page_title: 3rd Spanish Armada
section_title: Storm
hierarchical_section_title: 3rd Spanish Armada / Execution / Storm
caption_attribution_description: English: A ship of the Spanish Armada, wrecked in the storm - illustration from ‘Spanish Pictures’ by the Rev. Samuel Manning, 1870 © Bridgeman Art Library / Private Collection / Ken Welsh
context_page_description: The 3rd Spanish Armada, also known as the Spanish Armada of 1597, was a major naval event that took place between October and November 1597 as part of the Anglo–Spanish War. The armada, which was the third attempt by Spain to invade or raid the British Isles during the war, was ordered by King Philip II of Spain in revenge for the English attack on Cadiz following the failure of the 2nd Spanish Armada the previous year due to a storm. The Armada was executed by the Adelantado, Martín de Padilla, who was hoping to intercept and destroy the English fleet under Robert Devereux the 2nd Earl of Essex as it returned from the failed Azores expedition. When this was achieved, the Armada would go on to capture either the important port of Falmouth or Milford Haven and use those places as a base for invasion.
  When the Spanish arrived in the English Channel, however, they were dispersed by a storm which scattered their fleet. Even so, some ships did push on and even landed troops on the English and Welsh coasts.
context_section_description: Events changed otherwise, the weather turned; an easterly wind turned into a gale and for a few days the storm would continue. This time however there were no catastrophic results of 1588 and the Spanish were more organised in ship-to-ship communication.
  At first, the Adelantado tried to ride out the storm in the hope that the weather would relent; but at dawn the next day, the winds only intensified. For three days the storm blew, Spanish ship losses increased, the San Lucas ran aground off the Lizard casting away their horses and mules. The galleon carrying Don Pedro Guevera - General of artillery, caught fire, blew up in a tremendous explosion, and was never seen again. Another large vessel with siege equipment and flammables (for burning English ships in Falmouth) also suffered a catastrophic explosion which took with her a chartered French ship full of soldiers. Only one of the large galleons sank; the San Bartolomé when it was dashed on rocks near the Isles of Scilly. In the San Pedro, Brochero had to drop out of the station to a Biscay port as the ship was so badly damaged, but put to sea again in a flyboat and rejoined the armada. He attempted to rally them in one last effort to make a landing at Milford Haven, Waterford, Cork, or Brest. On the night of 25 October, seeing that the currents were unrelenting he reluctantly ordered the remaining ships to start to part company and to scatter, each one thinking of their own safety.
caption: Spanish ships in a storm
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