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 reluctantly cancelled the enterprise on 13 November. The disaster was ruinous in terms of finance as the ships "La Capitana de Levante" and "Santiago", each transporting the paychests of 30,000 ducats, were lost. The Armada was to winter in Spain and to depart the following spring, without further diversions or postponements. A great fear then gripped Galicia in January 1597 that the English navy would possibly show up at any moment, a situation similar to that in 1589. The Armada was rebuilt in El Ferrol with the help of replacement artillery and monies recovered from the shipwrecks. The Spanish authorities