The Spanish Armada was the fleet that attempted to escort an army from Flanders as a part the Habsburg Spanish invasion of England in 1588, was divided into ten "squadrons" (escuadras) [1] The twenty galleons in the Squadrons of Portugal and of Castile, together with one more galleon in the Squadron of Andalucia and the four galleasses from Naples, constituted the only purpose-built warships (apart from the four galleys, which proved ineffective in the Atlantic waters and soon departed for safety in French ports); the rest of the Armada comprised armed merchantmen (mostly naos/carracks) and various ancillary vessels including urcas (storeships, termed "hulks"), zabras and pataches, pinnaces, and (not included in the formal count) caravels. The division into squadrons was for administrative purposes only; upon sailing, the Armada could not keep to a formal order, and most ships sailed independently from the rest of their squadron. Each squadron was led by a flagship (capitana) and a "vice-flagship" (almiranta).
This list is compiled by a survey drawn up by Medina Sidonia on the Armada's departure from Lisbon on 9 May 1588 and sent to Felipe II; it was then published and quickly became available to the English. The numbers of sailors and soldiers mentioned below are as given in the same survey and thus also relate to this date.
These commanders did not necessarily sail in the capitana (flagship) of the squadron of which they were technically in command. For example, Juan Martínez de Recalde, as second-in-command of the whole enterprise, was aboard Medina Sidonia's flagship São Martinho (or San Martin in Spanish), which also carried the Duke's principal staff officers - Diego Flores de Valdés (chief advisor on naval matters) and Francisco Arias de Bobadilla (the general in charge of the fleet's military contingent). In view of this, in the event of the loss of the fleet flagship with its commanders aboard, it was determined by Felipe II that command of the enterprise would then devolve upon Alonso Martínez de Leiva, who commanded the Rata Santa María Encoronada of the Squadron of Levantines.
Twelve ships comprising ten galleons and two zabras (total seamen 1,293; total soldiers 3,330);
Name | Type | Tons | Built at | Year built | No of guns | Crew | Troops | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
São Martinho (Sp. San Martín) | galleon | 1,000 | Portugal | 1578 | 48 | 161 | 317 | Returned to Santander |
São João (Sp. San Juan) | galleon | 1,050 | Portugal | 1586 | 50 | 156 | 387 | Returned to A Coruña, subsequently burned there by Sir Francis Drake in May 1589 |
São Marcos (Sp. San Marcos) | galleon | 790 | Portugal | 1585 | 33 | 108 | 274 | Wrecked on the coast of County Clare, Ireland. |
São Luís (Sp. San Luis) | galleon | 830 | Portugal | 1585 | 38 | 100 | 339 | Returned to Santander |
São Filipe (Sp. San Felipe) | galleon | 800 | Portugal | 1585 | 40 | 108 | 362 | Ran aground and lost off Flanders, between Nieuport and Ostend. |
São Mateus (Sp. San Mateo) | galleon | 750 | Portugal | 1579 | 34 | 110 | 286 | Ran aground and lost off Flanders, between Nieuport and Ostend. |
São Tiago (Sp. Santiago) | galleon | 520 | Portugal | 1585 | 24 | 80 | 293 | Returned to Santander |
São Francisco (Sp. San Francisco de Florencia) | galleon | 961 | Tuscany | 1585 | 52 | 89 | 294 | Returned to Santander |
São Cristóvão (Sp. San Cristóbal) | galleon | 352 | Portugal | 1580 | 20 | 79 | 132 | Returned to Santander |
São Bernardo (Sp. San Bernardo) | galleon | 352 | Cantabria | 1586 | 21 | 65 | 171 | Returned to A Coruña |
Augusta | zabra | 166 | Cantabria | 1585 | 13 | 43 | 49 | unknown |
Julia | Zabra | 166 | Cantabria | 1585 | 14 | 48 | 87 | unknown |
Sixteen ships comprising ten galleons, four armed merchant carracks (naos) and two pataches (total seamen 1,719; total soldiers 2,458); seven of the galleons were built as a class at Guarnizo in 1583–83.
