1588 England. Invincible armada

THE DEATH OF THE "INVINCIBLE ARMADA"

The huge Spanish fleet, intended for the landing of numerous troops in England, was half destroyed by English ships and a storm. The British era began at sea.

Among historians, there are lovers of "alternative" history. “What would happen if…” they say. What would have happened if there had not been a volcanic explosion on the island of Santorini that destroyed the Cretan civilization? But what if the scientists of the Third Reich, working on the creation of an atomic bomb, did not go down the wrong path? Or here's another - if the storm had not swept away the huge Spanish fleet, already ready to fall on England! What would the English anthem sound like - "Rule, Britannia, the seas"?

But it wasn't just the storm. England was indeed ready to rule.

The 16th century is the maritime age. Europeans went far beyond the borders of their continent, reached America, circled Africa, began the division of the world. The leading role in the colonization at this time belonged to Spain. Relentless conquistadors destroyed entire states, Spanish ships dominated the oceans. For a long time their main rival at sea was Portugal, but in 1581 she submitted to her northern neighbor. Gold, spices, fabrics came to the Iberian Peninsula in an endless stream. But, perhaps, it was this flow that slowed down the development of the country. The largest power in the world remained exclusively agrarian, the old feudal order continued to operate in the country, the leading ideology was zealous, intolerant Catholicism. The power of Spain was based on the war, the brutal exploitation of subordinate countries - and, in addition to the colonies, the Spanish king also owned other possessions, such as the Netherlands.

In the second half of the XVI century. more and more actively announces its territorial claims and England. Unlike Spain, England was moving rapidly along the path of technical, political and social progress. Merchants, owners of manufactories increased their influence, cities grew. The English Church was not subordinate to Rome, the English monarch himself became its head.

The interests of the two powers in the 80s. 16th century encountered in several places. First, the Spanish king, the grim despot Philip II, claimed the English throne. Queen Elizabeth's predecessor, Mary I, was Philip's wife. Secondly, the Spanish king desired the return of Britain to the fold of Catholicism. Pope Gregory XIII (d. 1585) and his successor Sixtus V pushed him to this. And the English Catholic emigrants had repeatedly urged Philip to extend the Counter-Reformation to England. The Spanish king was infuriated that Elizabeth I pursued a tough policy towards English Catholics and was the spiritual head of Protestants throughout Europe. Thirdly, the king resented the help that Elizabeth gave to Philip's rebellious subjects in the Netherlands. (The events of that time in the Netherlands are familiar to anyone who has read The Legend of Ullenspiegel.) Finally, fourthly, the British constantly harassed the Spanish ships. With the permission and support of London, numerous pirate ships went out to sea, plundering Spanish transports, capturing warships, raiding the coast in the New World. Francis Drake was one of the most prominent privateers honored by the English crown. His trip around the world (by the way, the second in history after Magellan) pursued, not least, predatory goals. The Spaniards frightened their children with the name of a pirate; in their literature, he was allegorically depicted in the form of a dragon.

Thus, the inhabitant of the Escurial had every reason to carry out a large-scale operation to eliminate the Elizabethan regime. The decisive action of the king was prompted by the raids on Spanish ships and settlements in the Caribbean, carried out by Drake in 1585-1586. Finally, in February 1587, Mary Stuart, the Scottish queen, who also claimed the English throne (since 1567, her Protestant son James VI ruled in Scotland), was executed for participating in a conspiracy against Elizabeth, and Philip wanted to avenge her death. Preparations began for a grandiose military expedition to Britain.

To secure the planned campaign from interference from France, Philip tried to distract the then-ruling Henry III of Valois by supporting Guises, his rivals in the struggle for power. In financing the expedition, Philip relied on loans from Italian and German bankers, the usual income to the royal treasury, and also on the wealth collected in the American colonies. He collected from all the fleets (Mediterranean and Atlantic, Portuguese, as well as from the Allies) more than 130 large and medium ships (with a total displacement of more than 59,000 tons with 2630 guns on board) and 30 auxiliary. The squadron was called the "Invincible Armada" by the Spaniards. The ships housed 8,000 sailors and 19,000 soldiers, who were to be joined by the 30,000-strong army that fought in the Netherlands under the command of Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma. The squadron was first organized by one of the heroes of Lepanto, an experienced admiral don Alvaro de Basan, Marquis of Santa Cruz, but he did not live to see her sail. Alonso Pérez de Guzman, Duke of Medina Sidonia, a sensible man but little familiar with maritime affairs, was appointed to replace Santa Cruz. (Realizing his incompetence, he even tried to recuse himself, but to no avail.)

The British and Dutch had been aware of Philip's plans since 1586. In order to prevent the land army of Parma from joining the Spanish naval forces, the commander-in-chief of the English fleet, Lord Howard, Baron Effingham, sent small squadrons under the command of Winter and Seymour to patrol the coast along with the Dutch .

In 1587 the Anglo-Spanish war began. It went on for ten years.

In April of the first year of the war, Francis Drake made an amazing raid on the Spanish port of Cadiz, in the harbor of which he destroyed over 20 ships, as well as port equipment (in particular, fresh water tanks). Only 4 (!) Drake's ships participated in the raid: Bonaventure, Golden Lion, Fear Nothing and Rainbow. The Spaniards were forced to postpone the departure of the squadron. On the way back, Drake did not fail to attack the ships that were off the coast of Portugal, from where he brought a captured ship loaded with spices from India to England (it must be said that one such ship at that time could cover the cost of circumnavigating the world). Drake's raid delayed the departure of the Spanish fleet.

In the same year, in order to prepare a base on the Dutch coast, Farnese's troops besieged and on August 5 captured the port of Sluys, which was defended by the English garrison. In Flanders, small flat-bottomed ships were built, on which it was supposed to transfer troops to the ships of the Armada. A canal was dug from Sas van Ghent in Bruges and the Yperle fairway from Bruges to Newport was deepened so that ships approaching the shore would not fall under the fire of the Dutch fleet or the guns of the fortress of Vlissingen. From Spain, Italy, Germany and Burgundy, troops were transferred and volunteers flocked to take part in the expedition against England.

Farnese saw that the harbors of Dunkirk, Newport and Sluys at the disposal of the Spaniards were too shallow for the ships of the Armada to enter them. He proposed to capture the deeper port of Vlissingen before sending the fleet to the coast of England. However, Philip was in a hurry to establish himself in the British Isles as soon as possible.

The Armada left Lisbon on May 9, 1588. In addition to soldiers, sailors and rowers, there were 300 priests on board, ready to revive Catholic power in the British Isles. The storm drove the six squadrons that make up the Armada to A Coruña, from where, after repairs, the ships again went to sea only on July 22.

After much debate, the English commander, Howard, agreed to Drake's plan to take 54 of the best English ships out of Plymouth harbor and try to destroy the Spanish fleet before it went to sea. However, a change in the wind prevented this operation, and on July 29, 1588, the Armada appeared near the Isles of Scilly at the western tip of the Cornwall peninsula.

The first collision took place in view of Plymouth on 31 July. The Spaniards lost three ships here, and the British suffered almost no damage. On August 2, clashes continued to the east, in Lyme Bay near Cape Portland Bill. This time there were no ship losses, but both fleets used up a lot of ammunition. If the British could replenish their ammunition, then the Spaniards, who were far from their native shores, did not have such an opportunity.

The English ships were superior in maneuverability to the enemy ships, they were commanded by experienced admirals Drake, Howard, Hawkins, Frobisher. The Dutch ships, driven by experienced sailors, also came to the aid of the British. The absence of a mass of soldiers on the English ships made them vulnerable in boarding battles, but it gave them an advantage in ease of maneuver.

In battles, the English fleet also used the advantage of its artillery, not letting the Spaniards get closer than a cannon shot and thereby preventing them from boarding. The Spaniards had mostly high-sided ships, which caused the Spanish shells to miss their targets, while the British low ships hit the Spanish ships in the most important parts of the hull - near the waterline. For every shot of the Armada ship, the British answered with three. The Spaniards suffered losses in ships and personnel.

But the Armada continued to sail northeast, deep into the English Channel. The Spanish fleet was located in a crescent: at the edges were the most powerful warships, under their cover, slow merchant and cargo ships were grouped in the center. The English fleet again approached the Spanish in the dead of night from August 7 to 8, when the Armada anchored opposite Calais in the Strait of Dover. Lord Howard sent eight burning fireships straight into the center of the Spanish fleet. It was possible to try to take the fireships aside with boats, but a signal was raised from the flagship "to sail immediately." Many of the Spanish ships had only time to cut the anchor lines, after which they rushed away in panic and disorder. One large Spanish galleass ran aground, many ships were significantly damaged.

Not giving the enemy the opportunity to regroup, the next morning the British again attacked the Spaniards. During an eight-hour battle, the Spanish ships were blown onto the banks northeast of Calais, against Gravelines; it seemed that the Armada was about to inevitably run aground, delivering an easy victory to the British, but the northwest wind changed to a southwest wind and carried the Spanish ships into the waters of the North Sea. The Spanish fleet moved north; the British pursued him to the Firth of Forth on the east coast of Scotland, where on August 12 a storm separated the opponents.

The Spaniards had to give up the idea of ​​connecting with the forces of the Duke of Parma, and they undertook a voyage around the British Isles - rounded the Shetland Islands from the north, passed along the western coast of Ireland, where they hoped to receive help from fellow believers, and then returned to Spain.

On the way back, a storm near the Orkney Islands scattered the already pretty battered fleet in all directions. Many ships sank, crashed against the rocks, thousands of corpses were thrown ashore. Only 86 ships and less than half of the sailors and soldiers returned to the Spanish port of Santander on the Bay of Biscay. So ingloriously ended the campaign of the "Invincible Armada". The Spaniards still believe that the "Armada" was not defeated - it was prevented by the elements. However, the storm dealt its most tangible blow when the Spanish fleet was already returning home. He returned unsalted slurping.

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Defeat of the Spanish invincible Armada (1588)

In that unforgettable year, when dark clouds gathered around our coast, all Europe stood in fear and alarm, waiting for the outcome of this great turn in human politics. What will the cunning policy of Rome, the power of the empire of Philip II and the genius of Farnese meet in response from the island queen with her Drakes, Cecils in that great struggle of the Protestant faith under the banner of the English?

On the afternoon of July 19, 1588, a group of English naval commanders gathered at Bowling Green in Plymouth. Such a collection of names was not known to either past or subsequent times, even here, at the gathering place, where the most eminent heroes of the British fleet often gathered. Among those present was Francis Drake, the first English navigator to circumnavigate the globe (escaping from the Spaniards who might have intercepted this pirate. – Ed.), the thunderstorm and horror of the entire Spanish coast from the Old to the New World (where there were not sufficient forces, where they were - the Spaniards beat Drake. - Ed.). Here was John Hawkins, a stern veteran of many great campaigns across the seas of Africa and America, a participant in many desperate battles (the same bandit, Drake's mentor. - Ed.). Martin Frobisher, one of the first explorers of the seas of the Arctic in search of the Northwest Passage, which is still being sought by the bravest English sailors. (Not only English. First passed in the direction from east to west in 1903-1906 by the Norwegian expedition of R. Amundsen on the ship "Joa", from west to east - by the Canadian ship "St. Rock" in 1940-1942 - Ed.) Lord Admiral of England Howard Effingham, ready to sacrifice everything for the good of his country. Recently, he had dared to disobey an order to disarm part of the fleet, despite the fact that it came from the queen herself, who received an exaggeratedly optimistic report about the withdrawal of the enemy fleet battered by the storm. Lord Howard (described by his contemporaries as a man of great intelligence and desperate courage, an expert in maritime affairs, cautious and prudent, highly respected by sailors) decided to expose himself to the threat of arousing the wrath of her majesty, but at his own peril and risk to leave the ships in the ranks. For him, the greater concern was to rid England of a threat to her security.

Another great navigator of the time of Elizabeth, Walter Raleigh (Raleigh) (mostly "swimmed" in the Queen's chambers, being her favorite. After the death of Elizabeth, he was executed for abuse. - Ed.) at that time received the task of going to Cornwall, where he was supposed to recruit and arm the land army. But as he was present at the meeting of the naval commanders at Plymouth, he took advantage of this opportunity to consult with the Lord Admiral and other officers of the English fleet who were assembled in that port. In addition to the naval commanders already named, many other brave and experienced officers were present at the meeting. With true naval gaiety, they took advantage of this temporary respite from everyday work. In the harbor was the English fleet, with which they had just returned from A Coruña, where they were trying to obtain truthful information about the actual state and intentions of the enemy Armada. Lord Howard believed that, although the enemy forces had been weakened by a strong storm, they were still significant. Fearing that they would attack the coast of England in his absence, he hurried back with the fleet to the coast of Devonshire. The admiral determined Plymouth as a parking lot, where he expected news of the approach of the Spanish ships.

