page_title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)
section_title: Naval War and Privateering
hierarchical_section_title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) / War / Naval War and Privateering
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Tijdens de Slag bij Cadiz verenigden de Hollanders en Engelsen hun krachten in hun strijd tegen de Spanjaarden. Hier wordt de Hollandse viermaster Neptunes van admiraal Johan van Duivenvoorde gesteund door de Engelse Ark Royal in een aanval op de Spaanse San Felipe. In werkelijkheid nam het Engelse schip geen deel aan de slag. Aert Anthonisz gaf het vaartuig weer omdat het zo&#39;n belangrijk symbool was voor de Engelse zeemacht.
context_page_description: The Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) was an intermittent conflict between the kingdoms of Spain and England that was never formally declared. The war was punctuated by widely separated battles, and began with England's military expedition in 1585 to what was then the Spanish Netherlands under the command of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester in support of the resistance of the States General to Spanish Habsburg rule.
  The English enjoyed a victory at Cádiz in 1587, and repelled the Spanish Armada in 1588, but then suffered heavy setbacks in the English Armada in 1589 and the Drake–Hawkins and Essex–Raleigh expeditions in 1595 and 1597 respectively. Two further Spanish armadas were sent in 1596 and 1597 but these ended in failure for Spain mainly because of adverse weather and poor planning.
  The war became deadlocked around the turn of the 17th century during campaigns in the Netherlands, France and Ireland. It was brought to an end with the Treaty of London, negotiated in 1604 between representatives of the new King of Spain, Philip III, and the new King of England, James I.
context_section_description: In this period of respite, the Spanish were able to refit and retool their navy, partly along English lines. The pride of the fleet were named The Twelve Apostles – twelve massive new galleons – and the navy proved itself to be far more effective than it had been before 1588. A sophisticated convoy system and improved intelligence networks frustrated English naval attempts on the Spanish treasure fleet during the 1590s. This was best demonstrated by the repulse of the squadron that was led by Effingham in 1591 near the Azores, who had intended to ambush the treasure fleet. It was in this battle that the Spanish captured the English flagship, the Revenge, after a stubborn resistance by its captain, Sir Richard Grenville. Throughout the 1590s, enormous convoy escorts enabled the Spanish to ship three times as much silver as in the previous decade.
  English merchant privateers or corsairs known as Elizabeth's Sea dogs however enjoyed more qualified success. In the three years after the Spanish armada more than 300 prizes were taken from the Spanish with a declared total value of well over £400,000. English courtiers provided money for their own expeditions as well as others, and even Elizabeth herself would make investments. The Earl of Cumberland made a number of expeditions and a few did yield profit - his first being the Azores Voyage in 1589. Others failed however due to bad weather and his 1591 voyage ended in defeat with Spanish galleys off Berlengas. Cumberland with Sir Walter Raleigh and Martin Frobisher combined financial strength and force that led to the most successful English naval expedition of the war. Off Flores island in 1592 in a naval battle the English fleet captured a large rich Portuguese carrack, the Madre de Deus as well as having outwitted a Spanish fleet led by Alonso de Bazán. The expedition's reward equalled nearly half the size of the Kingdom of England's royal annual revenue and yielded Elizabeth a 20-fold return on her investment. These riches gave the English an excited enthusiasm to engage in this opulent commerce. Raleigh himself in 1595 went on an expedition to explore the Orinoco river in an attempt to find the mythical city of El Dorado in the process the English plundered the Spanish settlement of Trinidad. Raleigh however exaggerated the wealth there on his return to England. Supporting Raleigh with his expedition was another led by Amyas Preston and George Somers known as the Preston Somers expedition to South America notable for a daring overland assault that saw the capture of Caracas.
  Many of the expeditions were financed by famed London merchants, the most notable of these being John Watts. An expedition Watts financed to Portuguese Brazil led by James Lancaster saw the capture and plunder of Recife and Olinda - which was highly profitable for both. In response to English privateering against their merchantmen, the Spanish monarchy struck back with the Dunkirkers devastating English shipping and fishing in the largely undefended seas around England.
  By far the most successful English privateer was Christopher Newport who was backed financially by Watts. Newport set out in 1590 to raid the Spanish West Indies and in the ensuing fight saw the defeat of an armed Spanish convoy but Newport lost his right arm in the process. Despite this Newport continued the ventures - the blockade of Western Cuba in 1591 was the most successful English privateering venture made during the war. Both Drake and Hawkins died of disease on the later 1595–96 expedition against Puerto Rico, Panama, and other targets in the Spanish Main, a severe setback in which the English suffered heavy losses in soldiers and ships despite a number of minor military victories.
  In August 1595, a Spanish force on patrol from Brittany, led by Carlos de Amésquita, landed at and raided Cornwall, burning Penzance and several nearby villages.
  During the summer of 1596, an Anglo-Dutch expedition under Elizabeth's young favourite, the Earl of Essex, sacked Cádiz, causing significant loss to the Spanish fleet, leaving the city in ru
caption: The battle of Cadiz Bay in 1596
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