Map 1: The sighting of the Spanish Armada off the Lizard
The Spanish were spotted in pre-battle formation, by one of the Lord High Admiral, Lord Howard of Effingham’s scout ships, the Golden Hind captained by Thomas Fleming. The track of the Hind is marked here by a dotted line to Plymouth, where she lets off her warning signal.
Another track, this time coming from the Armada, shows the track of a Spanish ship capturing an English fishing boat off the Dodman point. The scouting ship supposedly returned to the Duke of Medina Sidonia around midnight, with four captured Falmouth fishermen and the first direct intelligence of the English fleet; that his adversaries were commanded by Lord High Admiral, Lord Howard of Effingham and Sir Francis Drake.
The text below the chart is in Flemish and translates as:
‘On the 19th June [but July] in the year 1588 the Spanish fleet arrived [the Flemish is literally written as ‘docked’]. They were seen by Captain Thomas Fleming sailing [literally being washed] towards the Lizard by a south-westerly wind]’.
The windroses feature prominently in the maps. These ‘characters’ are as important to the story as the ships and their commanders.
The watermark on The Armada maps when viewed closely depicts a version of the Arms of Austria and Burgundy.