Drake and the other senior officers of the fleet were playing bowls when a small warship appeared in the distance, rushing at full sail into Plymouth Bay. Its commander hurriedly stepped ashore and began to look with his eyes for a gathering place for English admirals and captains. The officer's name was Fleming, and he was the captain of a Scottish privateer. He told other officers that he had seen the Spanish Armada off the coast of Cornwall that morning. This important information met with a surge of emotions among all sailors. They hurried to the shore, calling out their boats. Drake alone remained calm. He coldly stopped his colleagues and invited them to finish the match. According to him, they had a lot of time left to finish the game and defeat the Spaniards. The most exciting match of bowls was over with the expected result. Drake and his comrades drove in the last balls with the same carefully measured composure with which they usually loaded the guns on their ships. The first victory was won, after which everyone went to the ships to prepare for battle. Preparations were carried out as calmly and coolly as if the captains had only another party in Bowling Green.

At the same time, couriers were sent to all the cities and towns of England to warn the inhabitants that the enemy had finally appeared. A system of special signals was also used. In each port, they immediately began to prepare ships and ground troops. In all cities, they began to urgently collect soldiers and horses.

But the most reliable means of defense of the British, as always, was the fleet. After a difficult maneuver in Plymouth harbor, the Lord Admiral gave the command to move west towards the Armada. The sailors soon received a warning from Cornish fishermen that the enemy was approaching. Signals were also transmitted from Cornwall itself.

At present (i.e., the middle of the 19th century - Ed.) England is so strong, and the forces of Spain are so insignificant, that without a certain amount of imagination it would be difficult to even imagine that the power and ambitions of this country could threaten England. Therefore, today it is difficult for us to assess how serious the confrontation of those times was for world history. Then our country was not yet a powerful colonial empire. India had not yet been conquered, and settlements in North America had only begun to appear there after the recent campaigns of Raleigh and Gilbert. (These early English settlements either died of starvation (because the settlers, mostly dregs of society, did not want and did not know how to work), or were killed by the Indians (for good reason). - Ed.) Scotland was a separate kingdom, and Ireland was an even greater nest of strife and rebellion (despite the English genocide. - Ed.) than at a later date. Upon her accession to the throne, Queen Elizabeth received a country burdened with debts, the population of which was divided. Relatively recently, the Hundred Years' War was lost, as a result of which England lost its last possessions in France. In addition, Elizabeth had a dangerous rival, whose claims were supported by all the Roman Catholic powers (Mary Stuart, who in 1587 was beheaded in London. - Ed.). Even some of her subjects, seized with religious intolerance, believed that she had usurped power and did not recognize Elizabeth's right to the royal throne. During the years of her reign prior to the attempted Spanish invasion in 1588, Elizabeth succeeded in revitalizing trade, inspiring and uniting the nation. But it was considered doubtful that the resources at her disposal allowed her to fight the colossal power of the power of Philip II. In addition, England had no allies abroad, except for the Dutch, who themselves waged a stubborn and, it seemed, futile struggle against Spain for independence.

At the same time, Philip II had absolute power in an empire that was so superior in resources, army and navy to its opponents that his plans to make the empire the sole master of the world seemed quite real. And Philip possessed both sufficient ambition to carry out such plans, and the energy and means to implement them. Since the fall of the Roman Empire, there has not been such a powerful power in the world as the empire of Philip. In the Middle Ages, the largest kingdoms of Europe gradually overcame the chaos of feudal civil strife. And although they waged endless cruel wars among themselves, and some monarchs managed to become formidable conquerors for some time, none of them managed to build a long-term effective state structure that ensured the preservation of their vast possessions. After strengthening their possessions, the kings for some time entered into alliances among themselves against common rivals. In the first half of the 16th century, a system of balancing the interests of European states had already taken shape. But during the reign of Philip II, France was so weakened in civil wars that the Spanish monarch had nothing to fear from an old rival who had long served as a deterrent to his father, Emperor Charles V. In Germany, Italy and Poland, Philip had devoted friends and allies. And his rivals in these countries were weakened and divided. In the fight against Turkey, Philip II managed to win a number of brilliant victories. Therefore, in Europe, as it seemed to him, there was no opposing force capable of stopping his conquests, which was to be feared. When Philip II came to the throne, Spain was at the zenith of its power. The courage and morale that the peoples of Aragon and Castile were able to cultivate in themselves during the centuries of the liberation war against the Moors (718-1492) were not yet forgotten. Although Charles V ended liberties in Spain, it happened so recently that it had not yet had time to have a significant negative impact during the reign of Philip II. A nation cannot be completely suppressed within the lifetime of one generation. The Spanish people under Charles V and Philip II confirmed the truth of the observation that no nation shows such hostility towards its neighbors than one that has grown stronger during the years of independence and suddenly fell under the rule of a despotic ruler. The energy gained in the days of democracy is preserved for several generations. (Under Ferdinand and Isabella there was no democracy. There was a certain feudal freemen (for large feudal lords), but within the rules. - Ed.) But to it is added that decisiveness and self-confidence that are characteristic of a society whose entire activity is controlled by the will of one person. Of course, this supernatural energy is short-lived. The loss of people's freedoms is usually followed by times of general corruption and national humiliation. But it will take time for these factors to take effect. Usually this interval is enough for the successful implementation of the most daring plans for the conquest of new territories.

Philip, by a fortunate coincidence for him, found himself at the head of a huge, well-trained and equipped army, united by iron discipline, at a time when the Christian world had no such forces anywhere else. At the disposal of his rivals, at best, there were insignificant armed formations. The Spanish troops enjoyed well-deserved fame; The Spanish infantry was considered the best in the world. The Spanish fleet was more numerous and better equipped than the fleets of other European powers. Soldiers and sailors believed in themselves and in their commanders, who gained such significant experience in numerous combat clashes that rivals could not even imagine.

In addition to power over Spain, Philip possessed the crowns of Naples and Sicily; in addition, he was Duke of Milan, Franche-Comte and the Netherlands. In Africa, he owned Tunisia, part of Algeria and the Canary Islands. In Asia, the possessions of the Spanish crown were the Philippines and some islands.

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Spain owned the richest lands of the New World, which "Columbus discovered for Castile and León." The empires of Peru and Mexico, New Spain and Chile with their inexhaustible reserves of valuable metals, Central America, Cuba and many other islands in America were the possessions of the Spanish monarch.

Philip II, of course, also had to experience a feeling of annoyance and humiliation when he learned about the uprising against his power in the Netherlands. Moreover, he failed to return under his scepter all the possessions that his father had left him in his time. But his armies conquered significant territories, which opposed the Spanish king with weapons in their hands. The southern Netherlands (Belgium) were again brought into obedience, losing even those limited freedoms that they had under Philip's father. Only the Northern provinces of the Netherlands (Holland) continued the armed struggle against the Spaniards. In that war, a close-knit, compact army of veterans fought on the side of Philip II under the command of the governor of the Netherlands (1578-1592) Farnese. She was accustomed to steadfastly overcome all the hardships of war, and the Spanish monarch could rely on the stamina and devotion of these troops even in the most dangerous and difficult situations. The Duke of Parma, Alexander Farnese, was a major commander who led the Spanish army from victory to victory. Undoubtedly, he was the greatest military talent of his time. In addition, by universal recognition, he possessed great political wisdom and far-sightedness and tremendous organizational skills. The soldiers idolized him, and Farnese knew how to earn their love without compromising discipline or diminishing his own authority. Always cool and prudent in planning, and at the same time impetuous and energetic at the moment of delivering a decisive blow, he always skillfully weighed the risk and could win over even the population of the conquered countries with his honesty, modesty and sense of tact. Farnese was one of those great generals who take command of an army not only to win battles, but also to maintain power in new territories. Fortunately for England, this island was spared from becoming an arena for the application of his talents.

The damage that the Spanish Empire suffered by losing the Netherlands was compensated by the acquisition of Portugal, which was subjugated in 1581. At the same time, not only this ancient kingdom fell into the hands of Philip, but all the fruits of the campaigns of his navigators. All Portuguese colonies in America, Africa, India and the East Indies came under the rule of the Spanish monarch. Philip II thus owned not only the entire Iberian (Iberian) Peninsula, but also a huge transoceanic empire. The brilliant victory at Lepanto, which the galleys and galleasses of his fleet (in alliance with other members of the "Holy League") won over the Turks, acquired the well-deserved glory of the Spanish sailors throughout the Christian world. After more than thirty years of the reign of Philip II, the power of his empire seemed unshakable, and the glory of Spanish weapons thundered around the world.

But the Spaniards had a single rival who managed to vigorously, stubbornly and successfully resist them. England supported the rebellious Netherlands, provided them with that financial and military assistance, without which their struggle would have been doomed. English pirate ships attacked the Spanish colonies, challenging the empire's unchallenged dominance in both the New and Old Worlds. They captured ships, cities and arsenals on the coast of Spain. The British constantly inflicted personal insults on Philip. They ridiculed him in their plays and masquerades, and these mockeries aroused the wrath of the absolute monarch far more than even the damage that the British caused to his power. He intended to make England the object of not only political but also personal revenge. If the British submit to him, then the Netherlands will also be forced to lay down their arms. France will not be able to compete with Philip II, and after the conquest of the evil island (Great Britain), the power of the Spanish monarch will soon spread to the whole world.

However, there was another argument that forced Philip II to oppose England. He was a real and implacable religious fanatic. He was a fierce champion of the eradication of heresy and the restoration throughout Europe of the dominance of Catholicism and papal power. In the 16th century, Protestantism was born in Europe, and in response, a powerful movement to counter Protestantism. And Philip II believed that his mission was to finally eradicate this religious trend. The Reformation was completely finished in Spain and Italy. Belgium, which had become a half-Protestant country, was again reduced to obedience in matters of religion, becoming a state zealously adhering to the Catholic religion, one of the strongholds of Catholicism in the world. It was possible to return to the old faith and half of the German territories. In Northern Italy, Switzerland and many other countries, the Counter-Reformation movement was rapidly and decisively gaining momentum. It seemed that the Catholic League finally won in France. The papal court has also managed to recover from the overwhelming blows received in the last century. Having created and led the movement of the Jesuits and other religious orders, he demonstrated the same power and firmness as in the time of Hildebrand (the monastic name of Pope Gregory VII (r. c. 1025-1085, pope since 1073). - Ed.) or Innocent III (1161-1216, pope from 1198).

All over continental Europe, Protestants were thrown into confusion and confusion. Many of them looked to England as their ally and protector. England was the recognized stronghold of Protestantism, so to conquer it meant to strike at the very heart of this trend. Sixtus V, who occupied the papal throne at that time, openly pushed Philip to this step. And when the news of the execution of the captive Queen of Scots, Mary Stuart, reached Spain and Italy, the wrath of the Vatican and the Escorial knew no bounds.

Appointed at the head of an expeditionary invasion force, the Duke of Parma assembled a hardened army on the coast of Flanders, which was to play a major role in the conquest of England. In addition to his own troops, 5,000 infantrymen from Northern and Central Italy, 4,000 soldiers from Naples, 6,000 from Castile, 3,000 from Aragon, 3,000 from Austria and Germany, as well as four squadrons of heavy cavalry. In addition, he received reinforcements from Franche-Comté and Wallonia. By order of Farnese, many forests were cut down. From the harvested wood, small flat-bottomed ships were built, which were delivered along the rivers and canals to Dunkirk and other ports. From here, under the cover of a large Spanish fleet, these ships, with a select army on board, were to head for the mouth of the Thames. Gun carriages, fascines, siege equipment, as well as materials needed for building bridges, building camps for troops and erecting wooden fortifications, were also loaded onto the ships of the flotilla of the Duke of Parma. Preparing the invasion of England, Farnese simultaneously continued to suppress the rebellion in the Netherlands. Taking advantage of the strife between the United Provinces and the Earl of Leicester, he retook Deventer. The English commanders William Stanley, a friend of Babington, and Roland York surrendered to him a fortress on the way to Zutphen (in Holland) and themselves with their troops went to the service of the Spanish king when they learned about the execution of Mary Stuart. In addition, the Spaniards managed to capture the city of Sluys. Alexander Farnese intended to leave enough troops for Count Mansfeldt to continue the war with the Dutch, which was no longer the most important task. He himself, at the head of the fifty-thousandth army and navy, had to fulfill the main task, in which the church leadership was highly interested. In a bull that was to be kept secret until the day of the landing, Pope Sixtus V again anathematized Elizabeth, as Pius V and Gregory XIII had done before, and called for her overthrow.

