1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: The Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, Hello and welcomed. This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:19,439 Speaker 1: a show that talies the winds and losses of everyday history. 4 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,439 Speaker 1: I'm Gay Blusier, and today we're looking at a key 5 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: victory in the Anglo Spanish War, one that helped establish 6 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: England as a world power and that forever changed the 7 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: shape of naval warfare. The day was July. The Spanish 8 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: Armada was defeated by an English naval force off the 9 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:50,960 Speaker 1: coast of Graveleen, France. Two months earlier, King Philip the 10 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: Second of Spain had dispatched his sizeable fleet as part 11 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:58,240 Speaker 1: of a plan to invade and conquer England. Things went 12 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: awry when bad weather for the armata back to Spain, 13 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: giving England plenty of time to prepare for the impending attack. 14 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 1: When the Spanish fleet was finally sighted off the coast 15 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 1: of Cornwall on July, they were greeted by a heavily 16 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 1: armed English navy led by Lord Charles Howard and Sir 17 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: Francis Drake. Two days later, they began bombarding the Spanish 18 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: ships from a distance, eventually chasing them up the English 19 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: Channel to the coast of Calais, France. It was there 20 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: that the English pressed their advantage by launching a surprise 21 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:35,679 Speaker 1: attack in the early hours of July. The battle lasted 22 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: eight hours, but when the smoke cleared, England stood victorious 23 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: and the Spanish armada, once thought invincible, was forced to 24 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: retreat in shame. Spain had been on much friendlier terms 25 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: with England during the reign of Queen Mary the First. 26 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: First starters, she was married to Spain's King Philip the Second, 27 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: but more importantly to Spain, at least Mary, he had 28 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: restored Catholicism to her otherwise Protestant country. She spilled a 29 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 1: lot of blood in pursuit of that goal, though prompting 30 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: many of her own subjects to dub her Bloody Mary. 31 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 1: Her brutal reign ended with her death in fifteen fifty eight, 32 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: and she was succeeded by her younger half sister, Elizabeth 33 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 1: the First. Although King Philip was technically her brother in law, 34 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: he still extended a marriage offer to the new queen, 35 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: though understandably she refused, and just in case that rejection 36 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: didn't sting badly enough, Elizabeth also reimposed Protestantism in England. 37 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: Philip considered this heresy, and relations between Spain and England 38 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 1: soured quickly from there. Three decades later, war still hadn't 39 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 1: been formally declared, but Philip was ready to attack all 40 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 1: the same. By that time, English raids had become a 41 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: serious hindrance to his country's trade, and if that weren't 42 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 1: bad enough, England was also jeopardizing Spain's foothold. In the Netherlands. 43 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: Protestant Dutch rebels had begun to fight back against Spanish occupation, 44 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: and Queen Elizabeth offered support to that rebellion. Fed up 45 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: with England's interference, King Philip began building a vast fleet 46 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: of ships and making preparations to launch a full scale invasion. 47 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: He was supported in this effort by Pope Sixtus the Five, 48 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 1: who hoped to restore Catholicism and the power of Rome 49 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: to England. The Spanish Armada was completed by the fall 50 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: of fifty seven, but its departure had to be delayed 51 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: until the following year after Sir Francis Drake led a 52 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: crippling raid on the fleets supplies. It was an infuriating setback, 53 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: one that only stoked Spain's resolve for the invasion. At last. 54 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: On May nine, fifty eight, the one hundred and thirty 55 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: ships Spanish Fleet set sail from Lisbon, Portugal. It was 56 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: armed with twenty five hundred guns and carried roughly twenty 57 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:04,840 Speaker 1: eight thousand soldiers and crew. The plan was to seize 58 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: control of Flanders on the border of the English Channel, 59 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: and then ferry troops across to the Kent coast to 60 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:16,279 Speaker 1: launch an overland assault on London. Unfortunately for the Spanish, 61 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:21,040 Speaker 1: the weather didn't cooperate. Powerful storms routed the fleet back 62 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 1: to Spain and they weren't able to set out again 63 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 1: for several weeks. By the time they finally reached the 64 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: southern coast of England on July, the English Navy was 65 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:34,280 Speaker 1: ready for them. The English fleet was composed of about 66 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:37,799 Speaker 1: two hundred ships and was commanded by Lord Charles Howard 67 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: aboard the Ark Royal and by Sir Francis Drake aboard 68 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:45,480 Speaker 1: the Revenge. The commanders lit beacons to alert their countrymen 69 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:48,680 Speaker 1: to the seven mile long line of ships headed their way, 70 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 1: and once the armada had sailed a little closer, they 71 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 1: began firing their long range heavy guns to halt the advance. 