Anglo-Spanish War (1585-1604) (Continuation) March of the Invincible Armada
Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2024 1:20 pm
The appointed commander of the naval forces of the Armada was the highly experienced Marquis of Santa Cruz while Alexander Farnese would be in command of the invasion forces. Unfortunately, Santa Cruz died in February 1588 and the Duke of Medina Sidonia, a high-born courtier, took his place. While a competent soldier and distinguished administrator, Medina Sidonia had no naval experience.
Before going on the offensive, de Guzman, in a letter to the king, expressed concern about the upcoming operation: according to him, the Spanish forces “were by no means superior to the enemy.” In addition, the Armada began to be plagued by setbacks: strong headwinds, mass poisoning of crews, and a storm that damaged some of the ships. However, Philip was sure that in this way the Lord was testing the strength of his faith. He forced the admiral to continue sailing.
On 21 July 1588, the Armada set sail from Lisbon and headed for the English Channel.
The Armada was delayed by bad weather. Storms in the Bay of Biscay along the Galician coast forced four galleys and one galleon to turn back, and other ships had to put in to A Coruña for repairs, leaving 137 ships that sailed for the English Channel.
But the main misfortunes awaited the Spaniards ahead. Instead of quickly attacking the enemy ships while they were at anchor, the Armada missed the attack from Francis Drake's flotilla, which captured two Spanish galleons on the move. De Guzman did not have time to regroup - the English ships repeated their attacking maneuver, forcing the Spaniards to retreat to the French shores.
In the middle of the night of 7–8 August, the English set alight eight fireships, sacrificing warships by filling them with pitch, brimstone, gunpowder and tar, and cast them downwind among the closely anchored vessels of the Armada. The Spanish feared that these uncommonly large fireships were "hellburners", specialised fireships filled with large gunpowder charges that had been used to deadly effect at the Siege of Antwerp. Three were intercepted by pataches and towed away, but the remainder bore down on the fleet. Medina Sidonia's flagship and the principal warships held their positions, but the rest of the fleet cut their anchor cables and scattered in confusion. No Spanish ships were burnt, but the crescent formation had been broken, and the fleet found itself too far leeward of Calais in the rising southwesterly wind to recover its position. The English closed in for battle.
The first stamp depicts a portrait of Alonso de Guzman against the background of a fragment of a painting by an unknown artist: “The Invincible Armada on the March”
The second stamp depicts a painting by Philip James de Loutherbourg: “The Defeat of the Spanish Armada,” (the attack of the fireships on the night of August 8, 1588.
See also: viewtopic.php? F = 2 & t = 10049.
Kuban 2020;25.0r; 25.0r.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Armada.
https://dzen.ru/a/XRYT7-DL8gCt0W_a.
Before going on the offensive, de Guzman, in a letter to the king, expressed concern about the upcoming operation: according to him, the Spanish forces “were by no means superior to the enemy.” In addition, the Armada began to be plagued by setbacks: strong headwinds, mass poisoning of crews, and a storm that damaged some of the ships. However, Philip was sure that in this way the Lord was testing the strength of his faith. He forced the admiral to continue sailing.
On 21 July 1588, the Armada set sail from Lisbon and headed for the English Channel.
The Armada was delayed by bad weather. Storms in the Bay of Biscay along the Galician coast forced four galleys and one galleon to turn back, and other ships had to put in to A Coruña for repairs, leaving 137 ships that sailed for the English Channel.
But the main misfortunes awaited the Spaniards ahead. Instead of quickly attacking the enemy ships while they were at anchor, the Armada missed the attack from Francis Drake's flotilla, which captured two Spanish galleons on the move. De Guzman did not have time to regroup - the English ships repeated their attacking maneuver, forcing the Spaniards to retreat to the French shores.
In the middle of the night of 7–8 August, the English set alight eight fireships, sacrificing warships by filling them with pitch, brimstone, gunpowder and tar, and cast them downwind among the closely anchored vessels of the Armada. The Spanish feared that these uncommonly large fireships were "hellburners", specialised fireships filled with large gunpowder charges that had been used to deadly effect at the Siege of Antwerp. Three were intercepted by pataches and towed away, but the remainder bore down on the fleet. Medina Sidonia's flagship and the principal warships held their positions, but the rest of the fleet cut their anchor cables and scattered in confusion. No Spanish ships were burnt, but the crescent formation had been broken, and the fleet found itself too far leeward of Calais in the rising southwesterly wind to recover its position. The English closed in for battle.
The first stamp depicts a portrait of Alonso de Guzman against the background of a fragment of a painting by an unknown artist: “The Invincible Armada on the March”
The second stamp depicts a painting by Philip James de Loutherbourg: “The Defeat of the Spanish Armada,” (the attack of the fireships on the night of August 8, 1588.
See also: viewtopic.php? F = 2 & t = 10049.
Kuban 2020;25.0r; 25.0r.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Armada.
https://dzen.ru/a/XRYT7-DL8gCt0W_a.