Elizabeth was declared the most dangerous heretic, the destruction of which became the sacred duty of everyone. In June 1587, an agreement was concluded under which the pope was to contribute one million escudos to military expenses. This money was to be deposited after the invasion force had taken possession of the very first port in England. The rest of the expenses were borne by Philip II, who had at his disposal the vast resources of his entire empire. French Catholic nobles actively cooperated with him. In all the ports of the Mediterranean, as well as along the entire Atlantic coast from Gibraltar to Jutland, with all the religious fervor and with all the bitterness against the old enemy, active preparations began for the great campaign. “Thus,” writes the great German historian, “the combined forces of Spain and Italy, whose power was so well known to the whole world, rose up to fight against England. The Spanish king extracted documents from the archives confirming his rights to the throne of this country as a representative of the Stuart branch. Great prospects were already looming in his head that after this expedition he would become the sole master of the seas. It seemed that everything should have ended like this: the victory of Catholicism in Germany, a new offensive against the Huguenots in France, a successful struggle against the Calvinists of Geneva, and, finally, a victory in the fight against England. At the same time, the Catholic king Sigismund III ascended the throne in Poland (from 1587 until his death in 1632) and hoped to soon also take the throne in Sweden (from 1592 to 1604, fact. 1599 .). But when any of the powers or individuals in Europe began to make claims to unlimited power on the continent, then a certain powerful opposing force immediately arose, the origins of which, apparently, lie in human nature itself. Philip II had to face the newly emerging power of young states, which were supported by a premonition of the greatness of the future destiny. Fearless corsairs (bandits who robbed and killed everyone, not just the Spaniards. - Ed.), which had previously made the waters of all the seas of the world unsafe for the Spaniards, now cruised along their native shores for their protection. The entire Protestant population, even the Puritans, who were persecuted for too obvious rejection of Catholics (Puritans were persecuted in England primarily for demanding the abolition of the episcopate and the transformation of the official church into Presbyterian (which undermined the power of the head of the Anglican Church - the king (queen). In addition, preaching asceticism, they opposed the luxury and revelry of the top of society. Ed.), rallied around the queen, who demonstrated unfeminine courage, the talent of the ruler to suppress his own fear and the qualities of the leader, who managed to maintain the loyalty of his subjects.

Ranke should have added that the English Catholics at that critical moment proved their loyalty to the Queen and their country, as well as the most ardent opponents of Catholicism. Of course, there were a few traitors, but on the whole, the British, who remained committed to the old faith, honestly defended their right to be called true patriots. By the way, the Lord Admiral himself was also a Catholic, and (if we take the words of Gallam on faith) “in every county, Catholics flocked to the banner of their Lord Lieutenant, proving that they were not worthy of the accusation that in the name of religion they were ready to trade the independence of their people." The Spaniards found no supporters in the land they were about to conquer; The British did not go to war against their own country.

For some time, Philip did not make public the purpose of his grandiose military preparations. Only he himself, Pope Sixtus V, the Duke of Guise, and Minister Mendoza, who enjoyed the special confidence of Philip II, knew from the very beginning whom they planned to strike against. The Spaniards diligently spread rumors about their intentions to continue the conquest of distant territories in the lands of the Indians. Sometimes the ambassadors of Philip II at foreign courts started a rumor that their master planned to strike a decisive blow in the Netherlands and put an end to the rebellion in these lands. But Elizabeth and her entourage, watching the storm that was about to break out, could not help but have a presentiment that, perhaps, it would reach their shores. In the spring of 1587, Elizabeth sent Francis Drake on a raid near the mouth of the Tagus River (Tejo). Drake visited the bay of the port of Cadiz and Lisbon. The British burned many warehouses with military and other property, thereby significantly delaying the preparations of the Spaniards. Drake himself called it "set fire to the beard of the Spanish king." Elizabeth increased the number of troops sent to the Netherlands in order to prevent the Duke of Parma from finally winning that war and freeing up all the forces of her army to be sent to her possessions.

Both sides were not averse to lulling the vigilance of their opponent with a demonstrative desire to make peace. Peace negotiations began in Ostend at the beginning of 1588. They lasted half a year and did not give any tangible results, perhaps because no one really attached any serious importance to them. At the same time, each of the parties began to negotiate with representatives of the supreme nobility in France. At first it seemed that success accompanies Elizabeth, but in the end the ultimatum demands of Philip II prevailed. “Henry III was concerned about the fact that negotiations had begun in Ostend. He was especially worried that Spain and England would be able to come to an agreement. Then Philip II will be able to finally subjugate the United Provinces, which will automatically make him the master of France. Therefore, in order to dissuade Elizabeth from signing an agreement with Spain, the French king promised her that in the event of an attack on the English by the Spaniards, France was ready to send twice as large an army to help her than was provided for by the bilateral treaty of 1574. Henry deliberated for a long time on this issue with the English Ambassador Stafford. He told that the Pope and His Catholic Majesty the King of Spain had formed an alliance against his mistress the queen. They invited the French and Venetians to join this alliance, but they refused. “If the English queen,” added Henry, “makes peace with the Catholic king, this peace will not last even three months, because the Spanish king will direct all the efforts of the league to overthrow her, and one can only guess what fate awaits your mistress after that.” At the same time, in order to finally upset the peace negotiations, Henry III invited Philip II to conclude an even closer alliance between Spain and France. And at the same time he sent a messenger with a secret message to Constantinople. The king warned the Turkish sultan that if he did not declare a new war on Spain, then the Catholic king, who already owns the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, India and almost all of Italy, will soon become the master of England, and then send the forces of all Europe against Turkey.

But Philip II of France had a much more powerful ally than the king himself. This man was the Duke of Guise, head of the Catholic League and the idol of religious fanatics. Philip II persuaded Guise to openly oppose Henry III (whom the supporters of the league vilified in every possible way as a traitor to the true church and a secret friend of the Huguenots). Thus, the French king will not be able to intervene in the war on the side of Elizabeth. “For this purpose, in early April, the Spanish officer Juan Iniguez Moreo was sent with a secret dispatch to the Duke of Guise in Soissons. His mission was a complete success. On behalf of his king, Moreo promised to give the Duke of Guise, as soon as he opposed Henry III, three hundred thousand crowns. In addition, six thousand infantry and one thousand two hundred pikemen will be sent to the army of Giza. The King of Spain also promised to recall his ambassador from the royal court and to accredit the envoy to the Catholic League. The corresponding agreement was concluded, and the Duke of Guise entered Paris, where the supporters of the union were waiting for him. On May 12, after an armed uprising, Henry III was expelled from the capital. Two weeks after the rebellion, Henry III completely lost power and, in the words of the Duke of Parma, "could not help the Queen of England even with tears, since he would need them to mourn his own misfortunes." And the Spanish fleet left the mouth of the Tagus River and headed towards the British Isles.

At the same time, in England, everyone, from the queen on the throne to the last peasant in a wooden dwelling, was preparing fully armed to meet a mortal enemy. The Queen sent a circular to the Lord Lieutenants of some counties. They were required to “gather the best gentlemen under their command and announce to them these preparations of the presumptuous enemy on the other side of the sea. And now everyone is in danger that threatens the whole country, freedoms, wives, children, lands, lives and (most importantly) the right to profess the true faith in Christ. The powerful and cruel rulers of these not so distant countries bring to everyone countless unprecedented misfortunes that will fall on the heads of all the inhabitants as soon as their intentions are carried out. We hope that the commanders have at their disposal a predetermined number of weapons and equipment for foot and, above all, mounted soldiers. The commanders must be ready either to repulse the enemy attack on their own, or to act under our command, or to act in another way. We have no doubt that our subjects will act as required, and declare that the blessing of Almighty God will be given to their hearts, loyal to us, their overlord, and their native land. Whatever the enemy tries to do, all his attempts will be futile and will end in failure, to his shame. You will find the comfort of God and great glory.”

Similar letters were sent by the church council to all representatives of the church nobility and to all major cities. The Primate of the Anglican Church demanded that the clergy contribute to the common struggle. All sectors of society unanimously responded to these calls. Everyone was ready to give even more than the queen demanded. The boastful threats of the Spaniards caused a wave of popular anger. The entire population “in great indignation joined forces to defend against the impending invasion; soon cavalry and foot detachments began to form in all corners of the country. They received military training. This has never happened before in the history of the state. There was no lack of funds for the purchase of horses, weapons, equipment, gunpowder and other necessary equipment. In all counties without exception, everyone was ready to offer help to the army of the country as a construction worker, wagon driver, food supplier. Some were ready to work for free, others to provide money for the purchase of equipment, weapons and salaries for soldiers. Such mortal danger hung over everyone that everyone gave what he could; after all, when the invasion began, it was possible to lose everything, and therefore no one counted what he gave.

The queen has proven that she has the heart of a lioness and is worthy of her people. A military camp was established in the Tilbury area. There, the queen traveled around the troops, encouraging commanders and soldiers. One of her speeches, with which she addressed the troops, has been preserved. And although this speech is often quoted, the author considers it necessary to quote it: “My beloved people! Something looming over us threatens our safety. And now we must all arm ourselves to resist the treacherous, terrifying invasion. But I assure you that never in my life would I doubt the loyalty of my beloved people.

Let the tyrants be afraid! I have always behaved in such a way that, by the will of God, I entrusted my dignity and security to the loyalty and will of my subjects. Therefore, at this time, as you see, I am among you not for fun and entertainment. I chose to be at the very heart of the battle to live or die with you, to give my God, my kingdom and my people my honor and blood, even if I am destined to turn into dust. I know I have the body of a weak woman, but I have the heart and spirit of a king, the king of England. I consider it a filthy dishonor for Parma, or Spain, or any ruler of Europe, to dare to invade the borders of my state. And, not wanting to allow this dishonor, I myself will take up arms. I myself will be your general, judge, and the one who will reward each of you for merit on the battlefield. I know that already now you deserve awards and honors. And I give you my sovereign's word that you will get what you deserve. In the meantime, my lieutenant general will take my place, and the sovereign has never entrusted him to the command of more worthy subjects. I have no doubt that by your obedience to my general, concerted action in the camp and bravery on the battlefield, you will soon help me win a great victory over the enemies of my God, my kingdom and my people.

We have every proof of the skill with which Elizabeth and her government carried out their preparations. All the documents written at that time by her civilian and military advisers, who helped the queen organize the defense of the country, have been preserved. Among the persons who made up the Queen's circle of advisers in those terrible times were Walter Raleigh (Raleigh), Lord Grey, Francis Knolles, Thomas Leighton, John Norris, Richard Grenville, Richard Bingham and Roger Williams. As biographer Walter Raleigh (Elizabeth's favorite. - Ed.), “these advisers were chosen by the queen not only because they were military men, but such people as Grey, Norris, Bingham and Grenville had great military talent. All of them had deep experience in solving state issues and in managing provinces, qualities of the highest importance when it was not only about commanding troops. It was necessary to create a militia, to direct the activities of the magistrates in arming the peasantry, to inspire the population to provide resolute and staunch resistance to the enemy. It appears from some of Lord Burghley's private letters that Sir Walter Raleigh played a major role in these matters. There are also documents written by him on this subject. First, the advisers compiled a list of places where the Spanish army was most likely to attempt an amphibious landing, as well as those where the troops of the Duke of Parma would operate. Then the urgent and most effective ways organizing the defense of the coast, both with the use of fortresses, and by engaging in open battle with the enemy. And finally, there was a search for an organization to counter the enemy if he managed to land.

Some of Elizabeth's advisers believed that all forces and resources should be devoted to creating large armies and that the enemy should be forced into a general battle even when he tried to land on the coast. But the wiser ones, including Raleigh, advocated that the main role in the struggle should be played by the fleet, which would meet the Spaniards at sea and, if possible, prevent them from approaching the shores of England. In Raleigh's History of the World, he uses the example of the First Punic War to give recommendations on how England should act in the event of a threat of invasion. Undoubtedly, it contains all the advice that he gave to Queen Elizabeth. These remarks of a statesman, born at the moment of the greatest danger to the country, deserve the closest attention. Roles stated:

“I am fully convinced that the best thing will be to keep the enemy away from our land. We must by any means convince him to stay on our territory. Thus, we will be able to immediately solve all those problems that have not yet been born, which will have to be solved in a different development of events. But the main question is whether England, without the help of her fleet, can force the enemy to abandon the invasion. I insist that this is not possible. Therefore, in my opinion, it would be very dangerous to doom yourself to such a risk. The first victory of the enemy will immediately inspire him and, on the contrary, will deprive the courage of the defeated. In addition, the object of invasion dooms itself to many other dangers.

