Archive Results For: The Armada
Book Review-‘Victory: From fighting the Armada to Trafalgar and beyond’ by Iain Ballantyne/Nelson Navy and Nation: The Royal Navy and the British people, 1688–1815 by Quintin Colville and James Davey (eds)and Jonathan Eastlan
Both of these books have one fundamental thing in common: at their heart they deal with real objects, living heritage, which readers can see for themselves either by visiting HMS Victory in Portsmouth or the long-term exhibition entitled Nelson, Navy and Nation at the National Maritime Museum (NMM). In that sense their apparent audience is […] Read More
Filed under: Tudors | The Armada | Other (Nineteenth C) | Other (Eighteenth C)
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Navies | Strategy & Diplomacy
Document: Queen Elizabeth’s Instruction to Admiral Howard, 20 December 1587
An introduction to this transcript of the original instruction written by Queen Elizabeth I, provides a brief review of interpretations of the document and raises concerns how it has been misinterpreted, as the whole document was not read and reviewed. The document shows Elizabeth’s understanding of the need to have flexibility of approach to maritime […] Read More
Filed under: English Channel | The Armada | North Sea
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Navies
Document: Anatomy of Defeat: the Testimony of Juan Martínez de Recalde and Don Alonso Martínez de Leyva on the Failure of the Spanish Armada in 1588
The ‘papeles curiosos’ include a dossier sent to Don Martín de Idiáquez by his relative Juan Martínez de Recalde, second-in-command of the Spanish Armada. The dossier constitutes the political testament of the Armada’s two most senior fighting officers. It reveals for the first time, over four centuries later, what, and who, they thought had caused […] Read More
Filed under: Tudors | The Armada | Other (location)
Subjects include: Navies
Henry Seckford: Sixteenth Century Merchant, Courtier and Privateer
Henry Seckford was a vigorous, thrusting and quite ruthless merchant and businessman, always seeking the best route to personal profit whilst at the same time serving others. Henry Seckford was hedging his bets too. From the evidence it seems he turned from the Spanish wine trade to more speculative ventures in less sure markets – […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Tudors | English Channel | The Armada | Pacific | East India Company | Other (location)
Subjects include: Merchant Marines | Navies | Pirates, Corsairs & Privateers | Science & Exploration | Strategy & Diplomacy
The Development of Broadside Gunnery 1450-1650
The article criticises several assumptions by later British historians such as Sir Julian Corbett about the origins of the heavy-gunned ‘broadside’ vessel and associated English battle tactics especially during the Spanish Armada campaign. Many guns were considered ‘fixed’, the ship was aimed. English carriages allowed for transverse positioning though the number of actual gunners remained […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Tudors | English Channel | The Armada
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Navies | Weapons
The Dreadnought Revolution of Tudor England
The author asks how the Royal Navy developed different types of capital warships and tactics which defeated the Spanish Armada. Utilising detailed charts, graphs and appendices, four main reasons are cited: ‘race-built’ designs, concentration of heavy guns aboard ship, superior rate-of-fire and handling of ordnance, and reliable long-term funding from the English crown. Dreadnought, launched […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Tudors | English Channel | The Armada
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Navies | Weapons
Note: The Spanish Armada
Despite the flurry of research which accompanied the fourth centenary, the points still outstanding range from the essential role of Portugal and the Portuguese, the part played by Medina Sidonia, the international nature of the expedition and the situation in Ireland in 1588. Read More
Filed under: English Channel | The Armada | North Sea
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Navies | Strategy & Diplomacy
Note: The Armada Fight 400 Years On
An account of the centenary celebrations in 1888 leads on to the corrections now made to the contemporary myths and legends. Read More
Filed under: Tudors | English Channel | The Armada
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Strategy & Diplomacy
The Sinews of War: Manning and Provisioning English Fighting Ships c.1550-1650
This article surveys the methods of recruitment of complements for both royal and private fighting ships and their provisioning. It demonstrates how inadequacies and problems reflected the administrative and political fragility of the early modern state. While, on the one hand, wars drained resources and threatened regimes, they also stimulated the growth and development of […] Read More
Filed under: Tudors | Francis Drake | Dutch Wars | The Armada | Mutiny & Discipline | Health at Sea | Press Gangs
Subjects include: Administration | Manpower & Life at Sea | Navies | Pirates, Corsairs & Privateers
Note: Spanish Armada Prisoners’ Escape from Ireland
A document revealing the escape of thirty Spaniards from their English captors in Ireland. Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Tudors | The Armada
Subjects include: Miscellaneous