Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1894-11-22
OUR BOYS AND GIRLS.
THE STORY OF THE WONDER
Full SPANISH ARMADA.
How the Great Fleet Sailed Into Defeat
and Observation-Disclosures at Noon on
the Lawn-The Blind Chnd's Tribute
to Her Friend.
The spanlsh Armada.

est naval armament ever fitted out by
any monarch, and think the readers
of Our Boys and Girls would like to
know the story of its equipment and
its unfortunate fate.
The Netherlands, which Philip III.
of Spain inherited from his father
Charles v, had revolted against the
oppression of their king and sought
the aid of Elizabeth of England. But
though she did not openly help them,
and continued negotiations with
Spain, Philip looked forward to a pos
sible war with her. He was willing,
until the Netherlands might be sub
dued, to continue at peace with Eng
land, but in the meantime he made
extensive preparations for the proba-
BILE outbreak of hostilities.
The result of these preparations,
at the end of two years, was feet
of vessels such as has never before
bcen conceived. 1t consisted of sixty
five great galleons, built of timber
from four to five feet in thickness,
the upper works of the vessel musket-
proof. The ships were built high out
of the water, so that they might
weather the toughest gales. The
smallest was of about seven hundred
galleons, there were galliasses, gal
leys, store-ships and treasure-ships.
The fighting armament numbered
about one hundred and thirty vessels,
the whole fleet consisting of upwards
of one hundred and fifty. The guns
and cannons were from the best
foundries in Spain and the soldiers
were the best trained of all the
nations. The object was to effect
landing on English soil, when they
would be joined by the army from
the Netherlands, and they hoped by
this union of forces to carry all
before them.
On this great fleet embarked nearly
10000 soldiers; gentlemen volunteers,
counting among their number the
pride and glory of Spanish nobility
and chivalr sailors, priests, servants
and galley-slaves; in all splendid
floating city comprising about 800
souls.
When the Armada was nearly COM
pleted, Philip thought n hostile dem
onstration would be in order. Spain
was then threatened with famine,
and Eng lish ships were invited to
bring corn to the Spanish coast. The
request was complied with, but after
receiving the goods the Spaniards
imprisoned all the English in the har-
bors and captured the vessels for use
in the Armada.
A great cry went up in England at
this perfdy, and war was demanded.
Sir Francis Drake equipped a squad
ron and sailed for Spain, where he
of the Spanish fleet, and, after releas-
ing the British prisoners, he sailed
away, convinced that at least for a
year the damage he had done could
not be remedied.
But Philip was impatient of delay
and would not let this misfortune de-
ter him from the war. So, after a
few needed repairs, the Invincible
Armada, as it was called, set sail for
the English channel. This was in
the spring of 1888.
The fleet had not proceeded far on
its way when terrible storm came
up. One of the galleys sunk with all
on board. On two others mutiny
broke out during the tempest; the
galley-slaves rose, killed the captains
and all the soldiers and then sailed to
France. There they abandoned the
ships and marched to La Rochelle,
where Henry of Navarro welcomed
them. So in the very outset three of
the ships were lost. The remainder
of the fleet, after necessary repairs,
sailed for the English coast.
The British fleet, under Lord How
ard, assisted by Drake and other able
commanders, was far inferior in num-
Der to the Armada, but on the first
encounter between the two navies it
was evident that the English had the
advantage. The Spaniards were as
founded to see that the English YES
sells were low and long and light in
structure, in contrast to their high,
heavy galleons. This difference gave
the English the power of sailing
twice as fast as the huge Spanish
ships. Nor was this the only differ
ence; the English guns fred four
times as rapidly as those of the
Spaniards.
Howard was not slow to perceive
his superiority, and several of his
light craft ran the length of the
Spanish line, firing into every galleon
as they passed. This action was kept
up for hours, the quick sailing ships
passing and repassing and sending a
deadly fire among the enemy, whose
guns, high above the water-line, fired
over the heads of the English.
When the Spaniards, at last, were
forced to flee. more than four thou
sand did not respond to their names
at roll-call The English loss was
less than one hundred men. Many
vessels had been disabled and aban-
doned, leaving rich prizes for the
English; but the climax was reached
when number of fireships were sent
among the Spanish vessels, causing a
panic and scattering the fleet.
After this the Spaniards met with
nothing but defeat, and in despair the
Armada, eight days after it had
sighted England, set sail for the un-
a,,J 81 Nn,tI, con