72 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: Over the next few days, a handful of Spanish ships 73 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:02,920 Speaker 1: were s by the cannon fire, but the majority continued 74 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: to push their way up the English Channel, pursued all 75 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: the while by Howard's fleet. After about a week of 76 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: minor skirmishes, the Armada anchored in the harbor of Calais, France, 77 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 1: to wait for reinforcements from the Spanish Netherlands. The invasion 78 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,799 Speaker 1: was beginning to look like a lost cause, though. Even 79 00:05:21,839 --> 00:05:24,479 Speaker 1: if the extra troops were able to reach the Spanish 80 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,480 Speaker 1: ships before the British caught up with them, they hadn't 81 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: secured the English Channel, which meant safely crossing to England 82 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: was virtually impossible. The Spanish fleet was slower and less 83 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,599 Speaker 1: heavily armed than their opponents. That's largely because Spain was 84 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: still taking a traditional approach to naval warfare, preferring to 85 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:47,280 Speaker 1: attack by sailing up alongside an enemy vessel, boarding it, 86 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 1: and then seizing control through close quarter combat. The Spanish 87 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:55,040 Speaker 1: infantry was well trained in this offensive tactic, and if 88 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: the British hadn't kept them at bay with their long 89 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 1: range fire, they likely would have gotten the upper hand. 90 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: It was in England's best interest, then, to not give 91 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:07,159 Speaker 1: Spain the opening to launch that kind of boarding attack, 92 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:13,320 Speaker 1: and so shortly after midnight on July the English decided 93 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:17,280 Speaker 1: to take advantage of their enemies exposed position. They took 94 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: eight of their oldest ships, loaded them with anything and 95 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:24,200 Speaker 1: everything that would burn, and then directed the burning ships 96 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 1: straight toward the harbor at Calais. The sight of the 97 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 1: flaming ships sparked a panic among the Spanish. They immediately 98 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 1: cut their anchors and sailed out to sea, completely breaking 99 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:40,040 Speaker 1: their defensive formation in the process. At dawn, the English 100 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:42,719 Speaker 1: caught up to the splintered Armada off the coast of 101 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 1: grave Lein and began bombarding them with cannon fire all 102 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: over again. Eight hours later, and the Spanish were finally 103 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:54,520 Speaker 1: ready to call it quits. Their invasion of England had 104 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: been a total bust, and their trip back to Spain 105 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:00,839 Speaker 1: wouldn't be any easier. The fastest out to Spain was 106 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:03,719 Speaker 1: blocked by the British, so the Armada had to retreat 107 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 1: up towards the North Sea instead. From there they hoped 108 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 1: to take the long way home by sailing around Scotland 109 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:14,679 Speaker 1: and Ireland. That arduous journey wound up taking the better 110 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:17,840 Speaker 1: part of three months, and along the way the Spanish 111 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:21,120 Speaker 1: fleet was decimated both by storms and by a lack 112 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 1: of vital supplies. In the end, Spain lost half of 113 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:29,240 Speaker 1: its one hundred and thirty ship fleet in its failed invasion, 114 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:33,640 Speaker 1: along with more than fifteen thousand men. It was a 115 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:37,440 Speaker 1: decisive victory for Queen Elizabeth, the first for England and 116 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: for the Protestant faith. The Battle of Graveleen also marked 117 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,840 Speaker 1: a turning point to naval warfare, putting an end to 118 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: the old method of boarding and taking over ships in 119 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:50,440 Speaker 1: favor of just blasting them out of the water from 120 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:55,160 Speaker 1: long range. That shift in tactics cast doubt on Spain's 121 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: ambitions for world conquest, clearing the path for the British 122 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: to give it a try themselves. I'm Gabe Lousier and 123 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,160 Speaker 1: hopefully you now know a little more about history today 124 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. If you have a second and 125 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: you're so inclined, consider following us on Twitter, Facebook and 126 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:19,680 Speaker 1: Instagram at t d I HC Show, and if you 127 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: have any feedback you'd like to share, feel free to 128 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 1: send it my way at this day at I heart 129 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 1: media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, 130 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:31,320 Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here 131 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:34,480 Speaker 1: again soon for another day in history class.