Spanish Armada Defeated

In 1588, Philip II of Spain dispatched a fleet of 124 ships and 27,000 men to escort an invasion force from Flanders to England, aiming to overthrow Elizabeth I and restore Catholicism. Commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, the Armada sailed in a crescent formation up the English Channel. On the night of August 7-8, English forces under Lord Howard and Sir Francis Drake launched fireships into the anchored fleet off Calais, breaking its formation. The subsequent Battle of Gravelines scattered the Spanish, who were forced into a return voyage around Scotland and Ireland, losing nearly half their ships.