ARMADA, a Spanish word, meaning generally an armed force or fleet, is applied specially to designate the great expedition sent out against England in 1588 by Philip of Spain. His principal motive for this enterprise was the desire to strike a decisive blow at the Protestant faith, of which England was then the bulwark. For many months the whole energies of the Spanish nation had been directed towards the construction and equipment of the requisite ships. In 1587 everything was nearly ready, but the sailing of the expedition was delayed for a year by Drake, who made a bold dash into the harbour of Cadiz and destroyed nearly a hundred ships, with immense stores of provisions. A further delay was caused by the sudden death of the marquis of Santa Cruz, who had been originally intrusted with the chief command. His loss was a serious blow to the Spanish, cause, for he was an experienced sailor. The duke of Medina Sidonia, a man almost entirely ignorant of naval affairs, was then made admiral. All preparations being at length completed, the great fleet sailed from Lisbon on the 29th (19th o. s.) May 1588. It consisted of 129 large vessels, and carried 19,295 soldiers, 8460 sailors, besides slaves as rowers, and 2431 cannon. Their destination was the coast of Flanders, where Alexander Farnese, prince of Parma, was lying with about 35,000 men and a flotilla of boats. This force was to be landed on the Isle of Thanet at the mouth of the Thames, under the protection of the Armada, which would be able to keep the Channel perfectly clear. Another body of troops was then to be landed further north; and it had been hoped at one time that the duke of Guise would effect a diversion by landing a force on the west coast. These plans, however, were considerably deranged by the length of ...