Why the Armada Failed

There is little doubt that the tactics used by the English fleet against the Armada were an important contributor to the Armada's defeat, but was it English ingenuity that saved England from Spain, or was the rest downplayed to make England seem superior to Spain/the Habsburg Empire? In order to effectively analyse the comparative importance of English tactics, one must analyse the other causes for defeat. First of all, how important were English tactics? When the English first engaged the Armada, they used their agility to sail their ships into the wind so that they could then attack the Armada with the wind on their side (although the wind didn't really favour either of them, as the Armada was also sailing into the wind). Then, instead of letting the Armada board their ship and fight hand to hand, they sailed past them and battered them with cannon fire. Unfortunately, the guns weren't accurate, and, because they were hitting above the water line they didn't sink any ships. The only ships lost were Spanish ships which had collided in the confusion of battle. Still, when the Armada attempted to occupy the Isle of Wight, Sir Francis Drake successfully commanded a squadron of ships to draw the fleet into the Channel (they could have avoided the Channel, but they would risk being shipwrecked). When the Armada was waiting for Parma's men, they were driven away by fireships, which the Armada thought to be a specialised hellburner, and it fled, with formation broken, and then routed at the Battle of Gravelines, where, once again, the Armada's determination to board and fight hand to hand meant they were battered by cannon fire, even though they were within musket range. However, it can be argued that it was not a case of English tactical superiority, but Spanish tactical inferiority, as the Armada always attempted to board the English fleet and fight hand to hand, even when the English were clearly faster. And when the Duke of Medina Sidonia saw that the English