1588

Triumphant in the name of the Holy Catholic church just 100 years earlier, Spain was prepared for another victory, this time over Protestantism.  Henry VIII had split England from the Catholic Church in 1534, in part over his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The King of England may have expected the 26 miles of the English Channel to keep away any invading army. More than that would be needed to hold off the most powerful naval force in the world: the Spanish Armada.

In spring of 1588, Catholic forces decided  to invade England, using ships from Spain and Portugal to protect and transport an invasion force. (That the invasion force was in the Netherlands and was already having difficulties attacking Protestant armies there perhaps should have been considered more carefully.) The 130 ships in the Armada were in sight of England by late July 1588, bristling with cannon and skilled sailors who could move the entire fleet almost as one. They were organized in a crescent formation that made it easy for the Spanish galleons to protect the merchant ships intended for transport.

The English, faced with an invasion and forced re-conversion to Catholicism, had other plans. They had more ships (227, including 34 warships) but fewer cannon  - they were outgunned by 50%. They took advantage of their greater numbers and improved maneuverability. Using the tight crescent formation against the Spanish, they packed eight ships with pitch and other flammable materials, set them on fire, and released them towards the Armada. The Spanish, unable to keep the fire ships away, were forced to cut their anchors and break formation, saving the ships...but not for long.

The next day, the English attacked directly. The English were not particularly successful in destroying ships, but they had a strategic advantage: Anything that kept the Spanish from landing troops was a success. 

Unable to defend where they were or to board the faster English ships, the armada broke apart and was forced to move away from the British fleet. Their only way back to Spain was to head around the northern coast of Great Britain - unfortunately into an unusually bad storm season, and with ships that were generally not well suited to Atlantic weather.   Many wrecked on the northern coast of Great Britain. Although the war continued, the victory here mirrored the eventual result: No foreign power would make England Catholic, and the British Fleet became the most powerful naval force in the world.