Summer wants to talk to you about leadership. Spanish ships soon found themselves vulnerable to separate and repeated attacks by the English leading up to a major engagement near the port of Gravelines.Ladies, gentlemen, theys and gays. This had the effect of breaking up the tight Spanish formation. On the evening of July 28, Spanish galleons anchored off the French coast near Calais, were set upon by the English, who set alight several boats filled with explosive materials and tar. The boats were also longer and could carry more ordinance. And while the caliber of the English cannons may have been smaller, they enjoyed an advantage in accuracy, range and the amount of time it took to reload. What's more, the big cannons found on Spanish galleons, usually dangerous to any enemy ship that came up on their side, were of limited use during this fight. But superior English boat making skill provided the underdogs faster, more nimble boats that were able to outmaneuver the bigger Spanish galleons. The Spanish fielded a fleet of around 150 ships, more than twice the size of the English navy. On paper, this seemed a certain no-contest clash. So it was 422 years ago this week that the world witnessed one of those landmark events when Spain's King Philip II sent a massive naval armada to crush England. Changes in maritime technology, however minor, sometimes have been enough to change the course of history forever.
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