The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1894-12-01
The spanish Armada.

any monarch, and think the readers
Of our Joys and Girls would like to
know the story of it's equipment and
its unfortunate fate.
The Netherlands, which Philip III.
of Spain Inherited from his father.
Charles ", 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 u pos
sib!e war with her. lie was willing,
until the Netherlands might be sub
ducd, to continue at peace with Eng
land, but in the meantime he made
extensive preparations for the proba-
bic outbreak of hostilities.
The result of these preparations,
Mt the end of two years, was a fleet
of vessels such as has never before
been conceived. 1t consisted of sixty
five great galleons, built of timber
fro'l 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
tons burden. Besides these huge
galleons, there were galliasses, gal
leys, store-ships and trcasure-ships
The fighting armament numbered
alo;,t one hundred and thirty vessels,
the whole fleet consisting of upwards
of one hundred and fifty. The guns
and cannons We're from the best
foundries in Spain, and the soldiers
were the best trained of all the
nations. The object was to effect
Il landing on English soil, when they
would be joined by the army from
this union of forces to carry all
before them.
CO. this great fleet embarked nearly
.0,01o soldiers: gentlemen volunteers,
counting among their number the
pride and glory of Spanish nobility
ana chivalry: sailors, priests, servants
and galey-slaves; in all splendid
floating city comprising about 10000
souls.
When the Armada was nearly com
plcIed, Philip thought hostile dcm-
ou>tration would be in order. Spain
was then threatened with famine,
and English ships were invited to
bring corn 10 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 Cor use
in the Armada.
\ great cry went up in England at
this perfidy. and war was demanded.
Sir Francis Drake equipped squad
ron and sailed for Spain, where he
strGcll great blow at the very heart
os 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 he re medicd.
Ert Philip was impatient of delay
ana would not let this misfortune de-
ter him from the war. SO, after u
few needed repairs the Invincible
Armada, as it was called, set sail for
the English channel. This was in
the spring of ,5Ss.
The fleet had not proceeded far on
its way when a terrible storm came
mp. One of the galleys sunk with all
on board. ON two others "a nutiry
broke out during the tempest; the
galiey-slavcs rose, killed the captains
and all the soldiers and then sailed to
France. There they abandoned the
ships and marched to La Rochelle,
whore Henry of Navarro welcomed
them. SO in tho very outset three of
the ships were lost. The remainder
of fhc fleet, after necessary repairs,
sailed for the English coast.
The British feet, under Lord How
ari assisted by Drake and other able
commanders, was far inferior in num-
her TO the Armada, but on the first
encounter between the two navies it
was evident that the English had the
advantage. The Spanarls were as
founded tn see that the English YES
sells were low and long and light in
structure, in contrast to their high,
heavy gallcons. This difference gave
the English the power of sailing
twice as fast as the huge Spanish
ships Nor was this the only differ
cncc; 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 n
deadly fire among the enemy, whose
guns, high above the water-linc, 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
ut 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, freships 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