Name | Type | Tons | Built at | Year built | No of guns | Crew | Troops | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
San Cristóbal | galleon | 700 | Santander | 1583 | 36 | 116 | 202 | Returned to Laredo |
San Juan Bautista | galleon | 750 | Santander | 1585 | 24 | 90 | 244 | Returned to Santander |
San Juan (el Menor) | galleon | 530 | Guarnizo | 1584 | 24 | 77 | 231 | Returned to Santander |
San Pedro (el Mayor) | galleon | 530 | Guarnizo | 1584 | 24 | 90 | 184 | Returned to Santander |
Santiago el Mayor | galleon | 530 | Guarnizo | 1584 | 24 | 103 | 290 | Returned to Santander |
San Felipe y Santiago | galleon | 530 | Guarnizo | 1584 | 24 | 75 | 204 | Returned to Santander |
Asunción | galleon | 530 | Guarnizo | 1584 | 24 | 70 | 170 | Returned to Santander |
Nuestra Señora del Barrio | galleon | 530 | Guarnizo | 1583 | 24 | 81 | 202 | Returned to Laredo |
San Medel y Celedón | galleon | 530 | Guarnizo | 1584 | 24 | 75 | 200 | Returned to Laredo |
Santa Ana | galleon | 250 | France | 1581 | 24 | 54 | 98 | Returned to Santander |
Nuestra Señora de Begoña | nao | 750 | Santander | 1585 | 24 | 81 | 202 | Returned to Cangas (Galicia) |
Trinidad | nao | 872 | Santander | 1586 | 24 | 79 | 173 | Lost off the coast of Desmond — probably at Valentia Island, off the coast of south Kerry Ireland |
Santa Catalina | nao | 882 | Santander | 1586 | 24 | 134 | 193 | Returned to Santander |
San Juan Bautista | nao | 650 | Santander | 1585 | 24 | 57 | 183 | Returned to Santander on 7 October 1588 |
Nuestra Señora del Socorro (or Nuestra Señora del Rosario) | patache | 75 | Santander | 1586 | 14 | 15 | 20 | Possibly lost in Tralee Bay, County Kerry, Ireland. [4] |
San Antonio de Padua | patache | 75 | Santander | 1586 | 12 | 20 | 20 | Sank off the west coast of Ireland |
Four ships (galleasses); the flagship (capitana) of Don Hugo de Moncada was the San Lorenzo; when she was captured by the French at Calais after a hard fight with the English, Moncada died from a bullet wound.
These powerfully-armed vessels were built for the Neapolitan Navy (probably in Sicily) a decade earlier. Each had 28 oars on each side, but relied on a square-rigged sailing arrangement installed for the 1588 campaign, as they were slow under oars alone. Their armament consisted on six forward-firing heavy cannon in the bows and four similar guns rear-firing in the stern; they also had 20 smaller guns (4- to 12-pounders) mounted in the fore and stern castles, and 20 swivel-mounted light guns on the raised catwalks above the rowers' benches.
Name | No of Guns | Built at | Year built | Tons | Crew | Oarsmen | Soldiers | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
San Lorenzo | 50 | Naples | 1578 | 380 | 124 | 300 | 248 | Grounded at Calais after the Battle of Gravelines. |
Zúñiga | 50 | Naples | 1578 | 380 | 104 | 300 | 226 | Returned to Le Havre, where abandoned |
Girona | 50 | Naples | 1580 | 380 | 129 | 300 | 229 | Lost driven on to Lacada Point and the "Spanish Rocks'" (as they were known, thereafter) near Ballintoy in County Antrim, Ireland on the night of 26 October 1588. |
Napolitana | 50 | Naples | 1581 | 380 | 102 | 300 | 221 | Returned home intact, making landfall at Laredo, Spain. |
Fourteen ships comprising ten naos and four pataches (total seamen 863; total soldiers 1,937);
Name | Type | Tons | Built at | Year built | No of guns | Crew | Troops | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Santa Ana | nao | 768 | Cantabria | 1586 | 30 | 101 | 311 | Lost off Le Havre |
Gran Grin | nao | 1,160 | Cantabria | unknown | 28 | 75 | 261 | Wrecked near southwest tip of Clare Island, Clew Bay, County Mayo, Ireland. |
Santiago | nao | 666 | Cantabria | 1585 | 25 | 106 | 204 | Returned to Guipuzcoa |
Concepcion de Zubelzu | nao | 468 | Pasajes | 1585 | 16 | 58 | 161 | Returned to Guipuzcoa |