I believe that there is a big difference, and a completely different approach is needed in a country like France, for example, where there are a large number of powerful fortresses, and in our country, where our people will serve as the only obstacle to the enemy. Transported by sea and landed on a spot of the enemy's choice, an enemy army cannot be properly rebuffed on the coast of England without the help of the fleet, which should block its path. The same goes for the coast of France or any other country, unless every harbor, port or sandy coast is protected by a powerful army ready to meet the invader. Let us take as an example the county of Kent, which is capable of fielding 12,000 soldiers. These 12,000 men will need to be distributed over three potential enemy landing sites, say 3,000 men each at Margate and Ness, and another 6,000 soldiers at Folkestone, which is approximately the same distance from the first two sites. It is assumed that the two armies will support the third (unless they are given other tasks) in case it detects an enemy fleet moving in its direction. I do not consider here the case if the enemy fleet, having barges with landing troops in tow, will advance from the Isle of Wight at night and reach our coast by dawn, for example, in the area of ​​Nesse, where it will make a landing. In this case, it will be difficult for a detachment of three thousand from Margate (24 long miles from Nessus) to have time to come to the rescue of their comrades. And in this case, what should the Folkestone garrison, located at twice the closer distance, do? Should they, seeing that the enemy fleet is moving towards the coast, fire three or four artillery volleys at the landing enemy and run to the aid of their comrades from Nessus, leaving their own positions unprotected? Now let's imagine that all 12 thousand soldiers from Kent are in the Nesse area, ready to meet the enemy landing. The enemy will find that a landing here will not be safe, as he is opposed by a large army. What will prevent him from playing his own game, having complete freedom to go wherever he pleases? Under cover of night, he can weigh anchor, sail east, and land his troops at the same Margaret, or the Downs, or any other place, before the troops at Ness even have time to know about his departure. Nothing is easier for him than to do so. Similarly, Wymouth, Purbeck, or Poole Bay, or any other place on the southwest coast, may be named as the landing point. No one will deny that the ships will easily deliver soldiers to any part of the coast where they will disembark. "Armies don't know how to fly or run like messengers," as one of the marshals of France said. Everyone knows that at sunset a squadron of ships can be off the Cornish peninsula, and by the next day reach Portland, which is not the case with an army that cannot cover this distance on foot in six days. In addition, forced to run along the coast after the enemy fleet from sector to sector, in the end these soldiers will stop somewhere halfway and prefer to leave it to chance. Therefore, if it does not happen that the enemy decides to land in the place where our army stands ready to meet him, then it will be as it happened at the council at Tilbury in 1588. Everyone will unanimously decide that they must protect the person of the sovereign and the city of London . Therefore, in the end, no troops will be left on the coast at all to try to repulse the Duke of Parma if his army landed in England.

Concluding this digression, I would like to express the hope that such a problem will never confront us: Her Majesty's numerous fleet will not allow it. And although England cannot neglect the possibility that she will have to face the enemy forces delivered by the enemy fleet, not anywhere but on her own soil, I think that the most reasonable thing would be if Her Majesty, God willing, would rather rely on our ships than on fortifications on the shores of the country. Then it will be more difficult for the enemy to eat all the Kent capons.

The introduction of steam as a propulsion force for ships at sea made Raleigh's arguments ten times more convincing. At the same time, the development of the railway network, especially along the coast, as well as the use of the telegraph, provides more opportunities for the concentration of the army in the threatened area and its transfer to other parts of the coast, depending on the movements of the enemy fleet. Perhaps these innovations would have surprised Sir Walter even more than the sight of ships moving at high speed in various directions without the help of wind and current. The thoughts of the French marshal, to which he refers, are outdated. Armies can maneuver rapidly, much faster than, for example, mails were delivered in Elizabethan times. And yet one can never be completely sure that sufficient forces at the appointed time will be concentrated exactly where it is needed. And therefore, even now there is no reason to doubt that in a defensive war England should be guided by the principles that Raleigh adhered to. During the Spanish Armada, such a strategy certainly saved the country, if not from a foreign yoke, then at least from countless victims. If the enemy had managed to land on the coast of the country, our people would undoubtedly have heroically resisted. But history gives us numerous examples of the superiority of the regular army of veterans over numerous and brave, but inexperienced recruits. Therefore, without detracting from the merits of our soldiers, we should be grateful that they did not have to fight on English soil. This becomes particularly evident if we compare the military genius of the Duke of Parma, Farnese, commander of the Spanish invasion army, with the narrow-minded and narrow-minded Count of Leicester. This man was placed at the head of the English armies by virtue of that spirit of favoritism in Elizabeth's court, which was one of the chief vices of her reign.

In those days, the Royal Navy consisted of no more than thirty-six ships. But the best ships of the merchant fleet from all ports of the country were mobilized to help them. And the inhabitants of London, Bristol, and other centers of commerce showed the same disinterested zeal in equipping these ships and selecting crews of sailors, as in arming the land forces. The population of the coastal regions, long engaged in navigation, was seized with no less patriotic zeal; the total number of those wishing to become sailors in the English navy was 17,472 people. An additional 191 ships were commissioned with a total tonnage of 31,985 tons. The fleet included one ship with a displacement of 1100 tons ("Triumph"), one - 1000 tons, one - 900 tons, two ships of 800 tons each, three - 600 tons each, five - 500 tons each, five - 400 tons each, six - 300 tons each, six - 250 tons each, twenty - 200 tons each and many ships of smaller tonnage. The British turned to the Dutch for help. As Stowe wrote, “The Dutch immediately came to the rescue with a flotilla of sixty excellent warships, full of enthusiasm to fight not so much for England as to defend themselves. These people understood the great danger that threatened them if the Spaniards managed to defeat them. Therefore, few people could demonstrate the same courage as they did.

Much more detailed information has been preserved about the combat composition and equipment of the enemy fleet than about the forces of the British and their allies. In the first volume of Haklut's work "Seafaring", dedicated to Lord Effingham, who commanded the anti-Armada fleet, a more detailed and complete description of the Spanish ships and their weapons is given than the existing descriptions of other fleets. These data are taken from the book of the modern foreign writer Meteran.

The Spaniards also published extensive data regarding their military fleet of those times. They also indicate the number, names and tonnage of ships, the total number of sailors and soldiers, stocks of weapons, bullets, cannonballs, gunpowder, food and other equipment. Separately, a list of senior commanders, captains, noble officers and volunteers is given, of which there were so many that one could hardly find at least one noble surname in all of Spain, wherever a son, brother, or at least one of the relatives would not go as part of this fleet to war. All of them dreamed of gaining fame and glory for themselves, as well as getting a share of land and wealth in England or the Netherlands. Since these documents have been translated and published many times in various languages, this book will give an abridged version of these lists.

“Portugal equipped and sent under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonius, general of the fleet, 10 galleons, 2 zabraes, 1300 sailors, 3300 soldiers, 300 large guns with ammunition.

Vizcaya equipped 10 galleons, 4 auxiliary vessels, 700 sailors, 2 thousand soldiers, 260 large guns, etc. under the command of Juan Martinez de Ricalde, Admiral of the Fleet.

Gipuzkoa - 10 galleons, 4 auxiliary ships, 700 sailors, 2 thousand soldiers, 310 large guns under the command of Miguel de Orquendo.

Italy and the Levant Islands - 10 galleons, 800 sailors, 2 thousand soldiers, 310 large guns, etc. under the command of Martine de Vertendon.

Castile - 14 galleons, 2 auxiliary vessels, 380 large guns, etc. under the command of Diego Flores de Valdes.

Andalusia - 10 galleons, one auxiliary ship, 800 sailors, 2400 soldiers, 280 large guns under the command of Petro de Valdes.

In addition, 23 large Flemish ships under the command of Juan López de Medina; 700 sailors, 3200 soldiers, 400 large guns.

In addition, 4 galeas under the command of Hugo de Moncada; 1200 slave rowers, 460 sailors, 870 soldiers, 200 large guns, etc.

In addition, 4 Portuguese galleys under the command of Diego de Mandrana; 888 slave rowers, 360 sailors, 20 large guns and other property.

In addition, 22 large and small support vessels under the command of Antonio de Mendoza; 574 sailors, 488 soldiers, 193 large guns.

In addition to the ships and vessels listed above, 20 caravels were attached as auxiliary ships to warships. In total, the fleet included up to 150 ships and vessels, all of which had sufficient supplies of weapons and food on board.

The number of sailors on ships and vessels reached 8 thousand people, rowers-slave - 2088 people, soldiers - 20 thousand people (plus officers and volunteers from noble families), guns - 2600 units. All ships had a large carrying capacity; the total tonnage of the fleet amounted to 60 thousand tons.

The fleet included 64 large galleons of recent construction. They were so high that they looked like huge floating castles, each of which could defend itself and repel any attack. But even taking into account all other ships, the total number of ships in the fleet was much less than the number of ships of the British and Dutch, who turned all their ships into battle ships with extraordinary speed. The surface of the superstructure of the galleons was of sufficient thickness and strength to provide protection against musket bullets. The underwater part and the frames were built of thick timber, which also provided protection from bullets. Later, these data were confirmed: a lot of bullets got stuck in a massive beam. To protect the masts from enemy shots, they were wrapped twice with tarred rope.

The galleas were so large that they contained cabins, chapels, gun embrasures, places of prayer and other facilities. The galleasses moved with the help of large oars; the total number of slave rowers on the galleass reached 300 people. All of them were decorated with turrets, ribbons, banners, military emblems and other decorations.

In total, the fleet had 1,600 bronze and 1,000 iron guns.

The stock of cores for them was 120 thousand pieces.

The supply of gunpowder was 5600 quintals (over 280 tons), ignition wicks 1200 quintals - over 60 tons. The number of muskets and squeakers - 7 thousand pieces of halberds and protazans - 10 thousand pieces.

In addition, the ships had a large supply of cannons, culverins and field guns for the operations of the ground forces.

On the ships there was equipment for unloading and transporting weapons and equipment on the shore: carts, wagons, wagons. There were also shovels, picks, hoes, baskets for construction work. The ships carried mules and horses, which the army might also need after the landings. In the holds, a supply of crackers was stored for six months at the rate of 25 kg per person per month, a total of 5 thousand tons.

As for the wine, they also took it with them for half a year of the trip. Stocks of bacon amounted to 325 tons, cheese - 150 tons. In addition, there were stocks of fish, rice, beans, oil, vinegar, etc. in the holds.

Water reserves amounted to 12 thousand barrels. There were also stocks of candles, lanterns, lamps, canvas, hemp, bull skins, lead plates for sealing holes from gunfire. In a word, the reserves of the fleet ensured the vital activity of both the ships and the land army.

This fleet (according to Diego Pimentelli), according to the calculations of the king himself, was provided with supplies for 32 thousand people and cost the Spanish crown 30 thousand ducats a day.

On board the ships were five thirds of the Spanish troops (the third corresponds to the French regiment) under the command of five generals, Spanish masters of field battles. In addition to these, many veteran soldiers were recruited from the garrisons of Sicily, Naples and Tercera. The captains or colonels were Diego Pimentelli, Francisco de Toledo, Alonso de Luzon, Nicholas de Isla, Augustin de Mejia. Each of them had under his command 32 companies of soldiers. In addition, there were many separate detachments from Castile and Portugal, each of which had its own commander, officers, insignia and weapons.

While this huge Armada was preparing to sail in the ports of Spain and its possessions, the Duke of Parma, with all his efforts and abilities, gathered at Dunkirk a flotilla of warships, auxiliary ships and barges for the transfer to England of selected troops, who were destined for the main role in the conquest of England. Thousands of workers worked day and night in the ports of Flanders and Brabant on the construction of ships. In Antwerp, Bruges and Ghent, 100 ships were built and loaded with provisions and ammunition. These vessels and 60 flat-bottomed barges, each of which could hold 30 horses, were transported along rivers and canals (including those specially dug for this operation) to Nieuwpoort and Dunkirk. In Nieuwpoort, another 100 small vessels were prepared for sailing, and in Dunkirk, 32 vessels. 20 thousand empty barrels were loaded there, as well as materials for blocking harbors, building pontoons, forts and fortifications. The army, which was supposed to be delivered to England on these ships, numbered up to 30 thousand infantry and 4 thousand cavalry stationed in Courtrai (Kortrijk), and consisted mainly of hardened veterans. The soldiers were rested (they had only recently had to participate in the siege of the city of Sluys) and dreamed of going on an expedition as soon as possible in the hope of rich booty.

