Who was the commander of the Spanish Armada?
The commander of the great Armada was the Duke of Medina Sidonia. On board, he had a large army of soldiers ready for battle on English soil with armour and cannon from Germany and Italy. The Duke had set out on the enterprise with some reluctance, for he was aware of the superiority of English ships, but hoped he would be able to join with the forces of the Duke of Parma in the Netherlands and have safe deep anchorage for his fleet before the invasion of England. To his dismay this did not happen. The Spaniards kept their crescent formation up the Channel with great discipline but two great ships were accidentally put out of action. The Rosario collided with another ship, was disabled and captured by Drake, while the San Salvador blew up with tremendous loss of life. The two fleets skirted round each other up the Channel with neither gaining advantage.