Concepcion de Juan del Cano | nao | 418 | Cantabria | 1585 | 18 | 58 | 167 | Wrecked on Carna, County Galway, Ireland. |
Magdalena | nao | 530 | Cantabria | 1585 | 18 | 61 | 183 | Returned to Guipuzcoa |
San Juan | nao | 350 | Cantabria | 1585 | 21 | 49 | 141 | Wrecked at Dunkirk, France. |
María Juan | nao | 665 | Cantabria | 1585 | 24 | 94 | 207 | Damaged during the Battle of Gravelines and sank two days later. |
Manuela | nao | 520 | England (i.e. a prize) | 12 | 48 | 124 | Returned to Santander | |
Santa María de Montemayor | nao | 707 | Ragusa | 18 | 47 | 158 | Returned to Santander | |
María de Aguirre | patache | 70 | Cantabria | 1585 | 6 | 25 | 19 | unknown |
Isabela | patache | 71 | Cantabria | 1585 | 10 | 29 | 24 | Returned to A Coruña |
María de Miguel Suso | patache | 96 | Cantabria | 1585 | 6 | 25 | 20 | Returned to Guipuzcoa |
San Esteban | patache | 78 | Cantabria | 1585 | 6 | 25 | 10 | Returned to A Coruña |
Eleven ships comprising nine naos, one galleon and one patache (total seamen 780; total soldiers 2,325);
Name | Type | Tons | Built at | Year built | No of guns | Crew | Troops | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nuestra Señora del Rosario | nao | 1,150 | Ribadeo | 1585 | 46 | 119 | 345 | Captured by Drake in the Channel, sent into Torbay |
San Francisco | nao | 915 | Cantabria | 1585 | 21 | 85 | 227 | Returned to Santander |
San Juan Bautista | galleon | 810 | Cantabria | 1584 | 31 | 84 | 249 | Returned to Santander |
San Juan de Gargarín | nao | 569 | Cantabria | 1585 | 16 | 38 | 175 | Returned to Santander |
Concepción | nao | 862 | Cantabria | 1584 | 20 | 69 | 201 | Returned to Laredo |
Duquesa Santa Ana | nao | 900 | Flanders | 1585 | 23 | 65 | 253 | Wrecked at Loughros More, County Donegal, Ireland. |
Santa Catalina | nao | 730 | Cantabria | 1585 | 23 | 69 | 238 | unknown |
Trinidad | nao | 650 | Cantabria | 1585 | 13 | 54 | 198 | unknown |
Santa María de Juncal | nao | 730 | Cantabria | 1586 | 20 | 66 | 219 | unknown |
San Bartolomé | nao | 976 | Cantabria | 1585 | 27 | 56 | 211 | unknown |
Espíritu Santo | patache | 70 | Cantabria | 1585 | 10 | 15 | 18 | Scuttled at Portencross, 6 August 1588 |
Fourteen ships comprising ten naos and four pataches (total seamen 616; total soldiers 1,992);
Name | Type | Tons | Built at | Year built | No of guns | Crew | Troops | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Santa Ana | nao | 1,200 | Cantabria | 1586 | 47 | 97 | 341 | Lost at San Sebastian |
Nuestra Señora de la Rosa (or Santa María de la Rosa) | nao | 956 | Cantabria | 1587 | 26 | 85 | 238 | Wrecked on Stromboli Reef at Blasket Sound, Ireland, 21 September 1588. |
San Salvador | nao | 958 | Cantabria | 1586 | 25 | 90 | 281 | Captured in the Channel, taken into Weymouth |
San Esteban | nao | 936 | Cantabria | 1586 | 26 | 73 | 204 | Wrecked near Doonbeg River, County Clare, Ireland. |
Santa Marta (or Santa María) | nao | 548 | San Sebastian | 1586 | 20 | 73 | 183 | Returned to Guipúzcoa. |
Santa Bárbara | nao | 525 | Cantabria | 1586 | 12 | 54 | 161 | Returned to Guipúzcoa |
San Buenaventura | nao | 379 | Cantabria | 1586 | 21 | 54 | 154 | Returned to Guipúzcoa |
María San Juan | nao | 291 | Cantabria | 1586 | 12 | 40 | 154 | Returned to Lisbon |
Santa Cruz | nao | 680 | Genoa | 1551 | 18 | 40 | 127 | Returned to Santander |
Doncella | nao | 500 | Germany | 1586 | 16 | 29 | 112 | foundered when she returned to Santander |
Asunción | patache | 60 | Cantabria | 1586 | 9 | 16 | 18 | Returned to Guipúzcoa |
San Bernabé | patache | 69 | Cantabria | 1586 | 9 | 17 | 17 | Returned to San Sebastian |
Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe | pinnace | 50 | Cantabria | 1586 | 1 | 12 | 0 | unknown |
Magdalena | pinnace | 50 | Cantabria | 1586 | 1 | 14 | 0 | unknown |
Ten Mediterranean merchant carracks (naos) embargoed in Sicily and in Lisbon (total seamen 767; total soldiers 2,780);
