Question

The Spanish thought the Armada would easily defeat the smaller English navy. But many of the 130 Spanish ships were ___ and ____. Some lack guns, ammunition, and experienced crewmen.

Answer 1

The Spanish Armada, composed of many outdated and ill-equipped ships, was defeated by the smaller English navy in 1588, aided by severe weather, marking the decline of the Spanish Empire and the rise of English naval dominance.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Spanish thought the Armada would easily defeat the smaller English navy. But many of the 130 Spanish ships were outdated and ill-equipped. Some lacked guns, ammunition, and experienced crewmen. The Spanish Armada, set to conquer England in 1588, faced not only the smaller but more maneuverable English navy but also encountered severely bad weather, which played a decisive role in its defeat.

Prior to this, the Spanish had a dominant position as a European power, though the naval battles with England, which included the English fleet attacking the harbor at Cadiz and capturing a significant amount of Spanish treasure, marked the beginning of the decline of the Spanish Empire's influence. Despite the grand size of the Spanish fleet, the combination of England's strategic prowess led by Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake, along with what was known as the "Protestant wind", a fluke storm aiding the English, ultimately devastated the Spanish fleet and led to a shift in naval dominance towards England.