Spanish Armada Failure

The Spanish Armada was a fleet sent by Philip II of Spain to fight against Queen Elizabeth I in an effort to defeat Protestant England. The Spanish Armada is interesting because its defeat came unexpectedly when a fleet of 130 ships and 30,000 men were defeated by a smaller scale counter-attacking convoy sent by the English. The nation’s current strategic planning was based on mistakes from previous battles, such as the Spanish Armada. Learning from these mistakes, the army, navy, and military can better prepare themselves for future battles in future that they may have to face. While planning and entering battle against England, the Spanish Armada faced constant misfortune, which ultimately ended in defeat and failure; however, it influenced
The weather during the time of the Spanish Armada’s departure around June-August included rough winds and rain, which affected the ship’s structures and navigation. Throughout the Spanish Armada’s voyage there were “wind speeds gusting above forty knots” along with an anticyclone and vigorous depressions, cloudy and rainy weather (Hutchinson 243). These weather conditions tend to be a struggle throughout the armada’s invasion. It could have been avoided if Philip had planned and researched more because a Venetian writer wrote “the rain falls almost every day during the months of June, July, and August” (Hutchinson 242). The food rations that were aboard all the ships were not enough to suffice the crew members on board the ships. Towards the end of the failed voyage, “More than half who had sailed with… were dead from disease or starvation by the end of 1588” (Hutchinson 245). The Spanish didn’t recognize that their armada would be out on the sea for a large amount of time and that they had 30,000 men to provide for, so “before long, rations were being consumed faster than they could be replaced” (Parker). From this bad luck with the weather and lack of inventory of food came the defeat and an end to the Spanish Armada, which had a significant amount of casualties and had influence on
The Spanish Armada had a disastrous outcome that when compared to the beginning of its journey results in a collapse of Spain’s navy. The final results of the Spanish Armada ended in “all the Spanish casualties were lost in accidents or in fierce storms… with only 9,500 soldiers returned back home.” (Hutchinson 202-203). The amount of people that died from starvation and the storms were deaths that resulted from the mistakes made by Philip II that could have easily been avoided with more time for planning. Spain had an armada that failed to succeed in 1588 but in 1601 a new armada formed, the supposed last battle between Spain and England, that was determined, courageous, and prepared. The Battle of the “Last Armada” showed survival from declaring their determination to die before surrendering the town and showed improved communication, that helped end with an agreement between Spain and their counterpart, England (Ekin 15). From 1588 to 1601, the way the Spanish fought and strategized changed enormously because by learning from previous mistakes, the navy was able to create new ways of warfare. The Spanish Armada in 1588 resulted in many casualties that helped support the need for change that was succeeded in