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Challenges to Elizabeth's rule - EdexcelHow did England defeat the Spanish Armada?

Elizabeth faced challenges throughout her long reign - from Mary, Queen of Scots, to the Spanish Armada. She was a cautious ruler who acted carefully to preserve England’s security.

Part of HistoryElizabeth I

How did England defeat the Spanish Armada?

It was bad luck, bad tactics and bad weather that defeated the Spanish Armada

— Robert Hutchinson, Historian - ��ý History Magazine

Bad weather was certainly one factor that contributed to the Spanish defeat, but there were other factors too:

Factor
Leaders	The Duke of Medina Sidonia led the Spanish fleet, but he was inexperienced in naval battle and so made some fatal errors in his planning and tactics.
Planning	The strength of the Spanish fleet came from its crescent formation plan – but when the English broke this up with their fireships, the Spanish became vulnerable and exposed to attack.
No reinforcements	The Spanish plan relied on stopping to pick up the Duke of Parma’s army to boost their numbers, but the fleet was unable to anchor and so never picked them up.
Tactics	Spanish tactics were to get close enough to English ships to board them, whereas the English tactic was to attack from a safe distance.
Ships	Spanish ships were slower and less equipped for the bad weather than the English ships.
Weapons	The English ships had cannon they could fire at a safe distance and could be reloaded quickly. The design of the Spanish cannon meant that they could only fire over short distances and were slow to re-load.
Support	The Spanish overestimated the level of support there would be in England for Spanish control and a return to Roman Catholicism.
Weather	The lack of a secure port where the Spanish could take shelter meant that the Spanish ships were buffeted by the wind. The thinking was that God intervened and the windy weather was a sign that God was on Elizabeth’s side.

Leaders
	The Duke of Medina Sidonia led the Spanish fleet, but he was inexperienced in naval battle and so made some fatal errors in his planning and tactics.

Planning
	The strength of the Spanish fleet came from its crescent formation plan – but when the English broke this up with their fireships, the Spanish became vulnerable and exposed to attack.

No reinforcements
	The Spanish plan relied on stopping to pick up the Duke of Parma’s army to boost their numbers, but the fleet was unable to anchor and so never picked them up.

Tactics
	Spanish tactics were to get close enough to English ships to board them, whereas the English tactic was to attack from a safe distance.

Ships
	Spanish ships were slower and less equipped for the bad weather than the English ships.

Weapons
	The English ships had cannon they could fire at a safe distance and could be reloaded quickly. The design of the Spanish cannon meant that they could only fire over short distances and were slow to re-load.

Support
	The Spanish overestimated the level of support there would be in England for Spanish control and a return to Roman Catholicism.

Weather
	The lack of a secure port where the Spanish could take shelter meant that the Spanish ships were buffeted by the wind. The thinking was that God intervened and the windy weather was a sign that God was on Elizabeth’s side.

The threat of France to Elizabeth’s rule

What happened during the Spanish Armada?

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