Naval battles of the world : $b Great and decisive contests on the sea ... with an account of the Japan-China war and the recent battle of the Yalu; the growth, power, and management of our new Navy.Shippen, Edward
History
Naval battles of the world : $b Great and decisive contests on the sea ... with an account of the Japan-China war and the recent battle of the Yalu; the growth, power, and management of our new Navy.
Shippen, Edward
Naval battles; Sino-Japanese War, 1894-1895; United States. Navy
On the 2d of August, at daylight, the wind shifted to the northeast,
whereupon the Spanish, being to windward, bore down upon the English
under full sail. But the latter also squared away, and having the
advantage of greater speed, refused, as before, to allow their enemy
to close with them; so the engagement was without result, there being
little loss on the part of the Spaniards, while the only Englishman
killed was a Mr. Cock, who was bravely fighting the enemy in a small
vessel of his own.
Towards evening the wind backed to the west again, and the Armada once
more continued its course toward Calais.
On the 3d of August there was a suspension of hostilities, and the Lord
High Admiral received a supply of powder and ball, and a reinforcement
of ships, and intended to attack the enemy in the middle of the night,
but was prevented by a calm.
On the 4th, however, a straggler from the Spanish fleet was made prize
of by the English.
This brought on a sharp engagement between the Spanish rear guard and
the English advance, under Frobisher, which would have resulted in
Frobisher’s capture had not Howard himself gone to the rescue, in the
“Ark-Royal, followed by the Lion, the Bear, the Bull, the Elizabeth,
and a great number of smaller vessels.” The fighting was for some time
severe, but as soon as Frobisher was relieved, Howard, observing that
the Duke was approaching, with the main body of the Spanish fleet,
prudently gave the order to retire. It was, indeed, high time, for the
Ark-Royal was so badly crippled that she had to be towed out of action.
The Lord High Admiral afterwards knighted Lord Thomas Howard, Lord
Sheffield, Townsend, Hawkins and Frobisher, for their gallantry on this
occasion; but a convincing proof that the English had the worst of it
in the encounter is the determination of a council of war “not to make
any further attempt upon the enemy until they should be arrived in the
Straits of Dover, where the Lord Henry Seymour and Sir William Winter
were lying in wait for them.”
So the Armada kept on its way, unmolested, and with a fair wind, past
Hastings and Dungeness, until it got to the north of the Varne, an
extensive shoal in the Channel.
Then it left the English coast, and hauled up for Calais Road, where it
anchored on the afternoon of Saturday, August 6th, close in to shore,
with the Castle bearing from the centre of the fleet due east.
The English followed, and anchored two miles outside. Strengthened by
the accession of Seymour’s and Winter’s squadron, they now numbered
one hundred and forty sail--many of them large ships, but the majority
small.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account