Posted on 03/03/2025 8:25:14 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Spanish Armada, the great fleet sent by King Philip II of Spain in 1588 to invade England in conjunction with a Spanish army from Flanders... 30,000 troops belonging to the veteran army of the Spanish regent of the Netherlands, the duke of Parma...
After nearly two years' prep... the Armada sailed from Lisbon in May 1588 under the command of the duke of Medina-Sidonia... an experienced administrator... but he had relatively little sea experience. The Spanish fleet consisted of about 130 ships with about 8,000 seamen and possibly as many as 19,000 soldiers. About 40 of these ships were line-of-battle ships...
The English fleet was under the command of Charles Howard, 2nd Baron Howard of Effingham... His second in command was Sir Francis Drake. The English fleet... during most of the subsequent fighting in the English Channel it numbered less than 100 ships... No more than 40 or so were warships of the first rank...
At midnight on August 7–8 (July 28–29), the English launched eight fire ships before the wind and tide into the Spanish fleet, forcing the Spanish ships to cut or slip their cables (thus losing their anchors) and stand out to sea to avoid catching fire...
The English fleet turned back in search of supplies when the Armada passed the Firth of Forth and there was no further fighting, but the long voyage home through the autumn gales of the North Atlantic proved fatal to many of the Spanish ships... Only 60 ships are known to have reached Spain... and perhaps 15,000 men perished. The English lost several hundred, perhaps several thousand, men to disease but sustained negligible damage and casualties in action.
(Excerpt) Read more at britannica.com ...
So why do Nissan and other companies name products “Armada” after a spectacularly failed fleet?
The word "armada" is a generic term for a fleet of warships. This applies to more than just the "Spanish Armada".
The Japanese word "kamikaze" means "divine wind" and refers to storms back in the 1200s that destroyed Mongol fleets that were threatening Japan. If the weather is on your side you don't need military superiority.
The Spanish plan was to land a total of 50,000 troops, more from Belgium, then Spanish, after the initial landing. That was a huge force for the time. They also planned to recruit English Catholics. They thought English was majority Catholic at the time. However, Elizabeth I was popular. Because Elizabeth had Mary Queen of Scots executed, and Henry VII and Henry VIII had had most people with Plantagenet claims to the throne executed, the Spanish plan was to put a Catholic European with Plantagenet descent in as a puppet king.
Japanese car companies maybe don’t know much about European history.
The Spanish Armada in Ireland refers to the arrival of a portion of the Spanish fleet on the Irish coast in 1588. The fleet was part of an attempt to invade England and overthrow Queen Elizabeth I.
A storm blew the Spanish fleet off course.
Many ships were shipwrecked on the west coast of Ireland.
Up to 9,000 Spanish soldiers and sailors died.
The English government ordered the execution of Spanish invaders and Irish who helped them.
I believe my ancestors may have killed some of those Spainards, They hail from the SW coast of Ireland
:^)
Season 3, Episode 4: In their first underwater excavation, the Team examine the remains of a ship wrecked 400 years ago off the Devon coast. Does enough of it remain to identify it? Was it part of the Spanish Armada?Wreck of the Spanish Armada | FULL EPISODE | Time Team | 50:13
Time Team Classics | 288K subscribers | 181,847 views | November 30, 2019
Similarly, my grandfather on my mother’s side was from County Cork.
“They thought English was majority Catholic at the time
They weren’t far off. The C. of E. wasn’t terribly popular 30 years after it was re-established upon Elizabeth’s coronation. When James I ascended throne in 1603, a full 15 years after the Spanish Armada defeat, there was a brief period in which James refused to enforce the penal laws against Catholics. The protestant establishment was shocked at how many Catholics started coming out of the woodwork, and quickly pushed for a new crackdown which James eventually assented. The disappointment that Catholics felt after their brief moment of emancipation was quashed is what led to the Gunpowder Plot in 1605.
I know, but:
In common usage, what percent of the uses of the word “Armada” are preceded by the word “Spanish”?
ChatGPT said:
In common usage, the phrase “Spanish Armada” is quite well-known, referring to the fleet of ships sent by Spain to invade England in 1588. While it’s difficult to pin down an exact percentage without detailed linguistic data, it’s safe to say that a significant majority of the time “Armada” is used in the context of “Spanish Armada.”
In historical and general discussions, “Spanish Armada” is a dominant phrase. Outside of that historical context, “Armada” can also be used to describe any large fleet, but the term “Spanish” often precedes it because of the historical significance of the 1588 event. So, it’s reasonable to estimate that “Spanish” precedes “Armada” in a large percentage of its uses, likely over 70-80%, though this figure could vary based on context (e.g., naval history versus modern usage).
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