“In the hope of joining this great campaign of conquest, which allegedly promised considerable benefits to everyone, noble nobles flocked to the army from many countries. From Spain came the Duke of Pestranha, who declared himself the son of Ruy Gómez de Silva, but was in fact a royal bastard; Marquis de Bourgh, one of the sons of the Grand Duke Ferdinand of Philippine Welserina; Vespasian Gonzaga, a great warrior from the family of the dukes of Mantua, who was the king's viceroy; Giovanni de Medici, bastard of the ruler of Florence; Amedo, bastard of the Duke of Savoy, and many other warriors of more modest origin.

The traitor William Stanley advised King Philip II to first land an army not in England, but in Ireland. Admiral Santa Cruz recommended first occupying several large ports in Holland or Zeeland, where the Armada could take shelter in case of a big storm, and from where they could then go to England. But Philip II preferred to reject both advice and ordered that the fleet immediately take a course for England. On May 20, the Armada emerged from the mouth of the Tahoe, having celebrated the impending victory with pomp in advance, to the cries of thousands of people, confident that England could already be considered conquered. But, heading north, while still in sight of the Spanish coast, the fleet fell into a violent storm. Pretty battered ships returned to the ports of Biscay and Galicia. But the Spaniards suffered the greatest loss, before they had even left Tajo, with the death of Admiral Santa Cruz, who was supposed to lead the fleet to the shores of England.

This seasoned sailor, despite all his merits and successes, could not escape the wrath of his master. Philip II rudely scolded him: "You respond with ingratitude to my kind attitude towards you." The veteran's heart could not stand these words, they were fatal to him. Unable to withstand the burden of fatigue and unfair resentment, the admiral fell ill and died. Philip II put in his place the Duke of Medina Sidonia Alonso Perez de Guzman, one of the most influential Spanish grandees, who, however, did not have sufficient knowledge and talent to lead such an expedition. However, under him were Juan de Martinez Recalde of Biscay and Miguel Orquendo de Gipuzkoa, both brave and experienced sailors.

Reports that the enemy fleet was battered by a storm raised unjustified hopes at the English court. Some of the queen's advisers felt that the invasion would now be delayed until next year.

But the Lord Admiral of the English Navy, Howard Effingham, more wisely judged that the danger had not yet passed. As mentioned above, he took the liberty of not fulfilling the order to disarm most of the ships. Moreover, Sir Howard had no intention of keeping the ships idle on the English coast, waiting in their own ports until the Spaniards, having regained their strength, again set a course for England. At that time, as in our day, English sailors preferred to attack first rather than parry the blows of the enemy, although, if circumstances so required, they were able to exercise caution and calmly wait. It was decided to go to the coast of Spain, to reconnoiter the real state of the enemy and, if possible, to strike at him. You can be sure that many subordinates supported the bold tactics of the admiral. Howard and Drake headed for A Coruña, hoping to surprise and attack part of the Spanish fleet in this harbor. But when they were already near the Spanish coast, the north wind suddenly changed to the south. Fearing that the Spaniards would take advantage of this and go out to sea unnoticed, Howard returned to the English Channel, where he continued to cruise in search of enemy ships for some time. In one of the letters he wrote during that period, he complains about how difficult it is to guard such a large stretch of the sea. This problem should not be forgotten even today when planning the defense of the coast from the actions of enemy fleets from the south. “I myself,” he wrote, “are now in the very center of the strait, Francis Drake, with 20 ships and 4-5 pinasses (pinasses), is heading for Uesan (near French Brittany. - Ed.). And Hawkins, having even more strength, is heading towards the Isles of Scilly (near the Cornwall peninsula. - Ed.). This is impermissible, because, taking advantage of the change in the wind, they (the Spaniards) can pass us unnoticed. It is necessary to prepare for the meeting in a different way. As experience tells me, daily observation is required on a site of about 100 miles, and I do not have enough strength for this. But later there were reports that the Spaniards were doing nothing and were in their ports and the crews of the ships were suffering from diseases. Then Effingham also relaxed his guard and returned with the bulk of the fleet to Plymouth.

On July 12, the Armada fully recovered and again headed for the strait and reached it without hindrance, not noticed by the British and not attacked by their ships.

The plans of the Spaniards provided that their fleet, at least for a while, would dominate the sea. At that moment, he will be joined by the flotilla that the Duke of Parma had assembled at Calais. Then, accompanied by the ships of the Spanish fleet, the army of the Duke of Parma Farnese will reach the coast of England, where he will land his army, as well as troops from the ships of the mother country. This plan differed little from that drawn up against England a little over two centuries later.

Just as Napoleon in 1805 waited with his flotilla in Boulogne until Villeneuve drew the English ships to himself in order to cross the English Channel unhindered, the Duke of Parma in 1588 waited until the Duke of Medina Sidonia drew the ships to himself English and Dutch fleets. Then the veterans of Alexander Farnese will be able to cross the sea and land on the enemy coast. Thank God that in both cases the expectations of the enemies of England were in vain! (Because in both cases the British had no chance of winning battles on land. - Ed.)

Despite the fact that the number of ships that the government of the queen managed to collect for the defense of England, thanks to the patriotism of the population, exceeded the number of ships of the enemy, in terms of total tonnage the English fleet was more than half inferior to the Spanish. In terms of the number of guns and the weight of their volley, this difference was even more significant. In addition, the English admiral had to divide his forces: Lord Henry Seymour, with a squadron of 40 of the best English and Dutch ships, was given the task of blocking the ports of Flanders in order to prevent the flotilla of the Duke of Parma from leaving Dunkirk.

According to the instructions of Philip II, the Duke of Medina Sidonia was to enter the English Channel and stay closer to the French coast. In the event of an attack by the English fleet, he was supposed to withdraw to Calais without engaging in battle, where the squadron of the Duke of Parma would join him. In the hope of taking the English fleet by surprise at Plymouth, attacking and destroying it, the Spanish admiral retreated from this plan and immediately headed for the shores of England. But, having learned that the English ships were coming out to meet him, he returned to his original plan to go towards Calais and Dunkirk, in order to give a defensive battle to that part of the English fleet that would follow him.

On Saturday, July 20, Lord Effingham saw the enemy fleet with his own eyes. The ships of the Armada lined up in the shape of a crescent about 15 km from edge to edge. A southwesterly wind was blowing, which slowly drove the ships forward. The British allowed the enemy to pass them, then attached themselves to his rear and attacked. A maneuverable battle ensued, in which some of the best ships of the Spanish fleet were captured. Many Spanish ships were heavily damaged. At the same time, the English ships tried not to approach the huge enemy ships and constantly change directions of attack, taking advantage of their better maneuverability, therefore they suffered much fewer losses. With each passing day, not only the confidence of the British in victory grew, but also the number of ships under the command of Effingham. The ships Raleigh, Oxford, Cumberland and Sheffield joined his fleet. "English gentlemen, at their own expense, hired ships everywhere and flocked in groups to the area of ​​​​the battle to acquire glory for themselves and honestly serve their queen and their country."

Walter Raleigh praised the skillful tactics of the English admiral. He wrote: “The one who falls to fight at sea must be able to choose the type of ships that he is going to use. He must remember that a naval commander, in addition to great courage, must possess many other qualities. He must understand the difference in tactics between a naval battle at a distance and a boarding battle. The guns of a slow-moving ship are capable of making holes in the enemy hull in the same way as the guns of a small maneuverable ship. To collect indiscriminately in one formation everything that can float on the water can only be afforded by a madman, and not by any means an experienced admiral. Such recklessness was characteristic of Peter Straussy, who was defeated at the Azores in a battle against the fleet of the Marquis de Santa Cruz. Had Admiral Charles Howard done the same in 1588, his defeat would have been inevitable. Fortunately, unlike many desperate lunatics, Howard had good advisers. On board the Spanish ships were troops that the British did not have. Their fleet was larger, their ships were taller and more powerfully armed. If the British had tried to force close combat on the Spaniards, they would have lost, thereby placing England in the face of the greatest danger. On the defensive, twenty men are equal to about a hundred brave men trying to board an enemy ship and capture it. And the balance of power, on the contrary, was just such that twenty Englishmen were opposed by a hundred Spaniards. But our admiral knew the advantages of his fleet and took advantage of them. If he had not been able to do this, he would have been unworthy to bear his head.”

The Spanish admiral also showed his skill and fortitude in trying to impose on the British a premeditated battle tactic. Therefore, on July 27, he brought his heavily battered, but not completely defeated fleet to the port of Calais. But the king of Spain misjudged the number of ships of the English and Dutch fleets, as well as their possible tactics. As one of the historians noted, “apparently, the Duke of Parma and the Spaniards, being in error, proceeded from the fact that all the ships of England and the Netherlands, with the same view of the fleet of Spain and Dunkirk, should have taken flight, giving the enemy complete freedom of action at sea and thinking of nothing but the defense of his country and his coast from invasion. Their idea was that the Duke of Parma, with his small ships, under the cover of the Spanish fleet, would ferry the troops, weapons and supplies that were in them to the coast of England. And while the English fleet is engaged in battle with the Spanish ships, it will land with the army on any part of the coast that it considers suitable for this. As further interrogations of the prisoners showed, from the very beginning the Duke of Parma planned to try to land at the mouth of the Thames. Having immediately landed from 20 to 30 thousand of his soldiers on the banks of this river, he expected to easily capture London. Firstly, during the assault on the city, he could rely on the support of ground troops by the forces of the fleet, and, secondly, the city itself did not have strong fortifications, and its inhabitants were weak soldiers, since they had never participated in battles before. Even if they had not surrendered immediately, their resistance would have been crushed after a short siege.”

But the British and Dutch managed to gather enough ships to simultaneously give battle to the Spanish Armada and blockade the flotilla of the Duke of Parma Farnese at Dunkirk. Most of Seymour's squadron immediately stopped patrolling off the coast of Dunkirk and joined the English fleet in the waters of Calais. But about thirty-five excellent Dutch ships, with a large number of soldiers accustomed to fighting at sea, continued to blockade the Flemish ports where the flotilla of the Duke of Parma was stationed. The Spanish admiral and Alexander Farnese still wanted to join forces, which the British decided to prevent by any means.

The ships of the Armada were anchored in the waters of Calais. The outer part of the battle formation was made up of the largest galleons. They “raised in the roadstead like impregnable fortresses; ships of smaller tonnage stood in the middle of the formation. The English admiral knew that he would put himself at a distinct disadvantage if he decided to openly attack the Spanish fleet. On the night of September 29, he launched an attack with eight fireships, copying the tactics of the Greeks, who also attacked the Turkish fleet in the war of independence. The Spaniards raised anchors and, losing formation, went to sea. One of the largest galleons collided with another ship and ran aground. The Spanish fleet scattered along the Flemish coast. With the onset of morning, following the order of their admiral, they managed with difficulty to reassemble at Gravelines. Now the British had an excellent opportunity to attack the Spanish fleet and prevent it from releasing the Parma flotilla, which was done brilliantly. Drake and Fenner were the first to attack the enemy's vast Leviathans. Fenton, Southwell, Burton, Cross, Raynor, the Lord Admiral, Thomas Howard and Sheffield followed suit. The Spaniards could only think of how to get together more tightly. The English took their fleet away from Dunkirk and from the courts of the Duke of Parma. The Duke of Parma himself, according to Drake, watching the beating of the Spanish fleet, should have roared like a bear whose cubs have been stolen. This was the last decisive battle between the two fleets. Probably the best story about him was the description of a contemporary historian, which Haklut cites in his work:

“On the morning of July 29, the Spanish fleet, after a night of confusion, again managed to assemble in battle formation, being close to Gravelines. There he was suddenly daringly attacked by the ships of the British. Again taking advantage of a fair wind, they cut off the Spaniards from the Calais raid. Now the Spaniards had to either divide their forces, or, having gathered together, organize a defense against the British.

And although there were many excellent warships in the English fleet, only 22 or 23 of them could compete in tonnage with the ships of the Spaniards, of which there were 90, and attack them on an equal footing. But, taking advantage of maneuverability and greater controllability, the British ships could, often changing tacks, use the direction of the wind to their advantage. They often came close to the Spaniards, literally at the distance of throwing a spear, inflicting heavy damage on them. They fired at the Spaniards one side salvo after another, firing at the enemy from all types of weapons. In this merciless battle, the whole day passed until dark, as long as the British had enough gunpowder and bullets to fight. After that, it was considered inexpedient to pursue the enemy, since in this case the large ships of the Spaniards would have an advantage. In addition, the Spaniards kept in a single formation, and it was impossible to destroy them one by one. The British believed that they had already coped with their task, having withdrawn the enemy fleet from Calais and from Dunkirk. Thus, they did not allow the Spaniards to join forces with the Duke of Parma and removed the danger from their own shores.

