Maritime history of England Instructions were issued in 1653 and Sailing Instructions in 1673. During the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) the French fleet was initially stronger than that of the English, but the former was almost completely destroyed at the Battle of Sluys in 1340. Many other sea battles were fought in this period. The Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of Alonso de Guzmán El Bueno, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588. It was sent by King Philip II of Spain to take the Duke of Parma's army from the Spanish Netherlands to a landing
3rd Spanish Armada Spanish had come to intercept them, and arrived safely in England with loss of only one ship. Padilla finally ordered a retreat back to Spain. The returning English ships captured a number of Spanish ships, from which valuable information was obtained about the Armada. Panic in England then ensued, partly because the English fleet had been out to sea with the English coast virtually undefended. This caused the relationship between Queen Elizabeth I of England and the Earl of Essex to deteriorate further and Charles Howard, the 1st Earl of Nottingham, took over from Essex as commander of the English