English Armada English Armada The English Armada, also known as the Counter Armada or the Drake-Norris Expedition, was a fleet of warships sent to Spain by Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1589, during the undeclared Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) and the Eighty Years' War. It was led by Sir Francis Drake as admiral and Sir John Norreys as general, and failed to drive home the advantage England had won upon the destruction of the Spanish Armada in the previous year. The Spanish victory marked a revival of Philip II's naval power through the next decade. Queen Elizabeth I's intentions were to capitalise
2nd Spanish Armada from there in 1485. Here it was believed the Spaniards would find a vast reservoir of Catholic support. Detailed charts on the ports of England and Wales had been drawn up, and other plans suggested occupying the Isle of Wight. A number of the King's advisers however saw an invasion of Ireland as a better way to destabilize England. The use of Ireland as a springboard for a new invasion was nothing new; Marquis of Santa Cruz, the first commander of the Spanish Armada, had advocated landing in Cork or Wexford in 1586. The plan was only scrapped because of