On that day, the Spaniards suffered a heavy defeat and suffered heavy losses. In the battle with the British, they spent a significant part of their ammunition. The British also had losses, but their damage could not be compared with the losses of the Spaniards, since the British did not lose a single ship and not a single senior officer. During the entire clash with the Spaniards at sea, the British lost no more than a hundred people killed. At the same time, Francis Drake's ship took about forty hits, and his own cabin was shot through twice. And when, after the battle, the bed of this gentleman was examined, it turned out that it had fallen into disrepair, as it was riddled with bullets. During the dinner of the Earl of Northumberland and Sir Charles Blunt, a shot from an enemy half-culverin passed right through their cabin, grazed their legs. Two servants standing nearby were killed. During the battle on the English ships there were many similar cases, all of them simply cannot be listed.

Of course, the British government deserves to be blamed for the fact that the ships of the fleet did not have enough ammunition to complete the defeat of the enemy. But even without that, they did enough. During the battle that day, many large Spanish ships sank or were captured. The Spanish admiral, having lost confidence in his luck, after a battle with a south wind, sent his ships to the north in the hope of going around Scotland and returning to Spain without engaging in battle with the English ships anymore. Lord Effingham left the squadron to continue the blockade of the troops of the Duke of Parma, but Alexander Farnese, this wise commander, soon redirected his army to other directions that were more necessary for him. At the same time, the Lord Admiral and Drake pursued the "defeated armada", as it was now called, on its way from Scotland towards Norway, after which it was decided, in Drake's words, "to let it abyss in the stormy deserted northern seas." (The British were out of ammunition and most of the ships were damaged.— Ed.)

The misfortunes and losses suffered by the unfortunate Spaniards during their flight through Scotland and Ireland are well known. Of the entire Armada, only sixty-three battered ships managed to deliver their thinned crews to the shores of Spain, which they left with such pride and pomp. (Out of 128 ships, including 75 warships with 2430 guns and 30.5 thousand people, 65 ships were lost (including 40 from natural disasters) and 15 thousand people. - Ed.)

The notes of some contemporaries and witnesses of that struggle have already been cited above. But perhaps the most emotional description of the battle with the great Armada can be gleaned from a letter Drake wrote in response to the false stories that the Spaniards made up to hide their shame. This is how he describes the events in which he played such an important role:

“They did not hesitate to publish and print in different languages ​​stories about their great victories, which, as they claim, won their country. The most deceitful forgeries they spread in all parts of France, Italy and other countries. In fact, soon after the events they describe, it was clearly demonstrated to all peoples what happened to their fleet, which was considered invincible. Having one hundred and forty of their own ships, which were also reinforced by the ships of the Portuguese, the Florentines, and many large ships from other countries, they met in battle with thirty of Her Majesty's ships and some of our merchant ships under the command of the wise and brave Admiral of England, Lord Charles Howard. (Drake, as we can see, is lying a lot. The Spaniards had only 128 ships, the British had 197 ships (albeit smaller ones) with 15 thousand crew members and 6500 guns (albeit of a smaller caliber than the Spaniards). - Ed.). And the enemy was defeated and retreated in disorder, first from the peninsula of Cornwall to Portland, where he shamefully abandoned the big ship of Don Pedro de Valdes. They then fled from Portland to Calais, losing Hugo de Moncado and his galleons. At Calais, they cowardly weighed anchor and were driven away from England, and they fled, choosing a route around Scotland and Ireland. There they hoped to find shelter and help from the supporters of their religion, but many of their ships crashed against the rocks, and those who managed to land on the shore were killed or captured. There, bound in pairs, they were taken from village to village to England. And Her Majesty scornfully rejected even the thought of executing them or detaining and using them at her discretion. All of them were sent back to their countries as witnesses to what their invincible, terrifying fleet was really worth. The exact number of soldiers, the description of their ships, the names of the commanders, the stores of equipment destined for their army and navy, were accurately described. And they, who had previously shown such arrogance, during the entire time they sailed off the coast of England, could not even sink or capture a single of our ships, barges, pinnaces, or even a ship's boat, or even burn at least one sheepfold on our land ”(purely English“ objectivity "". The British did not really lose a single ship in the battles, but the Spaniards - only 15. I wonder what would have happened if it had not been for the storm and the Spaniards had not landed in Ireland, always ready to rebel against the British. An epidemic broke out in the English fleet dysentery and typhus, and almost half of the personnel (7 thousand out of 15 thousand) went to the forefathers. All the financial resources of then poor England were exhausted. But - fought back! - Ed.).

For decades, English privateers sank and robbed Spanish ships. This brought enormous losses to the country. So, for the 1582nd Spain suffered losses in the amount of more than 1,900,000 ducats. Another reason why the decision to create a flotilla was made was the support of the Dutch uprising by Elizabeth the First, the Queen of England. Philip II - the monarch of Spain - considered it his duty to help the English Catholics who fought against the Protestants. In this regard, almost 180 clerics were present on the ships of the flotilla. Moreover, during recruitment, every sailor and soldier had to confess and take communion. For their part, the rebellious British hoped for victory. They hoped that they could destroy the Spanish monopoly trade with the New World, as well as spread Protestant ideas in Europe. Thus, both sides had their own interest in this event.

The King of Spain ordered the flotilla to approach the English Channel. There she was to unite with the 30,000th army of the Duke of Parma. The troops were located in Flanders. Together they were to cross the English Channel to Essex. After that, a march on London was supposed. The Spanish king expected the Catholics to leave Elizabeth and join him. However, this plan was not fully thought out. In particular, it did not take into account the shallow water, which did not allow ships to approach the coast to take on board the duke's army. In addition, the Spaniards did not take into account the power of the English fleet. And, of course, Philip could not even imagine that the defeat of the Invincible Armada would happen.

Alvaro de Bazan was appointed head of the Armada. He was rightfully considered the best Spanish admiral. It was he who was the initiator and organizer of the flotilla. As contemporaries later said, if he had led the ships, then the defeat of the Invincible Armada would hardly have happened. The year 1588, however, was the last for the admiral in his life. He died in the 63rd year, before the flotilla went to sea. Alonso Pérez de Guzman was appointed instead. He was not an experienced navigator, but he had excellent organizational skills. They allowed him to quickly find a common language with experienced captains. Thanks to their joint efforts, a powerful fleet was created, which was supplied with provisions and equipped with everything necessary. In addition, the commanding staff developed a system of signals, orders and battle order, the same for the entire multinational army.

The Armada included about 130 ships, 30.5 thousand people, 2,430 guns. The main forces were divided into six squadrons:

1) Castile.

2) "Portugal".

3) "Biscay".

4) "Gipuzkoa".

5) Andalusia.

6) "Levant".

The Armada also included four Neapolitan galleasses and the same number of Portuguese galleys. In addition, the flotilla included a large number of reconnaissance vessels, for messenger service and with supplies. Food stocks included millions of biscuits, 400,000 pounds of rice, 600,000 pounds of corned beef and salted fish, 40,000 gallons of butter, 14,000 barrels of wine, 6,000 sacks of beans, 300,000 pounds of cheese. Of the ammunition on the ships, there were 124 thousand cores, 500 thousand powder charges.

The flotilla left the Lisbon harbor on May 29, 1588. However, on the way she was overtaken by a storm, which drove the ships to La Coruña, a port in northwestern Spain. There, the sailors had to repair ships and replenish food supplies. The commander of the flotilla was concerned about the shortage of provisions and the illness of his sailors. In this regard, he frankly wrote to Philip that he doubted the success of the campaign. However, the monarch insisted that the admiral follow the set course and not deviate from the plan. Two months later, after stopping in the Lisbon harbor, the flotilla reached the English Channel.

photo: King Philip II of Spain, 1580

The admiral of the flotilla strictly followed Philip's order and sent ships to the shore to receive the troops. While waiting for a response from the duke, the commander of the Armada ordered to anchor off Calais. This position was very vulnerable, which played into the hands of the British. On the same night, they sent 8 ships set on fire with explosives and combustible materials to the Spanish ships. Most of the captains began to cut the ropes and frantically tried to escape. Subsequently, a strong wind and a powerful current carried the Spaniards to the north. They could not return to the Duke of Parma. The decisive battle took place the next day.

The flotilla was defeated by the Anglo-Dutch maneuverable light ships. They were commanded by Ch. Howard. Several clashes took place in the English Channel, which ended the Battle of Gravelines. So, in what year was the defeat of the Invincible Armada? The fleet did not last long. She was defeated in the same year in which the campaign began - in 1588. The battles at sea continued for two weeks. The Spanish flotilla failed to regroup. Collisions with enemy ships took place in extremely difficult conditions. Great difficulties were created by the constantly changing wind. The main skirmishes took place at Portland Bill, Start Point, Isle of Wight. During the battles, the Spaniards lost about 7 ships. The final defeat of the Invincible Armada took place at Calais. Abandoning further invasion, the admiral led the ships north across the Atlantic, along the western coast of Ireland. At the same time, enemy ships followed her at a short distance, moving along the eastern coast of England.

It was very difficult. After the battles, many ships were badly damaged and barely kept afloat. Off the northwest coast of Ireland, the flotilla was caught in a two-week storm. Many ships crashed on the rocks during it or went missing. In the end, on September 23, the first ships, after long wanderings, reached the north of Spain. Only 60 ships managed to return home. Human losses were estimated from 1/3 to 3/4 of the number of crews. A huge number of people died from wounds and diseases, many drowned. Even those who managed to return home practically starved to death, as all food supplies were depleted. One of the ships ran aground in Laredo because the sailors did not even have the strength to lower the sails and anchor.

Great losses were brought to Spain by the defeat of the Invincible Armada. The date when this event took place will forever remain in the history of the country as one of the most tragic. However, the defeat did not lead to an immediate decline in Spanish power at sea. The 90s of the 16th century are generally characterized by fairly successful campaigns. So, the attempt of the British to invade the Spanish waters with their Armada ended in a crushing defeat. The battle took place in 1589. After 2 years, Spanish ships defeated the British in the Atlantic Ocean in several battles. All these victories, however, could not compensate for the losses that the defeat of the Invincible Armada brought to the country. Spain learned an extremely important lesson for itself from this unsuccessful campaign. Subsequently, the country abandoned clumsy and heavy ships in favor of lighter ships equipped with long-range weapons.

The defeat of the Invincible Armada (1588) buried any hope of restoring Catholicism in England. The involvement of this country to one degree or another in the foreign policy of Spain was also out of the question. This, in fact, meant that Philip's position in the Netherlands would deteriorate sharply. As for England, for her the defeat of the Spanish flotilla was the first step towards gaining dominance at sea. For Protestants, this event marked the end of the expansion of the Habsburg Empire and the widespread spread of Catholicism. In their eyes, it was a manifestation of God's will. Many people living at that time in Protestant Europe believed that only Heavenly intervention helped to cope with the flotilla, which, as one of his contemporaries said, was difficult for the wind to carry, and the ocean groaned under its weight.

The Spaniards were not very lucky in maritime historiography. Almost all of the history of the 16th century, until recently, relied only on English sources, which led to the emergence of a wild number of completely unthinkable myths. Ask almost anyone - he will answer that the British defeated the Invincible Armada at Gravelines, and that from that moment the decline of Spain's naval power began.

background

Anglo-Spanish contradictions have been growing for a long time, since the 1560s. The two maritime superpowers had many reasons not to love each other, but the last straw was the official signing by the English queen of an agreement on military assistance to the Netherlands, who rebelled against the Habsburgs.

In the end, Philip II decided to send a large fleet to the shores of England, land his troops there and carry out a palace coup - or force Elizabeth to act under the dictation of the Spanish king. It was a lightning operation that was planned, because at that time Spain had already participated in several protracted wars, and the king did not want to get involved in another one.

As a result, after long ups and downs, the Spaniards equipped a large fleet - 21 galleons, 2 galisabars, 39 nao, 30 "urcas", 22 pataches, 2 pinas, 4 galleas, 4 galleys, 8 zabars - a total of 132 ships (67 of them with a displacement of more than 500 tons) with a total tonnage of 59,394 tons with 2,493 guns of all calibers. There were 30,565 sailors and soldiers on board, as well as supplies and provisions for so many people, so some of the ships were terribly overloaded. The Duke of Medina Sidonia was appointed commander of the fleet.

The task assigned to the Armada by Philip II was simple: without being distracted by protracted battles, reach Dunkirk and transport the experienced 27,000-strong army of their allies to Albion - the Flemish army under the command of the nephew of the Spanish king Alessandro Farnese. The Spaniards planned to land "landing" on land in the area of ​​​​the British ports of Dover and Margate.

