By the middle of May, 1588, the Armada was at last ready to sail from the Tagus. In England there had been the wildest reports as to its numbers and strength. These exaggerations were repeated by the popular historians of the fighting in the Channel, and have become almost a national tradition. The Spanish galleons were said to be floating monsters, more like castles than ships; the fleet was so numerous that it hid the sea, and looked like a moving town; it "seemed as if room would scarce be found on the ocean for so vast an armament." The glory of the English victory was great enough to need no exaggeration to enhance it. But in sober fact there was no such enormous disparity, as is generally imagined, between the opposing forces. Large and small, there were 130 ships in the Armada. The detailed catalogue of them, from the list sent by Medina-Sidonia to Philip II, has been reprinted by Captain Duro in his "Armada Invencibile," and by Professor Laughton in his "State Papers relating to the Armada." From these sources I take a summarized table giving the statistics of the Armada, and then add some particulars as to various squadrons, ships, and commanders:-- ------------------------+--------+-------+------+----------+--------+---------- Divisions. | Ships. | Tons. | Guns.| Soldiers.|Sailors.|Total Men. ------------------------+--------+-------+------+----------+--------+---------- Armada of Portugal | 12 | 7,737 | 347 | 3,330 | 1,293 | 4,623 " " Biscay | 14 | 6,567 | 238 | 1,937 | 863 | 2,800 " " Castille | 16 | 8,714 | 384 | 2,458 | 1,719 | 4,171 " " Andalusia | 11 | 8,762 | 240 | 2,327 | 780 | 3,105 " " Guipuzcoa | 14 | 6,991 | 247 | 1,992 | 616 | 2,608 " " the Levant | 10 | 7,705 | 280 | 2,780 | 767 | 3,523 Squadron of "urcas" | 23 |10,271 | 384 | 3,121 | 608 | 3,729 (hulks or storeships) | | | | | | "Patasses" and "zabras" | 22 | 1,121 | 91 | 479 | 574 | 1,093 (small craft) | | | | | | Neapolitan galleasses | 4 | -- | 200 | 773 | 468 | 1,341 Galleys | 4 | -- | 20 | -- | 362 | 362 ------------------------+--------+-------+------+----------+--------+---------- | 130 |57,868 |2,431 | 19,295 | 8,050 | 27,365 Rowers (in galleasses and galleys) | | | | 2,088 | | | | ------ Grand total, soldiers, sailors and rowers| | | | 29,453 -----------------------------------------+------+----------+--------+----------