On This Day In History: British Fleet Attacked The Spanish ‘Invincible Armada’ – On July 21, 1588

MessageToEagle.com – On July 21, 1588, “Invincible Armada” of Spain was defeated by an English Naval Force under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake.

This impressive Spanish naval force consisted of 20,000 soldiers and 10,000 more support personnel, arrayed over 130 ships with 2,500 cannons.

In the late 1580s, English raids against Spanish commerce troubled Spain and the Dutch rebels in the Spanish Netherlands supported by Queen Elizabeth I was yet another reason that King Philip II of Spain began to plan the conquest of England.The plans of Catholic Spain were blessed by Pope Sixtus V.

In May, the ships set sail to conquer England but the Armada did not reach the southern coast of England until July 19 due to severe storms that delayed the departure of the ships. By that time, the British knew about the advance of the Spanish long before they approached the Channel and they were ready.

The first salvos were fired by longer-range British cannons at the approaching Spanish Armada.

On July 21, the English navy began bombarding the seven-mile-long line of Spanish ships from a safe distance, taking full advantage of their long-range heavy guns.

While the Spanish fleet was docked in Calais, France, the British sent small “hell-burner” boats set on fire to ram the Spanish ships, which were loaded with highly explosive ammunition.

The Spanish Armada continued to advance during the next few days, but its force was thinned by the English assault and mass confusion in the Spanish lines, which gave Britain all the advantage they expected to get.

Seeing further attacks on the English coast impossible, Spain had no choice but to turn back to Spain around Scotland and Ireland.

Approximately 15,000 men had perished and only half of the ships of the “Invincible Armada” that left Spain in May ever returned.

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