The Armada Defeated

In 1588, Philip II launched the Spanish Armada — about 130 ships and tens of thousands of men — to crush England and undo its Protestant rule.

The smaller English fleet harried the Spanish line, then fierce Channel storms finished the job. Only about half the Armada limped home.

Elizabeth rode out to her troops at Tilbury in armor and delivered her most famous line: she had the body of a weak woman, but the heart and stomach of a king. The victory announced England as a rising naval power.