"13 Reasons Why the Spanish Armada Failed To ..." Topic

…Conquer Against the British.

"The defeat of a Spanish invasion force in 1588 was a moment of great patriotic pride for Elizabethan England. The nation's sailors had driven off the vast menace of their Catholic enemy. In reality, the Armada was doomed for a whole host of reasons, only some of them the work of the English.

Unrealistic Expectations
King Philip II of Spain had a poor understanding of the limitations his scheme faced. Believing that God was on his side, he originally planned to send his fleet out in winter without worrying about the weather. A previous incident when English ships fled a fight led him to consider the English sailors spineless when in fact these had been English supply vessels whose contract with the French was to transport goods, not make war.."
More here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Hardly a thorough or a particularly innovative assessment, you'd get more info searching posts on TMP.

In my college essay I found that despite french & spanish ships being as good as the british the officers didn't spend the midshipman years at sea but in academis and so they had less sailing experience.

Missed the biggest reason – Parma had no intention of getting his army, needed to hold down those parts of the Netherlands still under Spanish control, sent off to die in England. And a much bigger incorrect expectation on Philipp's part was that the great majority of Englishmen considered him their rightful king and were just waiting for the appearance of a Spanish army to rise up against the heretical bastard Elizabeth. Parma knew better.

I found that despite french & spanish ships being as good as the british the officers didn't spend the midshipman years at sea but in academis and so they had less sailing experience.

That might be correct for the XVIIIth Century. Not so much for the late XVIth Century, though, which is when the Armada sailed.

I stopped reading at the abominable summary of Renaissance galley warfare:

These oar-powered vessels each had a ram at the prow. They would smash into enemy ships, and if that did not sink them, then they would launch a boarding action, turning a naval battle into a land fight at sea.

Now I can't believe anything the author said.

- Ix

Yellow Admiral

Thank you so very much for that. You saved me having to read the article. If that is what he says then you are right in dismissing the whole thing.

These oar-powered vessels each had a ram at the prow. They would smash into enemy ships, and if that did not sink them, then they would launch a boarding action, turning a naval battle into a land fight at sea.

MAJOR FACEPALM! Might as well claim they lost because they lacked radar fire control….