Claim: Elizabeth I of England reigned in England.

The Spanish Armada -LRB- -LSB- Grande y Felicísima Armada , links = no -RSB- , literally `` Great and Most Fortunate Navy '' -RRB- was a Spanish fleet of 130 ships that sailed from La Coruña in August 1588 , under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia with the purpose of escorting an army from Flanders to invade England . The strategic aim was to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I of England and the Tudor establishment of Protestantism in England , with the expectation that this would put a stop to English interference in the Spanish Netherlands and to the harm caused to Spanish interests by English and Dutch privateering .   The Armada chose not to attack the English fleet at Plymouth , then failed to establish a temporary anchorage in the Solent , after one Spanish ship had been captured by Francis Drake in the English Channel . The Armada finally dropped anchor off Calais . While awaiting communications from the Duke of Parma 's army , the Armada was scattered by an English fireship attack . In the ensuing Battle of Gravelines the Spanish fleet was damaged and forced to abandon its rendezvous with Parma 's army , who were blockaded in harbour by Dutch flyboats . The Armada managed to regroup and , driven by southwest winds , withdrew north , with the English fleet harrying it up the east coast of England . The commander ordered a return to Spain , but the Armada was disrupted during severe storms in the North Atlantic and a large number of the vessels were wrecked on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland . Of the initial 130 ships over a third failed to return . As Martin and Parker explain , `` Philip II attempted to invade England , but his plans miscarried , partly because of his own mismanagement , unfortunate weather , and partly because the opportunistic defensive naval efforts of the English and their Dutch allies -LRB- the use of ships set afire and sailed into the anchored Armada to create panic -RRB- prevailed . ''   The expedition was the largest engagement of the undeclared Anglo-Spanish War -LRB- 1585 -- 1604 -RRB- . The following year , England organised a similar large-scale campaign against Spain , the Drake -- Norris Expedition or `` counter-Armada of 1589 '' , which was unsuccessful and resulted in serious economic consequences and the loss of many English lives and ships .