King Phillip felt it was his duty as a Catholic to punish her. In spite of being a rich and powerful nation Elisabeth managed to defeat the Spanish before they even set foot on English soil. What went wrong? Why did they fail? Firstly, the Spanish were dogged with bad luck from the very beginning. The weather, which was stormy, seemed to be against them. Their ships were damaged and to stop at the nearest port, Coruna, to be repaired. This delayed their journey and had detrimental effect on Spanish morale.
This wasn’t, of course the only reason The Armada failed, but the poor beginning did seem to be a bad omen for the next series of events. The Spanish made a series of mistakes witch lead to their downfall one of their first mistakes was their choice of commander, the Duke of Medina Sidonia. He was chosen for his prestige rather than his experience. The Duke was simply not the right man for the job. His planning was atrocious, for example, he started the journey with not enough accurate maps and an insufficient amount of food for the crew.
Furthermore his crew was compromised of priests and soldiers instead of experienced sailors like the English had. This man, who spent much of the journey in his cabin being seasick, was pitched against such an experienced, noteworthy sailor as Sir Francis Drake and court favorite Admiral Howard. Moreover, the Spanish ships were large and bulky and this made them difficult to maneuver, especially in windy conditions of the English Channel. This rendered them vulnerable to attack from the smaller, speedy English vessels.
The Term Paper on Spanish English Superpowers Of America
Spanish & English Super Power's in America Ultimately, their stronger unified cultural need to establish their dominance in another land is the most important reasons for the foothold established by the English and the Spanish in the New World. It is true that a plethora of different races, ethnic groups, nationalities, and cultures arrived on the North American soil prior to 1776, the year ...
Also , the Spanish were not adept at using their canons and were only able to fire once every few minutes, whereas the more experienced English could fire five times more often. However, the crucial mistake the Spanish made was not pressing home the advantage they had when the English ships were in harbour when the tide was against them. This was a gross tactical error on the part of King Phillip who ordered them to sail on to Calais to get extra foot soldiers who in fact weren’t even ready!
When we compare the Spanish tactics to that of the experienced English, it is easy to see why the Armada failed. Firstly, they had a brilliant and experienced leader in Sir Francis Drake. Apart of being an amazing tactician, he was much loved by the ordinary sailor and they therefore were prepared to rally behind him even when the going got tough. Unlike the Spanish, the English ships were all crewed by experienced sailors who knew how to operate the cannons to fire a greater amount of balls and also maneuver the smaller and more modern English ships.
Additionally, the English knew the waters and the tides of the English Channel whereas the Spanish didn’t therefore, they were further disadvantaged. The smart English tactics also played a large part in their victory. Aware of the Spanish tactic of hooking in enemy ships, the English kept their distance and used their cannons to their full advantage. They also, sent in fire ships into the Spanish which broke their crescent formation and created panic and confusion.
In conclusion, The Spanish Armada failed in its attempt to defeat the English due to a number of factors that I have discussed in my essay, luck, English tactics, Spanish mistakes and even the weather played a part. If the Spanish had won then the history of Great Britain would have been very different. In my opinion, I believe that in spite of the odds against them the Spanish would have won if they had only attacked when the English ships were in harbor. The fact that they didn’t was a huge tactical error on the part of their king and commander