Campaign of the Invincible Armada

On May 28, 1588, the Armada left Lisbon. A contrary wind and storms delayed the Sidonian fleet on the way, but on July 30 the Spaniards finally entered the English Channel, today more often referred to as the English Channel.

Armada at sea

Who prepared for their meeting?

By May 1588, the English navy consisted of 34 royal galleons and 163 chartered privateers - a total of 197 ships. Of this number, 30 ships had a displacement of 200 to 1000 tons. 19 royal ships had at least 30 guns. 12 of these ships were privateers under the command of corsairs - Francis Drake, Martin Frobisher, John Hawkins, Lord Charles Howard of Effingham. The latter was appointed commander-in-chief of the fleet.

The total tonnage of the English ships was only 29,744 tons (that is, the average ship had a displacement of 150 tons, which corresponded to the Spanish Patash), the total number of crews was 15,551 people. According to the doctrine of John Hawkins, appointed treasurer and inspector of the Royal Nevi in ​​1573, they expected to defeat the Spaniards in an artillery battle. It was for this that ships of a new type were built, their teams were preparing.

On August 5, the Spaniards came to the Calais raid and contacted Alessandro Farnese, for whose transportation they were sent. However, the Flemings could not go to sea - Dunkirk and Antwerp were blocked by the Dutch fleet of Justin of Nassau.

Attacking the Dutch fleet, having the British in the rear, and outnumbering the Spaniards, was like a murder - even if Medina-Sidonia had managed to break through the barriers of the “sea gezes” to the Dunkirk raid, it would not have been possible to go back. If we add here the problems with ammunition on the ships of the Armada, it is clear that already at this stage the plan for landing in England collapsed.

Armada off the coast of England

The news that Farnese's army was not ready to land had the effect of a bombshell. Even then, the Spaniards are considering the option to turn back and return to their native ports. So far this plan has been favored by a steady south-easterly wind. But still we decided to wait. On August 6, Howard tried to attack the Spaniards, linking up with Seymour. Skirmishes went on all day, but there were no casualties. Both sides began to experience a lack of gunpowder, the British retreated to their shores to replenish supplies.

Breath of the Lord

The next day, on the advice of Drake, the British decided to attack with fireships. For this, the following sailing and rowing vessels were allocated: the Talbot bark, the Hope pinnace, the Thomas Howe, the Bond bark, the small ships Bear Yange, Elizabeth, Angel and Kurse Ship. On the night of August 7-8, fire-ships with a tailwind were sent to the Spaniards.

It is worth saying that the inventor of the “infernal machines” Gianibelli fled to England a little earlier, who in March 1585, during the siege of Antwerp, launched fireships on the Spaniards, on which gunpowder and a lot of combustible materials were loaded - sulfur, coal, tar, bundles of brushwood. Grenades filled with lead shot, pieces of iron, nails, glass shards were placed inside the fire-ship hull. In addition, six iron blowers emerged from the base of the ship, which during the explosion erupted long jets of fire (the prototype of flamethrowers). Then, in the explosion of such a firewall, more than 800 Spaniards died. Naturally, the Spaniards knew that Gianibelli was in England at that moment, moreover, he was assigned to Howard as an assistant in the fleet.

And when burning ships went to the Armada, the Spaniards were sure that Gianibelli's "infernal cars" were going to them, and not the usual boats with a combustible substance. This caused a panic in the roadstead of Calais. The captains of the galleons hurriedly cut anchors, the San Lorenzo galleass ran aground and was boarded the next day (moreover, the loss of the British amounted to 200 people), the fleet of the Spanish dons scattered across the sea. On August 8, the British approached and showered the scattered Spanish ships with cannonballs, and only 40 ships were at hand near Medina-Sidonia - the rest were blown away to the west.

Attack with fireships on the roadstead of Calais

Thus began the Battle of Gravelines. From the book of the English historian William Thomas Welsh:

“The fierce battle lasted from 9.00 to 18.00. Medina-Sidonia had at that moment only 40 ships, with which he opposed the entire English fleet. The Spaniards fought with desperate determination. Never before or since - not even at Lepanto - did Spanish sailors and naval soldiers give such an example of fearlessness as on this day, August 8th. And this–after nine days of uninterrupted fighting, after a terrible night full of emotional excitement and fear caused by the attack of fireships and the loss of anchors "

The British managed to cut off 6 Spanish galleons (San Martin, San Marcos, San Juan de Sicily, Trinidad Valencera, San Felippe and San Mateo) from the main forces and attack them. According to the reports of the Spaniards, they were attacked by as many as 150 ships (it is hard to believe in this, but the British certainly outnumbered the enemy many times over), but the squadrons of Recalde and Oquendo, which broke through in time, helped to fight back. The 665-ton, 24-gun charter vessel Maria Juan was badly damaged by gunfire. On August 10, she sank from the received damage at Gravelines, and the crew was removed from her.

Drake squadron (50 pennants) within three hours shot the San Martin galleon (1000 combat tons, 48 ​​guns) from a lethal distance of 30–50 yards. The masts were badly damaged on it, but the galleon was able to repair itself at night and connect with the main forces. Next came Hawkins and Frobisher with their divisions, and 17 English ships two hours shot galleon "San Felippe" (840 tons, 40 guns). On the galleon "San Mateo" (750 tons, 34 guns) three times eight English ships boarded, and all three times were repulsed.

Battle of Gravelines

The unfortunate San Felippe (840 tons, 40 guns) and San Mateo (750 tons, 34 guns) after a six-hour battle were badly damaged and fell behind. Both of them ran aground, and the teams were killed by the Dutch - moreover, on the San Felippe after the capitulation of the galleon team, and on the San Mateo - as a result of a fierce boarding battle.

From the Dutch description of the last battle of San Mateo:

“As soon as our boats approached the doomed Spanish ship at 15 yards, a wall of arquebusiers appeared at the sides of the Spaniard, which gave us an aimed volley. Many of my comrades were wounded and killed, some flew off the boats into the sea. Spanish musketeers fired harassing fire from the masts; even cuirasses did not save them from the bullets of their heavy guns. Several lieutenants leading the boarding parties were killed by these musketeers. We still managed to get on board, and a scuffle began, cruel and merciless. Neither we nor our enemies knew mercy. The blood flowed like a river"

The damaged Nao "Trinidad Walencera" headed for Bruges, but near Blankenberge was intercepted by the English captain Robert Cross on the "Hope" and surrendered after a half-hour shelling. Mention should also be made of the Portuguese "urca" "San Pedro Menor", which, before the battle, went over to the side of the British with the entire crew.

On the same day, a message came from Farnese that the troops could not be ready for loading until two weeks later. At the next military council, a heated discussion unfolded about the next steps. Admirals Recalde, Leiva and Oquendo said that the attack at Gravelines did not lead to a British victory. They suggested that the Armada drift at the entrance to the Pas de Calais, waiting for the usual northwest in those parts and the readiness of Farnese, to break through to Dunkirk, load the troops and land them in England. But although the opinion of these admirals was very significant, Medina Sidonia decided to still vote. The majority was in favor of returning back to the English Channel and leading the ships home.

However, these plans were not destined to come true. The wind changed to the southwest, so the Armada decided to go around the British Isles and return to Spain. The Queen of England, learning of the decision of the Iberians, said very precisely: “The Lord blew, and they scattered!”

Campaign of the Armada

The further fate of the Armada is widely known. Until August 11, the British, not believing their luck, cautiously followed the Spaniards, but did not attack them. On August 12, the Spaniards passed the Firth of Forth, by the 20th they were near the Orkney Islands. Already at that moment there were about 3,000 sick and frostbite on the squadron. On September 3, part of the squadron passed the strait between the Hebrides and Scotland. By this time, the ships were scattered across the sea. On September 10, Spanish ships reached Ireland. Hopes for the help of brothers in faith did not materialize - the Irish robbed and killed the survivors. Many sailors died of starvation. On the inhospitable rocks of this island, 20 Spanish ships crashed. On September 21, the remnants of the Recalde Armada of Biscay entered the raid of the Spanish Santander. From September 22 to 30, stragglers arrived. Part of the ships reached A Coruña, San Sebastian and Ferrol. In total, the Happiest Armada lost 63 ships, of which only 7 were combat losses. Estimated cost of losses - 1 million 400 escudos. In addition, the Armada was missing 10,000 sailors.

Graveline's lessons

But let's still talk about the results of the battle of Gravelines. So, the Spaniards had 125 ships (out of 132 units - 3 ships were lost at Plymouth, and 4 galleys could not cope with the rough sea and went to France).

As a result of the battle at Graveline, in which 195 ships (155 English and 40 Dutch) acted from the enemy, the Spaniards lost 5 ships (the San Lorenzo galleons, the San Felippe and San Mateo galleons, the Urku " San Pedro Menor" and Nao "Trinidat Valencera"), of which only three were direct losses from damage in battle, and even then they were not drowned, but boarded. That is, 3 out of 125 ships.

Can this really be considered a decisive victory? This is much more like a failure of Hawkins' concept of the general role of artillery in naval combat. This does not look so fantastic, if we remember that large-caliber guns then had a short firing range, and a salvo from light guns could not penetrate the side of an enemy ship. For example, guns over 26 pounds were very rare on Spanish and Dutch ships. This fully fit into the concept of the auxiliary role of artillery: the task of the guns was to shoot quickly, and large calibers required considerable time to reload.

In this way, first conclusion, made from the battles in the English Channel, was the following - the main trick sea ​​battle there was and still is an abortion.

At the same time, battles with the Invincible Armada showed that fast, light, maneuverable ships can easily avoid boarding heavier, but clumsy enemy galleons, and also easily keep such a distance at which galleon guns will be ineffective. From here followed second conclusion- there must be a fairly large number of small ships in the squadron, which will either drive away such ships from the main forces, or attack the enemy. It is clear that a one-on-one small ship with a small crew has almost no chance of boarding an enemy ship. From here the naval commanders made one more conclusion - when boarding large ships with small ones, it is necessary to create a local superiority in forces, that is, one large ship should attack three to five small ships.

So there was swarm tactics. To attack the enemy, the ships lined up in accordance with this tactic - that is, concentrating at the flagships of the divisions. Each division consisted of three to five ships. The fleet itself was divided into the vanguard, rearguard and center, and the vanguard and rearguard were often used not as the front and rear lines of ships, but as on land - along the flanks, "regiment of the right hand", "regiment of the left hand". The battle management was present only at the initial stage, then each ship chose its own target. If the enemy had ships of large displacement, then they were attacked by one or two divisions. The task of the ships of the “swarm” was to get closer and go on boarding faster. Just like the earlier Zaporizhzhya Cossacks or later the “naval servants” of the rowing fleet of Peter the Great, many small boats surrounded the “leviathans” of the enemy from all sides, prize teams landed on enemy decks and boarded.

But what if the enemy has greater strength than the attacker? Or if the formation of the enemy precludes a "swarm" attack? For destruction enemy formation and inflicting significant losses, firewalls were used- ships loaded with flammable or explosive substances used to set fire to and destroy enemy ships. Such a ship could be controlled by a crew that left the ship in the middle of the journey, or rafted downstream or downwind towards the enemy fleet. Torches floating on wooden ships usually completely upset the formation and control of the enemy fleet, which was demonstrated by the attack at Gravelin of the Invincible Armada, where the Spaniards lost all anchors and, in fact, could no longer take on board the land units of the Farnese.

The Dutch fleet quickly drew precisely such conclusions for itself - lighter ships were loaded with light artillery and equipped with increased teams. As for the Spaniards, they decided that their galleons with a large number of sea soldiers were a pretty tough nut to crack for any attacker. The galleon for the hidalgo was an ocean ship, with all its advantages and disadvantages. And the main role in the construction of the galleons was played precisely by their universalism, and not by sharpening for specific combat missions. Today he could carry cargo to the West Indies, tomorrow he could sail for goods to Manila, the day after tomorrow guns were hoisted on the galleon, and the ship participated in a military expedition to the English Channel, and a few days later the ship, having returned the guns to the Cadiz Arsenal, again headed for silver in the West Indies. Yes, it was a heavy and clumsy ship, but the task of attacking someone's maritime trade was not set before the galleons. Rather, they had to be afraid of being attacked, so they didn't really need speed.

In general, there is a paradox - the real conclusions from the battle of Gravelines are not that artillery became a decisive force in a naval battle, but in the conservation of boarding tactics and fire ships until the mid-1650s.

