Spanish Armada
How did the Spanish Armada fail?
They missed an easy opportunity to attack but waited instead
English flanked around
The tide was going out when Spain invaded, and there were storms up in the North which wrecked Spanish ships
The Spanish commander (the Duke of Medina Sidonia) commander had little, to no knowledge of sailing before
The english ships were light and fast and manoeuvrable.
The Spanish tactic of attacking was to board the English ships and kill the sailors, but the English kept their distance and fired cannons at the Spanish
Supplies ran out quickly on the Spanish Armada
England had more ships than Spain (Spain: 130, England: 300)
Why did it happen
King Philip liked Mary and was Catholic so decided to go to Netherlands and recieve waiting troops there to attack England
England at the time was a protestant superpower rising up and was challenging the Spanish empire.
Queen Elizabeth I executed Mary Queen of Scots who was a catholic which angered and aggravated the Spanish
Before the war, there had been raids on Spanish ports organised by Drake and Hawkins. This was known as them singing King Philip's beard. This gave Spain another reason for why they should attack England. They wanted revenge.
England had supported the Dutch rebels
The raids had delayed the preparation for the attack by a year
The waiting troops, ships and supplies were blockaded by the Dutch rebels so the Spanish had no reinforcements
The English drove 8 fireships into the Spanish (ships on fire which caught onto the Spanish ships). The spanish fleet scattered at the sight
Duke of Parma's army was nearly halved due to disease