Map 10: The Battle of Gravelines
At dawn the Duke of Medina Sidonia found himself quite exposed with only four other ships nearby to provide cover. It was at this point that the English decided to attack the flagship.
Meanwhile the San Lorenzo had become grounded on the Calais sandbanks having lost its rudder in a collision the previous night, and the Lord High Admiral, Lord Howard of Effingham, decided to lead the attack on her personally, sending the other squadrons to engage the main fleet. The engagement can be seen here, with the San Lorenzo being attacked by small craft and several English row boats, as the waters were too shallow for Howard’s larger ships.
To the shore, Calais' cannons can be seen firing on the English. Although the action was successful in capturing the San Lorenzo, with the Spanish crew being forced to flee, the covering fire from the Calais cannons drove the English off and they were not able to gain the ship's valuable ordinance.
The map shows at least one Spanish ship sinking and another three heading towards the dangerous Flemish sandbanks. The main attack was led by Sir Francis Drake who decided to engage the San Martin. Although the San Martin was heavily damaged in the engagement, it did allow time for the Armada to recover its defensive crescent shape as can be seen on the map.
Medina Sidonia still wished to meet up with Parma. However, a strong wind was forcing them on to the perilous Flemish sandbanks, depicted to the right of the battle. The strong winds continued into the next day with the Duke of Medina Sidonia still wishing to stand and fight, rather than heed his pilot’s suggestions and head north to avoid the banks. His decision almost proved fatal, until a fortuitous change in the wind direction, pushed the Armada away from the shore and out towards the North Sea. Thus ended any chance of the Spanish fleet rendezvousing with the Duke of Parma, and so invading England.