page_title: English Armada
section_title: Portugal
hierarchical_section_title: English Armada / Execution / Portugal
caption_attribution_description: English: The Ark Royal (1587), by Claes Janszoon Visscher (Claes Jansz Visscher), (1587-1652) The galleon 'Ark Raleigh' was built at Deptford for Sir Walter Raleigh in 1587. The following year she was commissioned into the Royal Navy and re-named the 'Ark Royal'. She was the Lord High Admiral's flagship against the Spanish Armada in 1588. The vessel was 100 feet long on the keel, had a beam of 37 feet and carried 44 guns. Source: National Maritime Museum, London
context_page_description: The English Armada, also known as the Counter Armada or the Drake–Norris Expedition, was an attack fleet sent against Spain by Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1589, during the undeclared Anglo-Spanish War and the Eighty Years' War. It was led by Sir Francis Drake as admiral and Sir John Norreys as general, and failed to drive home the advantage England had won upon the failure of the Spanish Armada in the previous year. The Spanish victory marked a revival of Philip II's naval power through the next decade.
context_section_description: On May 6, Drake arrived at Peniche, in Portugal, which was handed to them by supporters of Crato. After that, they headed towards Lisbon, 11,000 men and 110 ships at this point. Owing partially to poor organisation and lack of coordination (they had very few siege guns) the invading force failed to take Lisbon from the garrison of 7,000 Portuguese and Spanish soldiers and 40 ships guarding it. The expected uprising by the Portuguese loyal to Crato never materialised.(pp.204–214)
  Lisbon was rumoured to be guarded by a disaffected garrison, but whilst the English were fruitlessly besieging Corunna, the Spanish had spent a fortnight shoring up Portugal's military defences. When Norreys invaded Lisbon, the expected uprising was not forthcoming and little was achieved. Drake did take the opportunity on 30 June of seizing a fleet of 20 French and 60 Hanseatic ships which had broken the English blockade on trade with Spain by sailing all around the north of Scotland, only to fetch up before the English cannon in the mouth of the Tagus. This seizure, notes R. B. Wernham, "dealt a useful blow to Spanish preparations",(p.204) but later required a publicly printed justification, a Declaration of Causes, from the Queen's own printer, as, without booty, she and her fellow English investors faced considerable losses.
  The English dealt a further blow to Spanish naval preparations and food supplies by destroying the Lisbon granaries but, despite the bravado of Essex, who thrust a sword in at the gates of the city with a challenge to the defenders, the English could not take the city without artillery. Neither did they receive substantial support from the Portuguese.(p.214, pp.210–11) The expected uprising failed to occur, in part because of the absence of Drake, the land and naval forces having divided and being out of contact after the landing at Peniche, and the defenders would not risk battle.(pp.210–11)
  Essex received orders from Elizabeth to return to court, along with a refusal to send reinforcements or a siege train, the queen having no desire to carry the main burden of a land war in Portugal. It was therefore decided to concentrate on the third aim of the expedition: the establishment of a permanent military base in the Azores. However, by this point the campaign had taken its toll. Drake's forces had initially caught the Spanish authorities off guard, but Spain had now marshalled her defences, and the English expedition's strength was wearing down, and suffering increasingly from disease. Two armed merchantmen were caught off Lisbon by nine Spanish galleys, commanded by Alonso de Bazán. One of them, the William, was saved by Revenge after being abandoned by her crew, but the ship did not have enough manpower aboard to sail away after the battle and had to be scuttled to prevent her falling into the hands of the Spanish again. The other vessel was engulfed in flames after a fight, and sunk, her commander Captain Minshaw being lost with the ship. Further damage was sustained when one of three boats carrying William's complement was lost with all hands after being attacked by the Spanish warships.
  With the attack on the Azores becoming out of the question, Drake made a final attempt to retrieve the mission. At this point, most of his men were out of action, with only 2,000 still fit to be mustered. Stormy weather had also damaged a number of the ships. While Norreys sailed for home with the sick and wounded, Drake took his pick of what was left and set out with 20 ships to hunt for the Spanish treasure fleet. While lying in wait for it his naval force was struck by another heavy storm which left him unable to continue, and while raiding and plundering Porto Santo in Madeira in compensation his flagship the Revenge sprang a leak due to storm damage and almost foundered as she led the remainder of the fleet home to Plymouth.
caption: English galleon Ark Royal from 1587
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