Communication between the armada and Parma, who had to be ready, posed an immediate problem. He was to sail forthwith to the Strait of Dover, cover Parma's invasion of England, and deliver six thousand men. Storms pounded him on his return to Lisbon, where he found plans changed. At C ádiz, Pedro de Vald és assembled fifteen armed Indiamen, while another dozen great ships and four galleasses sailed from Italy with Alonso Mart ínez de Leyva.ĭrake attacked Spain in April –May 1587, destroyed over twenty ships in C ádiz Bay, and disrupted coastal shipping. From Basque ports Juan Mart ínez de Recalde and Miguel de Oquendo would bring two dozen armed ships. Santa Cruz assembled at Lisbon nine Portuguese galleons and another three dozen vessels. When English land and sea forces responded to its landing force, Parma would invade Kent, overthrow Elizabeth, and establish a Catholic regime.

The troops would land in either Wales or Ireland. Santa Cruz prepared a plan that called for some one hundred fifty fighting galleons and ships, six galleasses, forty galleys, and over three hundred other vessels large and small to transport fifty-five thousand infantry and sixteen hundred cavalry, artillery, and supplies. He eventually collected over two hundred barges and eighty coasters. Parma thought that 35,000 men might cross in twelve hours with favorable weather and sufficient secrecy. He also asked Santa Cruz and the duke of Parma, his commander in the Netherlands, to submit plans for the 'Enterprise of England,' that is its invasion, for which he asked blessing and money from Pope Sixtus V. Philip ordered the marquis of Santa Cruz in Lisbon to form an armada of thirty-four ships to pursue and 'punish' Drake. Drake surprised Vigo, Spain, in October, then proceeded to the Caribbean and sacked Santo Domingo and Cartagena. Elizabeth signed the Treaty of Nonesuch with the Dutch and permitted Sir Francis Drake to maraud in response to a Spanish embargo. In 1585 worsening relations between Philip II of Spain and Elizabeth I of England erupted into war. Its defeat left England Protestant, aided the Dutch Revolt, and compounded the tax burden on Spain's strained economy. Often called the 'Invincible Armada,' the Spanish Armada was the invasion fleet launched against England in 1588 by Philip II of Spain.

Naval formations in spanish armada