The Clio messenger., 1917-08-31

ish admiralty, mobilized the grand
feet In defiance Of orders not to do
so, and thus was ready to spring at
Germany with every sea dog of Eng
land when war broke forth. II Col
onel Churchill thus acted he had high
English example in the case of Lord
Howard Effingham. 1t was he who
as high admiral of England in 1888
disobeyed most flagrantly Queen Eliza
beth's own order to dismantle part of
his fleet and was therefore possessed
of the strength to smash the great ar
mada of Spain when its lofty gal
Icons came rolling into the channel.
Spain was at that time perhaps the
most powerful nation in the world.
England was by comparison feeble.
Spain sought world empire. Her
Philip believed it possible to make
himself the head of universal mon
archy, sharing power only with the
pope. England stood in his way.
Hence the dispatch of the armada to
make England vassal to Spain, burn
her heretics and establish the sway Of
ONtT DOti lhC Oiu anu thC hSW
hemispheres.
Howard, with his captains, was at
a game Of bowls In Plymouth town
when there came scuttling into the
harbor a Scotch privateer with the
news that the armada was even then
Off the Cornish coast. Forthwith there
was a rush for messengers, a lighting
of alarm fires and a press of cap
tains for their ships. Only Sir Frances
Drake remained unconcerned. There
was time, he observed, both to win the
game and beat the Spaniards. SO aim
ing their bowls very carefully and cool
ly they finished what Hallam reck-
0ns the "best and bravest match that
ever was scored"
The royal navy, augmented now by
several times Its number Of armed mer-
chantmen, had got together a fleet
of 191 vessels. The bitterly punished
but still indOmitable Dutch sent some
help from Holland. The largest ves-
sci Of all was the Triumph, measuring
1,1OO tons. The number Of men was
slightly over 1900. Howard, COM
manding, was himself Catholic, but
though Philip proclaimed his cause the
cause of the church against the here
tic, Howard and all the other English
Catholics remained splendidly loyal.
Against them Philip sent a force the
tremendous extent of which is given
by Hakluyt. The vessels numbered
80, no less than GA of them galleons,
which Hakluyt says were of "an huge
bignesse and Of marvellous force and
so high that they resembled great cas-
Ties" Manning the fleet were 5000
sailors, 2,0SS slaves and 10000 soldiers,
besides mobiles and gentlemen, all un-
der command Of the duke Of Medina
Sidonia. At Dunkirk, the great Span
lsh general, Farnese, was collecting an
other fleet for the transport Of troops
to England as soon as the armada
should win the command Of the seas.
"The Invincible Armada" as the
Spaniards termed 1t, entered the Chan
mel, headed for Plymouth In the hope
of surprising the English, found How
ard sallying forth to meet 1t, and stood
Off for Dunkirk. Howard first sighted
his enemy on Saturday, the Goth Of
July. Letting the great fleet pass,
he followed, harrying 1t so severe
" that the Spaniards lost several ships.
Medina Sidonia at last brought his
ships to anchor in Calais roadstead, his
larger craft lying in the outer circle.
Howard dared not attack at close quar-
ters since his vessels were much In
feriOr In tonnage and in ordinance,
while, as Sir Wallace Raleigh says,
"the Spaniard had an army on board
him and Howard had none." How
ever on the night Of the Goth he sent
in eight fireships, so alarming the
Spaniards that they cut their cables
and put to sea. One Of the largest
galeasses fouled another and went
ashore. In the confusion the rest Of
the fleet became badly scattered so
that in the morning the feat of reas-
sembling In fleet formation was most
difficult. Now was the opportunity of
the English to attack on something like
equal terms.
Drake and Fener were the first to
tackle their cumbersome foes. Then
came Fenton, Southwell, Burton and
the rest, with the lord admiral plunging
in himself. While the action was that
Of detached vessels rather than squad
rons, 1t was general and 1t was furious
ly hot. Drake was hulled no less than
40 times and his cabin was shot out
from under him. The shot of demi-
culverin landed on the dinner table Of
the earl of Northumberland. But the
English ships were the smarter sail
ors, the English got the weather gauge
and they kept the vessels in
smother Of smoke and flame as they
smote the unwieldy Spanish hulls, on
the decks of which huddled the great
mass of soldiery, worse than useless In
this action, where the English simply
would not come to close quarters and
fight the matter out with boarders. Sir
Martin Frobisher was at one time In
action with no less than four of the
enemy's vessels. Drake sank gal
leon which took to the bottom with her