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==Operations==
==Operations==
The Armada set sail from Lisbon on May 9, 1588, but gales forced it back to La Coruña for refitting, and the voyage was not resumed until July 22. The first encounter occurred off Plymouth, near the Eddystone Rocks, on July 31, when three Spanish ships were lost at little cost to the English. Fighting resumed farther east on August 2, near Portland Bill; neither fleet lost a ship in this encounter, ammunition was seriously depleted on both sides. The English could replenish their supplies of powder and shot; the Spaniards, far from home, could not.
The Armada set sail from Lisbon on May 9, 1588, but gales forced it back to La Coruña for refitting, and the voyage was not resumed until July 22. The first encounter occurred off Plymouth, near the Eddystone Rocks, on July 31, when three Spanish ships were lost at little cost to the English. Fighting resumed farther east on August 2, near Portland Bill; neither fleet lost a ship in this encounter, ammunition was seriously depleted on both sides. The English could replenish their supplies of powder and shot; the Spaniards, far from home, could not.
[[Image:Armada1.jpg|thumb|290px|Map of Armada, showing battles and location of major losses]]
The Armada continued northeast with its strongest ships on either tip of its tight, crescent-shaped formation, while the slower merchantmen and hulks, which comprised a third to a half of the whole, sailed protected at its center. Late on the night of August 7, while the Armada lay at anchor before Calais, on the French side of the Strait of Dover, the English sent eight burning merchant ships into the midst of the Spanish fleet. With only time to slip their cables, the Spanish ships drifted away in panic and disorder. One great galleass (a ship propelled by sails and oars) ran aground, and the damage suffered by other Spanish vessels was extensive.
The Armada continued northeast with its strongest ships on either tip of its tight, crescent-shaped formation, while the slower merchantmen and hulks, which comprised a third to a half of the whole, sailed protected at its center. Late on the night of August 7, while the Armada lay at anchor before Calais, on the French side of the Strait of Dover, the English sent eight burning merchant ships into the midst of the Spanish fleet. With only time to slip their cables, the Spanish ships drifted away in panic and disorder. One great galleass (a ship propelled by sails and oars) ran aground, and the damage suffered by other Spanish vessels was extensive.
The insufficient supply of provisions was due to mismanagement, corruption, the English capture of supply ships, and spoilage. Reduced rations weakened the crews, resupply in Calais and Flanders was impossible, and disease exacerbated by hunger increased the number of deaths. Ravaged by storm and shipwreck, the Armada returned to the safety of the Spanish port of Santander, on the Bay of Biscay, with only 86 ships and less than half the men who had left five months before.
The insufficient supply of provisions was due to mismanagement, corruption, the English capture of supply ships, and spoilage. Reduced rations weakened the crews, resupply in Calais and Flanders was impossible, and disease exacerbated by hunger increased the number of deaths. Ravaged by storm and shipwreck, the Armada returned to the safety of the Spanish port of Santander, on the Bay of Biscay, with only 86 ships and less than half the men who had left five months before.
==Conclusion==
==Conclusion==