The Second Spanish Armada also known as the Spanish Armada of 1596 was a naval operation that took place during the Anglo–Spanish War. Another invasion of England or Ireland was attempted in the autumn of 1596 by King Philip II of Spain. In an attempt at revenge for the English sack of Cádiz in 1596, Philip immediately ordered a counter strike in the hope of assisting the Irish rebels in rebellion against the English crown. The strategy was to open a new front in the war, forcing English troops away from France and the Netherlands, where they were also fighting.
The Armada under the command of the Adelantado, Martín de Padilla was gathered at Lisbon, Vigo and Seville and set off in October. Before it had left Spanish waters, storms struck the fleet off Cape Finisterre. The storms shattered the Armada causing much damage and forcing the ships to return to their home ports. Nearly 5,000 men died either from the storm or disease and 38 ships were lost, which was enough for a long-term postponement of the Irish enterprise. The material and financial losses added to the bankruptcy of the Spanish kingdom, during the autumn of 1596.
Spain and England had been at war for nearly twelve years, with neither side gaining the upper hand. The result of the intervention of Philip II in the religious war in France in support of the Catholic League, meant that Spanish forces had established coastal garrisons along the French and Flemish coast by the late 1580s. These bases had a huge strategic value because they allowed England to be threatened by the Spanish fleet and troops. England, on the other hand, had also intervened in France, but in support of King Henry IV of France, as a result of the Treaty of Greenwich in 1591. The Spanish had captured Calais in 1596, which meant that a strike against England was potentially more achievable. After desperate French demands to keep her from signing peace with Spain, the English signed the Triple Alliance with the Dutch Republic and France.
England had sent an armada under Robert Devereux and Charles Howard to Cádiz, which was captured, sacked and held for two weeks in the summer of 1596. Philip soon after took into consideration the defence of the peninsula but most of all sought revenge even if it meant selling everything he had.
The leading English Jesuit exile in Spain, Robert Persons, went to an audience with Philip, hoping to take advantage of the situation in trying to get the King to act. Persons argued for a winter attack when the Queen would least expect it. This meant an army of moderate size rather than a vast Armada that would give away the element of surprise, in which Persons referenced the failed Spanish Armada in 1588.
Persons noted that the point of entry for the Spanish would have been from Scotland, Kent, or Milford Haven in Wales, citing that Henry VII had successfully invaded from there in 1485. Here it was believed the Spaniards would find a vast reservoir of Catholic support. Detailed charts on the ports of England and Wales had been drawn up. Other plans suggested occupying the Isle of Wight. A number of the King's advisers however saw an invasion of Ireland as a better way to destabilize England. The use of Ireland as a springboard for a new invasion was nothing new. Marquis of Santa Cruz, the first commander of the Spanish Armada, had advocated landing in Cork or Wexford in 1586. The plan was only scrapped because of the delays caused by Drake's raid on Cádiz the following year.
Philip began by ordering Martín de Padilla, the Count of Santa Gadea, the Adelantado to assemble a new fleet intending to land on Ireland in the hope of increasing the rebellion under Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone. As early as 1595, O'Neill and Hugh Roe O'Donnell wrote to Philip for help and offered to be his vassals. They also proposed that Philip's cousin Archduke Albert be made Prince of Ireland, but nothing came of this. In January 1596, Philip replied encouraging them to keep their faith in their Catholic religion, Spanish intervention and not to make peace with Elizabeth. For the Spanish the strategy was simple – the war in Ireland would create a new front, hoping to draw English troops away from the fighting in the United Provinces, and from which the English would have to fight. In Spain's eyes, the English fighting on this new front was one they could not afford to do.
Philip II placed great hope in the new Grand Armada that was being organised in Lisbon. There were fifteen galleons from Castile and nine from Portugal, 53 Flemish and German boats which had been impounded, six pinnaces and one caravel, with 10,790 men. From Seville 2,500 troops would depart in 30 flyboats to join the fleet in Lisbon. In the north, at Vigo, a further 41 vessels of various tonnage were waiting, with around 6,000 men. The Adelantado's total force consisted of 11,000 badly furnished and sick infantry and 3,000 cavalry, in addition to the sailors which numbered 5,500.
Besides the Adelantado the principal leaders were Carlos de Arellano, Major-general Sancho Martínez de Leyva and General Admiral Diego Brochero. Rumours were rife and long before its actual departure, reports were reaching the Spanish authorities of the disembarkation of their troops in O'Neill's territory. In Lisbon Cornelius O'Mulrian followed with intense interest the preparations of the new armada. According to the reports the nuncio was sending to Rome, the invasion of Ireland was imminent. He wished to dispatch O'Mulrian, together with many Jesuits and other priests to organise the Catholic restoration in Ireland.
In July, the Earl of Essex had been fed reports from spies and merchants that there were forty-six ships in Lisbon and that new warships were being built at many places on the Biscay coast. This information was conveyed to Queen Elizabeth, but she was informed that it would not strike because of the expected autumn storms. Nevertheless, preparations were made and the Navy was put on alert. Reinforcements arrived to protect the Isle of Wight, Falmouth and even the mouth of the Medway where at Chatham the English fleet lay in dock. The English field commander Lord Willoughby's main anxiety, however, was for Ireland, Scotland, and the English held Dutch Cautionary Towns such as Vlissingen.
At the beginning of October, the Armada was still in no shape to depart. Lack of food and money as well as potential mutiny forcibly delayed the expedition, which infuriated Philip. The Adelantado had preparation for the Armada as his main priority but soon asked to be relieved of his command to defend himself, which Philip refused. Philip instead abruptly cancelled the Irish enterprise altogether. The relenting weather, lateness of the season and disease amongst ship crews were the reasons. The Adelantado instead was to sail to La Coruna, where he was to be given orders to seize the French Port of Brest, which they had briefly held in 1594 only to be defeated by Anglo French troops who took the fort there. Brest was chosen simply because it was closer to Spain but also could be used as a base to attack England and also to help the Irish rebels.
The weather finally relented on the morning of 24 October permitting the Armada, numbering eighty-one ships, to depart the harbour of Lisbon. The fleet along with the army set sail from Lisbon on 25 October, heading towards La Coruña and sailed in safety as far as Viana do Castelo where they had to anchor and wait for a wind. When the wind came, they neared Cape Finisterre, the land's end at the north-west of the Spanish peninsula. It was to be their furthest point and almost immediately they encountered an unexpected storm. The rest of the ships that succeeded in weathering the Cape were scattered into the ports of the Bay of Biscay, many battered beyond repair. The whole Spanish force had ceased to exist as an effective fighting fleet. Forty battered vessels managed to turn back and enter the port of Ferrol, including the Adelantado in the flagship San Pablo.