Name | Type | Tons | Built at | Year built | No of guns | Crew | Troops | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Regazona | nao | 1,294 | Ragusa, Sicily | unknown | 30 | 80 | 333 | Returned to A Coruña very damaged, subsequently burned there by Sir Francis Drake in May 1589 |
Lavia | nao | 728 | Venice | unknown | 25 | 71 | 271 | Grounded near Streedagh Strand, ten miles North of Sligo town, Ireland. [5] |
Santa María / (Rata Encoronada) | nao | 820 | Genoa | unknown | 35 | 93 | 344 | Grounded and set alight, late September 1588 in Blacksod Bay, County Mayo, Ireland. |
San Juan de Sicilia | nao | 800 | Ragusa | unknown | 26 | 63 | 279 | Vessel carrying 300 troops and silver plate for the use of noblemen was wrecked or run aground on the coast of Islay or Mull. Lachlan sent news of the ship to James VI at Stirling Castle. Lachlan Mòr befriended the crew and borrowed two cannon and 100 soldiers to besiege the house of Angus MacAulay, leaving a hostage as a pledge. After this, a man called John Smallet set a fuse made of lint in the gunpowder store and blew the ship up [6] in Tobermory harbour, Isle of Mull, Scotland.In October 1588 he gathered a force including 100 Spanish soldiers against Clan MacDonald of Clanranald and raided the Isles of Canna, Rùm, Eigg, and "Elennole", and besieged Mingary Castle, the stronghold of Clan MacDonald of Ardnamurchan. [7] |
Trinidad Valencera | nao | 1,100 | Venice | 1586 | 42 | 75 | 338 | Wrecked, 16 September 1588 at Glenagivney, Kinnagoe Bay Inishowen, County Donegal, Ireland. |
Presveta Anunciada | nao | 703 | Ragusa | unknown | 24 | 80 | 200 | Anchored in the mouth of the River Shannon at Scattery Roads, Ireland, and was burnt and abandoned by her crew who were rescued by other Armada ships. |
San Nicolás Prodaneli | nao | 834 | Ragusa | unknown | 26 | 68 | 226 | Anchored in the mouth of the River Shannon at Scattery Roads, Ireland, and was burnt and abandoned by her crew who were rescued by other Armada ships. |
Juliana | nao | 860 | Genoa | unknown | 32 | 65 | 290 | Grounded near Streedagh Strand, ten miles North of Sligo town, Ireland. [5] |
Santa María de Visón | nao | 666 | Ragusa | unknown | 18 | 38 | 183 | Grounded near Streedagh Strand, ten miles North of Sligo town, Ireland. [5] |
Trinidad de Escala | nao | 900 | Genoa | unknown | 22 | 66 | 342 | Returned to Spain (Santander) very damaged and was unrigged. |
San Bautista de la Esperanza (omitted from most censuses) | nao | 300 | Castro Urdiales, Cantabria | unknown | 12 | Returned to Spain. |
Twenty three ships (total seamen 608; total soldiers 3,121);
AS noted in the above lists 9 Spanish Armada vessels fates are listed as "Unknown". 9 unidentified Armada vessels were reported lost off Ireland:
County Donegal:
Six further ships — unidentified — were wrecked on the Donegal coast:
County Mayo:
Three vessels lost County Mayo:
Twenty two Pataches and Zabras (5 to 10 guns) under Don Antonio Hurtado de Mendoza (total seamen 574; total soldiers 479);
Squadron of Galleons under Admiral Juan Martínez de Recalde (total rowers 888; no soldiers); [16]
Source [20]
Galleon: A heavy square-rigged sailing ship of the 16th to early 18th centuries used for war or commerce especially by the Spanish. They were the fastest ships built during the 16th century. Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers. The full body of the fleet took two days to leave port. A typical Spanish galleon was 100–150 feet in length and 40–50 feet wide. [21]
Galley: A ship or boat propelled solely or chiefly by oars:
Galleass: A large fast galley used especially as a warship by Mediterranean countries in the 16th and 17th centuries and having both sails and oars but usually propelled chiefly by rowing. [23]
By 5LK
Collecting Data/ Under Construction