2nd Spanish Armada 1596. Spain and England had been at war for nearly twelve years with neither side gaining the upper hand. The result of the intervention of Philip II in the religious war in France in support of the Catholic League, meant that Spanish forces had established coastal garrisons along the French and Flemish coast by the late 1580s. These bases had a huge strategic value because they allowed England to be threatened by the Spanish fleet and troops. England on the other hand had also intervened in France, but in support of King Henry IV of France, as a result of
3rd Spanish Armada by the militia as there was no suitable boats. An attempt to burn the ship was thwarted by the wind and the "Bear of Amsterdam" eventually left. She was driven around the Cornish peninsula and swept up the channel by an easterly gale suffering some damage. Hoping to see the Spanish already at Falmouth, the ship was captured not far off from there on 10 November by a waiting English squadron. She was led into Dartmouth with 70 Spaniards taken prisoner, and this being the last ship from the Armada to be captured. By the middle of November it was