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| 1588 | Battle of Flanders Coast |  |
| 7th Aug Flanders The English and Spanish fleets again engage off the coast of Flanders , the English again are more successful |
| 7th Aug Flanders The Spanish are unable to reach the coast of Flanders to meet up with the army of the Duke of Parma, Medina Sidonia decides to return to Spain |
| 1588 | Battle of Gravelines | |
| 6th Aug Gravelines The Spanish Armada is defeated by an English naval force under command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake off the coast of Gravelines , now in France |
| 1588 | Departure Corunna | |
| 20th July Corunna The Armada Fleets sets sail from Corunna |
| 1588 | Sinking Rosario | |
| Channel Falls to Drake's galleons while being chased up the Channel |
| English Channel Falls to Drake's galleons while being chased up the Channel |
| Channel Sunk with 15,000 ducats & 418 sailors & soldiers |
| English Channel Sunk with 15,000 ducats & 418 sailors & soldiers |
| 1588 | Sinking San Salvador | |
| Channel The San Salvador suddenly explodes while proceeding up the Channel |
| English Channel The San Salvador suddenly explodes while proceeding up the Channel |
| 1588 | Spanish Armada | |
| At the outset Sidonia has 128 warships and 2 converted merchant ships under his command, the plan is to sail through the English Channel and anchor off the coast of Flanders unite with the Duke of Parma's army & invade south east England |
| On the day after Gravelines , the wind had backed, southerly, enabling Medina Sidonia to move the Armada northward (away from the French coast), the English pursue the Spanish fleet, to prevent it returning to escort Parma |
| The Armada is blown north up the east coast of England and attempts a return to Spain by sailing around Scotland and out into the Atlantic, past Ireland but very severe weather destroys a portion of the fleet, and more than 24 vessels are wrecked |
| May The fleet was to be commanded by the highly experienced Elvaro de Baz n, but he died in May 1588, a few months before the sailing date, and Medina Sidonia is appointed in his place |
| 28th May An army of 30,000 men atands in the Spanish Netherlands waiting for the fleet to arrive, the plan is to land the original force in Plymouth and transfer the land army to somewhere near London, mustering 55,000 men |
| 28th May The Armada, with around 130 ships, 8,000 sailors and 18,000 soldiers, 1,500 brass guns and 1,000 iron guns, sets sail from Lisbon in Portugal, heading for the English Channel |
| 30th July Dodman Point First sights the English Fleet off Dodman Point |
| 6th Aug Calais Anchors off Calais Roads ready to rendezvous with Parma, as instructed |
| 6th Aug Calais The Armada is attacked by 200 English ships, assisted by the Dutch navy, in the North Sea at Gravelines , a fire-ship attack drives the Armada ships from their anchorage, and in the ensuing battle the Spanish abandon their rendezvous with Parma |
| 7th Aug Dunkirk Informed by from Parma that the "Great Enterprise" is hopeless |
| 7th Aug Dunkirk Parma is trapped in Dunkirk by a shallow harbour |
| 7th Aug The English and Spanish fleets again engage off the coast of Flanders , the English again are more successful |
| 12th Aug Howard calls a halt to the chase in the latitude of the Firth of Forth off Scotland but ut by that point, the Spanish are suffering from thirst and exhaustion, the only option left to Sidonia is to chart a course home to Spain, along the Atlantic |
| 12th Aug Firth of Forth The Spanish fleet sails past the Firth of Forth, and the English cease their pursuit, much of the Spanish fleet is destroyed as it sails around Scotland and Ireland |
