Spanish Armada it up the east coast of England. The commander ordered a return to Spain, but the Armada was disrupted during severe storms in the North Atlantic and a large number of the vessels were wrecked on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland. Of the initial 130 ships over a third failed to return. As Martin and Parker explain, "Philip II attempted to invade England, but his plans miscarried, partly because of his own mismanagement, unfortunate weather, and partly because the opportunistic defensive naval efforts of the English and their Dutch allies (the use of ships set afire and sailed into
2nd Spanish Armada Channel and as result Brest, Ireland and England had been spared a major assault. At first the damage appeared to be minimal and Philip hoped that once the Adelantado had reassembled the ships, he could continue his voyage but as time passed the enormity of the disaster became apparent. Losses to the Armada at El Ferrol were significant; there was general confusion and sadness at the disaster. In mid-November the nuncio sent a sorrowful summary of the facts: thirty vessels were missing, thirteen had crashed into the reefs and there were many dead from the Portuguese upper class. Eighteen of