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 this time from his Italian holdings. The Irish leaders in exile continued to believe that the Armada was bound for Ireland. A year later another attempt would be made but this time after so many changes in strategy, it was on England, with the addition of destroying the English fleet returning from the failed Islands Voyage. The Armada of 1597 in the autumn was executed and despite encountering a storm which scattered the fleet, some managed to reach and in some cases land troops in Cornwall and Wales. With the majority of the fleet scattered and little cohesion between ships,