who was in charge of the english fleet in the spanish armada
Spanish Armada The fleet was not sighted in England until 19 July, when it appeared off The Lizard in Cornwall. The news was conveyed to London by a system of beacons that had been constructed all the way along the south coast. On that evening, the English fleet was trapped in Plymouth Harbour by the incoming tide. The Spanish convened a council of war, where it was proposed to ride into the harbour on the tide and incapacitate the defending ships at anchor and from there to attack England; but Medina Sidonia declined to act because this had been explicitly forbidden by Philip, and decided to sail on to the east and towards the Isle of Wight. As the tide turned, 55Â English ships set out to confront them from Plymouth under the command of Lord Howard of Effingham, with Sir Francis Drake as Vice Admiral. Howard ceded some control to Drake, given his experience in battle. The rear admiral was Sir John Hawkins.
First Fleet The First Fleet left Portsmouth, England on 13 May 1787.[25] The journey began with fine weather, and thus the convicts were allowed on deck.[26] The Fleet was accompanied by the armed frigate Hyena until it left English waters.[27] On 20 May 1787, one convict on the Scarborough reported a planned mutiny; those allegedly involved were flogged and two were transferred to Prince of Wales.[27] In general, however, most accounts of the voyage agree that the convicts were well behaved.[27] On 3 June 1787, the fleet anchored at Santa Cruz at Tenerife.[25] Here, fresh water, vegetables and meat were brought on board. Phillip and the chief officers were entertained by the local governor, while one convict tried unsuccessfully to escape.[28] On 10 June they set sail to cross the Atlantic to Rio de Janeiro,[25] taking advantage of favourable trade winds and ocean currents.