How Britain Came to Rule The Waves During 1588 War with Spain
The Spanish lost for a simple reason: They were outgunned. The English fleet had one third more fire power, and the English were better able to utilize what they had because they had better trained crews and more efficient gun carriages.
Spanish crews did not even stay at their guns after discharging an initial blast; because of their old fashioned ideas about naval warfare, they were topside to rake the enemy docks with small arms fore, and serve in boarding parties.
The English gunners, by contrast, continued firing round after round. They were said to be there or four times more proficient in firing rate and accuracy.
England’s superiority in armaments was symptomatic of the more fundamental underlying disparity stemming from its more effective naval administration.
But even though the Navy and Ordnance Boards provided the English fleet with superior weapon and ships, its commanders still had to figure out how to make the best use of them. This took time.
The early engagements produced scant result because the effective range of English artillery was much shorter than their gunners realized.
Historian wrote that, “At ranges of three to seven hundreds yards a sixteenth century culverin (firing eighteen pound balls) or demi-culverin (firing nine pounds balls) might fail together to pierce the thick hull of a galleon or stout great-ship, and when it did would only make a small hole quickly caulked by an alert crew.”
It seems likely that Drake first realized the English guns ineffectiveness when he captured the Nuestro Senora del Rosario on August 1 and saw how little she had suffered.
The first close in attack on a Spanish ship took place two days later when an English vessel pounded the Gran Grifon from point blank range.
It is no coincidence that the ship in question was probably Drake’s revenge. This experienced showed the English commanders how to fight the Spanish.
They decided to conserve English shot until they could get close enough to make it count – “to go within musket shot of the enemy before they should discharge any one piece of ordnance.” That opportunity finally arrived in August 9 after the fireships had broken the Armada’s formidable array.
Thus a crucial element of English success was their commanders, ability to learn on the fly, make adjustments and attempt new tactics. The Spanish paid a heavy price for their lack of equal flexibility.
How Britain Came to Rule the Waves during 1588 War with Spain
The Spanish lost for a simple reason: They were outgunned. The English fleet had one third more fire power, and the English were better able to utilize what they had because they had better trained crews and more efficient gun carriages.
Spanish crews did not even stay at their guns after discharging an initial blast; because of their old fashioned ideas about naval warfare, they were topside to rake the enemy docks with small arms fore, and serve in boarding parties.The English gunners, by contrast, continued firing round after round. They were said to be there or four times more proficient in firing rate and accuracy.
England’s superiority in armaments was symptomatic of the more fundamental underlying disparity stemming from its more effective naval administration.
But even though the Navy and Ordnance Boards provided the English fleet with superior weapon and ships, its commanders still had to figure out how to make the best use of them. This took time.
The early engagements produced scant result because the effective range of English artillery was much shorter than their gunners realized.
Historian wrote that, “At ranges of three to seven hundreds yards a sixteenth century culverin (firing eighteen pound balls) or demi-culverin (firing nine pounds balls) might fail together to pierce the thick hull of a galleon or stout great-ship, and when it did would only make a small hole quickly caulked by an alert crew.”It seems likely that Drake first realized the English guns ineffectiveness when he captured the Nuestro Senora del Rosario on August 1 and saw how little she had suffered.
The first close in attack on a Spanish ship took place two days later when an English vessel pounded the Gran Grifon from point blank range.
It is no coincidence that the ship in question was probably Drake’s revenge. This experienced showed the English commanders how to fight the Spanish.
They decided to conserve English shot until they could get close enough to make it count – “to go within musket shot of the enemy before they should discharge any one piece of ordnance.” That opportunity finally arrived in August 9 after the fireships had broken the Armada’s formidable array.
Thus a crucial element of English success was their commanders, ability to learn on the fly, make adjustments and attempt new tactics. The Spanish paid a heavy price for their lack of equal flexibility.
How Britain Came to Rule the Waves during 1588 War with Spain