How did England defeat the Spanish Armada?

• 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.