The failings of the Spanish Armada
Things in this life often do not go the way that we want them to. That is to say that an idea will often not go to plan. We must simply change what it is that we had in mind and workaround until we get through. Throughout history, plans have been known to fail all of the time, either defeated by the opposition, simply crumbling or flawed from the very beginning. Some of histories greatest plan simply fall through.
The Spanish Armada is a well known historical event during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. What many do not know is that it was a failure of epic proportions. Before the Armarda had even set off, the Spanish had already fallen, although it is more accurate to say that they were sabotaged. Shortly before the Armada was planned to leave the Spanish shores, Francis Drake, a famous privateer of his age, set alight to many of the ships within the Armada fleet as well as large quantities of the supplies that were on them and still to be loaded upon them. After this major set back, the Armada was once again ready to head out. Until a storm struck them and they had to turn back for my supplies. Then once again they set out, but for the Netherlands rather than England, where their final destination was. After arriving in the Netherlands, they gathered more troops for the armada. The general in charge of the fleet of ships was another mistake on the part of the Spanish. He was an inexperienced general and shortly after the fleet was out on the high seas, he quickly became seasick.
After the Armada was in sight from the British shore, the one in the charge of the defence was Sir Francis Drake. Drake was so confident that he could beat the Spanish Armada, that he said that he had time to finish his game of bowls before fighting the Spanish. This could possibly be because he had gotten cocky, or that he saw that the tide was against him at the time. He wouldn’t have been able to get his ships out of the harbour at the time of his game but we would never be able to know the exact reason why he didn’t go out to sea immediately as soon as the Spanish fleet were seen. After five days of cannon fire, the Spanish became vulnerable, allowing the British to take advantage of the vulnerability. They sent eight ‘hell burners’, ships on fire, to cause chaos. The ships scattered, leaving the Armada even more so vulnerable, allowing for the English to finally win the fight after a long fight.
The Spanish Armada was a great event in history that was influenced by many factors. There were, however, stumbles and mistakes at every turn. The Spanish tactic was far from stellar and the English had many advantages. They understood the territory better and their commanders and leaders seemed to be far more experienced. Perhaps this was why the Spanish just could not win this time around.
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