"Aid" was rebuilt in 1580 as relations with the Spanish deteriorated. Under the command of Frobisher, "Aid" was involved in the Siege of Smerwick, as part of the English fleet sent to remove a combined Spanish-Papal force taking refuge at Dún an Óir. Remaining under Frobisher's command, "Aid" was one of two ships contributed by Queen Elizabeth I to Sir Francis Drake's expedition to the Spanish West Indies in 1585. She was later part of Drake's fleet at Plymouth to meet the Spanish Armada, remaining with the fleet from the arrival of the Armada on 31 July until the defeat of the Spanish at the Battle of Gravelines, eight days later. "Aid" was also involved in the ill-fated Counter Armada the following year.