The battle

The battle

The Armada left Lisbon on May 30, 1588 (May 20 according to the calendar then used in England). It entered the English Channel on July 30 (July 20) and fought long-range gun duels with English warships during the next few days. On August 6 (July 27), it anchored at Calais, France. Medina Sidonia had planned to meet barges carrying Spanish troops from nearby Dunkerque, a port then in the Netherlands. But Dutch gunboats prevented the barges from meeting the Armada. This act doomed the Armada to failure.

In the early hours of August 8 (July 29), the English sent eight fire ships (vessels filled with gunpowder and set on fire) toward the Armada. The Spanish ships sailed out to sea to escape the flames. Later that morning, about 60 English ships attacked an equal number of Spanish ships off the French port of Gravelines. The English sank two Spanish ships and damaged others.

The crippled Armada fled to the North Sea. It returned to Spain by sailing north around the British Isles. Heavy winds wrecked many ships off Ireland's coast, and only 67 reached Spain.

Excerpt adapted from the "Spanish Armada" article, The World Book Encyclopedia © 1999