Please remind me - I didn't do history at school.
1588 - Spanish Armada. Francis Drake playing bowls on Plymouth Hoe. Spanish fleet struggling in the Bay of Biscay.
What exactly was HM QE1 doing in Tilbury? Booking a quick passage to Holland in case it all went wrong?
Trying to keep the chaps motivated perhaps;
This famous speech was given by British monarch Elizabeth I in 1588 as England prepared for an invasion by King Philip of Spain and his powerful Armada. Victory for the English was in no way certain, but the expected invasion was averted when an unexpected and powerful wind blew the Armada away from the English shores.
This great speech was given by Elizabeth on the morning of the 9th August 1588 to the 4,000 troops who had gathered at Tilbury, after the actual threat from the Spanish fleet itself had passed.
The Armada of 130 ships manned by 30,000 was first spotted off the Lizard on the 19th July on it's way to the Neatherlands to pick up Duke of Parma's army and escort them in the invasion force into England. The English navy was commanded by Admiral Lord Howard of Effingham, assisted by the extremely experienced Sir Francis Drake, and with 150 ships gathered at Plymouth they commenced a series of attacking moves against the Spanish fleet as they moved East up the English Channel, with individual galleons picked off. However at midnight on the 28th July the English sent "hell-burners" or fire ships into the Armada anchored off Calais, burning and scattering them until they had lost all formation and were unable to regroup in the shape or numbers required for the invasion. The following 29th July witnessed the English fleet overwhelm the remaining Spanish fleet, with the loss of 11 ships and 2,000 men, against just 50 English sailors lost. The morale amongst the Armada was destroyed, and on the 30th July the remaining ships in the Armada was scattered by changing strong winds (known as the "Protestant wind") that sent them north, effectively ending their campaign, with of course many wrecked subsequently around the British Isles.
Elizabeth at Tilbury on the 9th August therefore knew that the threat from the Armada was over, but was equally aware that she and England still faced a potential invasion from Parma's 16,000 troops in the Netherlands. However without the protection of the Spanish fleet Parma decided not to attempt an invasion. The Armada itself had lost 44 ships and 20,000 men.
Hope this clarifies the event.
