ARMA'DA, a Spanish word signifying simply an armed force, but applied especially to the great Spanish ;feet which invaded England in 1588. The king of Spain, Philip had resolved to strika a decisive blow at the Protestant interest, by conquering En land, which pope Sixtus V. had made over to him. The ports of Spain, Portugal, and other maritime dominions belonging to him, had long resounded with the noise of his preparations, and the most ethinent Catholic soldiers from all parts of Europe flocked to take a share in the expedition. The marquis of Santa-Croce, a sea officer of great reputa tion and experience, was destined to command the fleet, which consisted of 130 vessels, of greater size than any that had been hitherto seen in Europe. The duke of Parma was to conduct the land forces, 20,000 of whom were on board the ships of war, and 34,000 more were assembled in the Netherlands, ready to be transported into England; so that, as no doubt was entertained of success, the fleet was ostentatiously styled the invincible A. Nothing could exceed the terror and consternation which seized all ranks of people in England upon the news of this terrible A. being under sail to invade them. A squadron of not more than thirty ships of the line, and those very small in comparison, was all that 'Elizabeth had to oppose it by sea; and it was considered impossible to make any effectual resistance by land, as the Spanish army was composed of men well disciplined and long inured to danger. But although the English fleet was much inferior in number and size of shipping to that of the enemy, it was much more manageable, while the dexterity and courage of the mariners were greatly superior. Lord Howard of Effingham, a man of great valor and capacity, took upon him, as lord high admiral, the command of the navy; Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher, the most renowned seamen in Europe, served under him; while another squadron. consisting of 40 vessels, English and Flemish, commanded by lord Seymour, lay off Dunkirk, in order to intercept the duke of Parma. Such was the preparation made by the English; while all the Protestant powers of Europe regarded this enterprise as the critical event which was to decide forever the fate of their religion. In the meantime, while the Spanish A. was preparing to sail, the admiral, Santa-Croce, died, as likewise the vice-admiral, Paliano; and time command of the expedition was given to the duke of Medina Sidonia, a person utterly inexperienced in sea affairs; these unexpected circumstances served, in some measure, to frustrate the design. Some other accidents also contributed to its failure. Upon leaving the port of Lisbon, the A. next day met with a violent tempest, which sank some of the smallest of the ships, and obliged the rest to put back into the harbor. After some time spent in refitting, the Spaniards again put to sea, where they took a fisherman, who gave them intelligence that the English fleet, hearing of the dis persion of the A. in had returned to Plymouth, and that most of the mariners
were discharged. From this false intelligence, the Spanish admiral, instead of going to the coast of Flanders, to take in the troops stationed there, resolved to sail directly to Plymouth, and destroy the shipping laid up in the harbor. But Effingham was very well prepared to receive him, and had just got out of port, when he saw the Spanish A. coming full sail towards him, disposed in the form of a half-moon, and stretching seven miles from the one extremity to the other. The English admiral, seconded by Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher, attacked the Spaniards at a distance, pouring in their broadsides with admirable dexterity. They did not choose to enrage the enemy more closely, because they were greatly inferior in number of ships and guns, as well as in weight of metal; nor could they pretend to board such lofty vessels without manifest disadvantage. In this action, however, two Spanish galleons were disabled and taken. As the advanced up the channel, the English still followed and infested its rear; and as their ships continually increased from different ports, they soon found themselves in a capacity to attack the Spanish fleet more nearly, and accordingly fell upon them while they were taking shelter in the port of Calais. To increase their confusion, Howard selected eight of his smaller ve4els, which, after filling them with combustible materials, he sent one after another, as if they had been fire-ships, into the midst of the enemy. The Spaniards, taking them for what they seemed to be, immediately bore off in great disorder; while the English, profiting by their panic, captured or destroyed about twelve ships. The duke of Medina Sidonia, being thus driven to the coast of Zealand, held a council of war, in which it was resolved that. As their ammunition began to fail, as their fleet had received great damage, and as the duke of Parma had refused to venture his army under their protection, they should return to Spain by sailing round the Orkneys, as the winds were contrary to their passage directly back. Accordingly, they proceeded northward, and were followed by the English fleet as far as Flamborough Head, where they were terribly shattered by a storm. Seventeen of the ships, having 5000 men on board, were after wards cast away on the Western isles and the coast of Ireland. Of the whole A., 53 ships only returned to Spain, and these in a wretched condition. The seamen, as well as the soldiers who remained, were so overcome with hardships and fatigue, and so dispirited by their discomfiture, that they filled all Spain with accounts of the desperate valor of the English, and of the tempestuous violence of that ocean by which they were sur rounded.