August 8, 1588 · The Channel and the Flemish coast Theater
August 8, 1588
The Armada's purpose was the Dutch war: it was to escort Parma's veteran army across from Flanders and end the revolt. It never embarked them. Justin of Nassau's shallow-draft Dutch flyboats blockaded Parma's barges in the Flemish shoals where the deep-draft Spanish galleons could not reach them, and while the Armada waited at anchor off Calais the English sent in fireships and mauled it at Gravelines. The wind did the rest.
Commanders