John Pine after Cornelius Vroom
The Engravings of the Hangings of the House of Lords (London, 1739; reprinted London, 1919)
Newberry Library (Case Y 008 .76)
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On July 19, 1588, the Spanish fleet, with over 130 ships and 24,000 men, was sighted off the coast of Cornwall, in southwest England. For the next eight days, the English fleet dogged the Spanish along the south coast of England, always pushing the Spanish away from the shore. On land, Elizabeth prepared her army under the leadership of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.

At midnight on July 28, the English naval commanders sent fireships into the midst of the Spanish fleet and scattered them. July 29 saw a desperate battle. Then the wind shifted, and the damaged Armada sailed into the North Sea. It faced a perilous journey home around the west coast of Ireland. Only 67 ships of the Armada made it back to Spain.

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