controller of much land was behind the Armada while Queen Elizabeth, Queen of England was the one who had angered Philip II. The old ways of the Armada was why they were so easily defeated. From June to September, 1588, war raged between the Spanish and British navies. Most of the action took place in the English Channel, and areas close to Scotland and Ireland were being battled upon as well. At this time in the sixteenth century, new military tactics were being introduced. The British capitalized on using them, but the old and mighty Spanish Armada was using their old faithful yet outdated tactics. The Spanish used their traditional style ships rather than the smaller, nimbler ships of the British.
The battle took place on the …show more content…
Some ships had less than ten while others had almost fifty guns. 8,766 sailors manned the ships with 21,566 soldiers ready for battle. While some ships used only sails as power others were powered by rowing or by a combination of both. There were over two thousand rowers. The fleet expected help from the Netherlands, but unfortunately, they never showed up to help.
The main ships the Spanish used were tall and wide and called galleons. Unfortunately, the ships were very hard to maneuver and their weapons were poorly built. The cannon balls and ammunition were poorly cast and caused trouble with the cannons. The Armada sailed in a crescent shape and stopped many times to gather more soldiers. Their tactic was to sail close to the enemy ships, grapple on and board the ships to capture the