In the very late 16th and early 17th century Spain went from being a leading power in Europe to having England, France, and the Dutch surpassing them. This was mostly due to a single event, the failed attack of the Spanish Armada in 1588 (Ulm). King Philip the II ordered the armada to be organized after disputes with England over religion and the English aid of Dutch rebels against Spain. The armada was to meet up with the duke of Parma and invade England.
             When King Philip ordered the assembly of the armada, he knew that an army to invade England could not be carried by the armada, so he decided to meet up with the Duke of Parma in charge of a trained army from the Netherlands (Spanish ally). The armada was then to escort them as they invaded mainland England. There was to be 130 ships and 33,000 men. (Garrett, 121) The English had the knowledge of King Philip's plan to invade. They in preparation destroyed many of the barrels used to transport supplies. This would play a crucial role in the battle. The armada was organized on a very short notice, without much time to prepare. The person to lead the armada was the Duke of Medina Sedonia. He was an experienced general but did not know much about sea warfare. Spain had Mediterranean style galleons.(Angus,34) These had high decks meant for close ship to ship combat. They however had high hulls and were slow at going through the water. The British on the other hand had low slung ships with long range cannons. This was the way ship design was headed. They could stay out of the range of the Spanish guns, but still shoot at the Spanish. Their ships were also much faster than the Spanish ships and could tack going up wind at a much steeper angle than the Spanish could.
             When the armada departed from Spain they immediately encountered unfavorable winds and bad weather. They were expecting the voyage to the English Channel to be relatively short and had very few suppli
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