However, strategically, Gravelines did prove to be a defeat for the Spaniards, and plans for a blitzkrieg on Philip II's Island after Gravelines were buried and forgotten. A long and difficult war began - now also with England.

Literature:

1. Colin Martin, Geoffrey Parker "The Spanish Armada" » , Penguin Books, 1999
2. Parker, Geoffrey "The Grand Strategy of Philip II" - New Haven and London, 1998.
3. William T. Walsh "Philip II" - London, "Sheed and Ward", 1937.
4. Neil Hanson "The Confident Hope of a Miracle - The True History of the Spanish Armada" - London, 2003.
5. Fernández Duro, Cesáreo "Armada Española desde la Unión de los Reinos de Castilla y Aragón" - Museo Naval de Madrid, Instituto de Historia y Cultura Naval, Madrid, 1972.
6. Lewis, M. "Armada guns" - Austalia, 1961.
7. Ed. Laughton, J. K. "State papers relating to the defeat of the Spanish Armada, anno 1588", - London, Navy Records Society, 1894.
8. Corbett, Julian S. Drake and the Tudor Navy: With a History of the Rise of England as a Maritime Power, 1898.

On August 8, 1588, during the Anglo-Spanish War (1586-1589), the British fleet dealt a strong blow to the Spanish "Invincible Armada" (originally it was called "La felicissima Armada" - "Happy Armada"). This event became the most famous episode of this war.

The reason for the war was the intervention of the British in the conflict between the Netherlands and Spain and the attacks of English sea robbers on Spanish possessions and ships, as a result of which Anglo-Spanish relations escalated to the limit. In addition, the Spanish ruler Philip II, while still heir to the throne, in 1554 married the British queen Mary the Bloody, when Mary died, he wished to marry her successor Elizabeth, but the latter skillfully rejected this claim.

Philip II.

Spain - the superpower of the time

Spain at that time was a real superpower, it had a huge colonial empire, a large and powerful, well-trained army. The Spanish infantry at that time was considered the best in the Christian world. The Spanish fleet was more numerous and better equipped than naval forces other European countries. In addition to power over Spain, King Philip possessed the crowns of Naples and Sicily; he was also Duke of Milan, Franche-Comté (Burgundy) and the Netherlands. In Africa, Spain owned Tunisia, part of Algeria and the Canary Islands. In Asia, the Spaniards owned the Philippine and some other islands. The Spanish crown possessed the richest lands of the New World. The territories of Peru, Mexico, New Spain and Chile with their huge reserves of natural resources (including precious metals), Central America, Cuba and many other islands in the Caribbean were the possessions of the Spanish ruler.

Philip II, of course, experienced a feeling of annoyance and humiliation when he learned about the rebellion against his power in the rich possession of the Spanish crown - the Netherlands. The Spanish army was able to return the Southern Netherlands (Belgium) under the control of the Spanish throne, but the Northern provinces of the Netherlands (Holland), with the support of the British, continued the armed struggle against Spanish rule.

However, the damage that the Spanish state suffered by losing the Netherlands was more than compensated by the acquisition of Portugal, which was subjugated in 1581. At the same time, the Spanish crown received not only this ancient kingdom, but also its vast colonial possessions, all the fruits of the campaigns of Portuguese sailors. Spain gained control of all the Portuguese colonies in America, Africa, India and the East Indies. The Spain of Philip II became a real world empire. The brilliant victory at Lepanto (October 7, 1571), where the Spanish fleet, in alliance with other members of the Holy League, defeated the Turkish fleet, brought the Spanish sailors deserved fame and respect throughout the Christian world. The power of the Spanish Empire seemed unshakable.

But the glory and wealth of Spain irritated England, which was put on by the "behind the scenes" of that time. For a number of reasons, behind-the-scenes structures relied on Protestantism and England. Catholicism and its representative - Spain, were not suitable for the construction of the "New World Order". Its basis was to be the future British Empire. Therefore, England tried to find the weaknesses of Spain and deliver a decisive blow in order to crush her power and seize leadership in the world. The British supported the rebellious Netherlands, providing them with financial and military assistance. English "sea wolves" attacked Spanish possessions and ships, challenging the Spanish Empire. The British waged an information war against Spain and the Spanish king, inflicting personal insults on him. Ideas about "bad Spaniards" and "noble pirates" who challenged the "tyranny" of Spain began to take shape precisely in that era.

As a result, Philip decides to "pull out the thorn" and crush England. There was another factor that forced the Spanish king to move against England. He was a truly religious man and a fierce supporter of the eradication of heresy (various areas of Protestantism) and the restoration throughout Europe of the dominance of Catholicism and the power of the pope. In fact, it was a battle of the old "central command post" Western Europe– Rome and the emerging new center of the future world order.

Philip II believed that his mission was the final eradication of Protestantism. The counter-reformation was gaining momentum. Protestantism was completely done away with in Italy and Spain. Belgium was again reduced to obedience in matters of religion, becoming one of the strongholds of Catholicism in Europe. It was possible to restore the power of the papal throne in half of the German territories. Catholicism survived in Poland. The Catholic League seemed to be gaining ground in France as well. Rome created a powerful and effective tool to combat Protestantism - the organization of the Jesuits and other religious orders. Rome supported the idea of ​​a campaign. Pope Sixtus V issued a bull, which was to be kept secret until the day of the landing, in which he again anathematized the English Queen Elizabeth, as Popes Pius V and Gregory XIII had done before, and called for her overthrow.

Preparing for a hike

Back in 1585, Spain began to prepare a large fleet, which they called the "Invincible Armada" for a campaign against England. "Armada" was supposed to land on the British Isles an expeditionary force from the army of the Dutch governor Alexander Farnese. Farnese troops, in order to prepare a base on the Dutch coast, besieged and captured the port of Sluys on August 5, 1587. But in the same year, 1587, an English squadron under the command of Admiral Francis Drake raided Cadiz and destroyed many ships and warehouses with military materials. This attack delayed the start of the campaign of the Spanish fleet to the shores of England.

In Flanders, work was underway on the construction of small flat-bottomed ships, on which they planned to transfer landing troops under the cover of the Armada ships to the mouth of the Thames. Gun carriages, fascines, various siege equipment, as well as materials necessary for building crossings, building camps for the landing army and erecting wooden fortifications were prepared. They dug a canal from Sas van Gent to Bruges and deepened the Yperle fairway from Bruges to Newport so that ships approaching the coast would not come under fire from the Dutch fleet or the guns of the fortress of Vlissingen. Military forces were transferred from Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria and Burgundy and volunteers came who wished to take part in the punitive expedition. The operation was financed by Spain and Rome. In the summer of 1587, an agreement was concluded according to which the pope was to contribute one million escudos to military expenses. This money was to be paid by Rome after the Spaniards took possession of the very first English port.

Farnese knew that the harbors of Dunkirk, Newport and Sluys at the disposal of the Spanish authorities were too shallow for large ships to enter and suggested that Vlissingen, which was more convenient for basing the fleet, be captured before the expedition was sent. But the Spanish king was in a hurry and did not accept this reasonable offer.

May 28, 1588. A few more minutes - and the ships of the Armada will leave the port of Lisbon to the sound of bells.

The campaign and its results

On May 20, 1588, the Spanish fleet of six squadrons (Portugal, Castile, Biscay, Gipuzkoa, Andalusia and Levant) put to sea from the mouth of the Tagus River. In total, the Armada had 75 military and 57 transport ships with 2431 guns, on board of which there were 8 thousand sailors, 2 thousand slave rowers, 19 thousand soldiers, 1 thousand officers, 300 priests and 85 doctors. In addition, in the Netherlands, the Farnese landing army was to join the fleet. The Spanish fleet was commanded by the most noble nobleman of Spain, Don Alonso Perez de Guzman el Bueno, Duke of Medina Sedonia, his deputy was the national hero and favorite of Philip II, the captain-general of the Milanese cavalry, Don Alonso Martinez de Leyva, the knight of Santiago. The Spanish fleet was to pass from Cadiz to Dunkirk and take on board the forces in the Netherlands. Further, the ships planned to enter the mouth of the river. Thames near London, land an expeditionary force and, with the support of the "fifth column" of the English Catholics, take the English capital by storm.

The British had about 200 smaller, but more maneuverable combat and merchant ships with a crew of 15,000. The fleet was commanded by Admirals Drake, Hawkins, Frobisher. The British command relied on the superiority of its long-range artillery and wanted to fight at a long distance, shooting enemy ships. The Spaniards, having superiority in the number of small guns, infantry and the power of the ships, which resembled small fortresses, wanted to engage in close combat.

The Spaniards were decidedly unlucky. Initially, going to sea had to be postponed for a year due to a sudden attack by English ships on Cadiz and other Spanish ports. When the Spanish fleet recovered from the first blow and reached the Dutch coast in May 1588, a severe storm hit the ships, and they were forced to call at La Coruña for repairs. The Duke of Medina Sidonia, concerned about the lack of food and illness among the sailors and soldiers, expressed doubts about the continuation of the campaign, but the king insisted on the further movement of the fleet. The fleet was able to go to sea only on July 26.

Staff officers suggested that the Duke of Medina make his way to enemy ports as soon as possible in order to destroy the English ships in the roadstead. However, the Spanish admiral rejected this proposal. For better protection, the Spaniards arranged their ships in a crescent, placing the most powerful ships with long-range artillery on the flanks, and transports in the center. This tactic was initially successful. In addition, the British ships were short of ammunition. July 30 - August 1, the Spaniards lost two ships: the Rosario collided with the Santa Catalina and lost the mast, the ship had to be abandoned. Then, on the "San Salvador", where the treasury of the "Armada" was located, for an unknown reason, a fire broke out. The surviving crew members and the treasury were removed, the ship was left.

On August 5, the fleet approached Calais and replenished water and food supplies. But further, towards Dunkirk, in order to connect with the forces of the Duke of Parma, the Spanish ships could not move: the Dutch removed all navigation signs and buoys east of Calais, just where the shoals and banks began. In addition, the Anglo-Dutch fleet cruised around Dunkirk to intercept the Farnese landing craft if necessary. As a result, the Armada was unable to connect with the landing army of the Duke of Parma.

Cross-section of an English warship of the time of Elizabeth I - a displacement of about 500 tons with 28 guns on board. Reconstruction in 1929.

On the night of August 7-8, the British sent eight fireships (vessels loaded with combustible or explosives) towards the closely huddled Spanish ships. This caused panic in the Spanish fleet, the order of battle was broken. Fireships did not harm the fleet, but some of the ships were damaged due to collisions with each other. However, the British were not able to use the good moment to the full, they did not have enough gunpowder and cores.

On August 8, the British fleet received reinforcements and ammunition and went on the attack. The battle took place between the Gravelines Bank and Ostend. The English ships came into close range and began to fire on the Spaniards, still dodging the boarding battle. Several Spanish ships were destroyed and damaged. The fighting stopped when the British ran out of ammunition. The Spaniards were also running out of ammunition. This battle cannot be called a great victory. The Spanish fleet retained its combat capability, its main problem was supply. And the British themselves did not feel like winners. They were waiting for the battle to continue.

The Spanish commanders realized that in the current situation they could not establish control over the strait and move to the mouth of the Thames. Therefore, the decision was made to retreat. Medina Sidonia sent the fleet north on 9 August, intending to round Scotland and descend south along the western coast of Ireland (the final decision to use this route was approved on 13 August). The Spanish command did not dare to return back through the Strait of Dover, fearing new attacks by the British fleet. The British at this time were waiting for the return of the enemy fleet, or the appearance of the forces of the Duke of Parma.

Defeat of the Invincible Armada on August 8, 1588. Painting by the Anglo-French artist Philippe-Jacques (Philippe-James) de Loutherbourg (1796).

On August 21, Spanish ships entered the Atlantic Ocean. In late September - early October, the surviving ships reached the coast of Spain. About 60 ships and 10 thousand people returned. The rest of the ships were destroyed by storms and wrecks.

It was a serious defeat. However, it did not lead to the immediate collapse of Spanish power. An attempt by the British to send their Armada to the coast of Spain under the command of Drake and Sir John Norris also ended in a crushing defeat, then the British lost several more battles. The Spaniards quickly rebuilt their fleet to new standards: they began to make lighter ships armed with long-range guns. However, the failure of the Spanish fleet buried hopes for the restoration of Catholicism in England and the victory of the Roman throne in Europe. The position of the Spaniards in the Netherlands worsened. England took a step towards the future position of the "mistress of the seas" and the world superpower. It should be noted that the main reason for the future decline of Spain was not military defeats, but internal causes, in particular the financial and economic policy of the successors of Philip II.

The tragic route of the "Invincible Armada".