The Spanish Armada was the fleet that attempted to escort an army from Flanders as a part the Habsburg Spanish invasion of England in 1588, was divided into ten "squadrons" (escuadras) The twenty galleons in the Squadrons of Portugal and of Castile, together with one more galleon in the Squadron of Andalucia and the four galleasses from Naples, constituted the only purpose-built warships (apart from the four galleys, which proved ineffective in the Atlantic waters and soon departed for safety in French ports); the rest of the Armada comprised armed merchantmen (mostly naos/carracks) and various ancillary vessels including urcas (storeships, termed "hulks"), zabras and pataches, pinnaces, and (not included in the formal count) caravels. The division into squadrons was for administrative purposes only; upon sailing, the Armada could not keep to a formal order, and most ships sailed independently from the rest of their squadron. Each squadron was led by a flagship (capitana) and a "vice-flagship" (almiranta). This list is compiled by a survey drawn up by Medina Sidonia on the Armada's departure from Lisbon on 9 May 1588 and sent to Felipe II; it was then published and quickly became available to the English. The numbers of sailors and soldiers mentioned below are as given in the same survey and thus also relate to this date.

List of Squadron Commanders

These commanders did not necessarily sail in the capitana (flagship) of the squadron of which they were technically in command. For example, Juan Martínez de Recalde, as second-in-command of the whole enterprise, was aboard Medina Sidonia's flagship São Martinho (or San Martin in Spanish), which also carried the Duke's principal staff officers - Diego Flores de Valdés (chief advisor on naval matters) and Francisco Arias de Bobadilla (the general in charge of the fleet's military contingent). In view of this, in the event of the loss of the fleet flagship with its commanders aboard, it was determined by Felipe II that command of the enterprise would then devolve upon Alonso Martínez de Leiva, who commanded the Rata Santa María Encoronada of the Squadron of Levantines.

Ships of the Squadrons

Squadron of Portugal

Twelve ships comprising ten galleons and two zabras (total seamen 1,293; total soldiers 3,330);

Squadron of Castile

Sixteen ships comprising ten galleons, four armed merchant carracks (naos) and two pataches (total seamen 1,719; total soldiers 2,458); seven of the galleons were built as a class at Guarnizo in 1583–83.

Squadron of Galleasses of Naples

Four ships (galleasses); the flagship (capitana) of Don Hugo de Moncada was the San Lorenzo; when she was captured by the French at Calais after a hard fight with the English, Moncada died from a bullet wound. These powerfully-armed vessels were built for the Neapolitan Navy (probably in Sicily) a decade earlier. Each had 28 oars on each side, but relied on a square-rigged sailing arrangement installed for the 1588 campaign, as they were slow under oars alone. Their armament consisted on six forward-firing heavy cannon in the bows and four similar guns rear-firing in the stern; they also had 20 smaller guns (4- to 12-pounders) mounted in the fore and stern castles, and 20 swivel-mounted light guns on the raised catwalks above the rowers' benches.

Squadron of Viscaya (Biscay)

Fourteen ships comprising ten naos and four pataches (total seamen 863; total soldiers 1,937);

Squadron of Andalusia

Eleven ships comprising nine naos, one galleon and one patache (total seamen 780; total soldiers 2,325);

Squadron of Guipúzcoa

Fourteen ships comprising ten naos and four pataches (total seamen 616; total soldiers 1,992);

Squadron of Levantines

Ten Mediterranean merchant carracks (naos) embargoed in Sicily and in Lisbon (total seamen 767; total soldiers 2,780);

Squadron of Urcas

Twenty three ships (total seamen 608; total soldiers 3,121); AS noted in the above lists 9 Spanish Armada vessels fates are listed as "Unknown". 9 unidentified Armada vessels were reported lost off Ireland: County Donegal: Six further ships — unidentified — were wrecked on the Donegal coast: County Mayo: Three vessels lost County Mayo:

Squadron of Communication

Twenty two Pataches and Zabras (5 to 10 guns) under Don Antonio Hurtado de Mendoza (total seamen 574; total soldiers 479);

Squadron of São João Galleons of Portugal

Squadron of Galleons under Admiral Juan Martínez de Recalde (total rowers 888; no soldiers);

Miscellaneous Caravels ("Round" caravels and Lateen caravels)

Complement of the Fleet

Ship Types

Source

Galleon

Galleon: A heavy square-rigged sailing ship of the 16th to early 18th centuries used for war or commerce especially by the Spanish. They were the fastest ships built during the 16th century. Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers. The full body of the fleet took two days to leave port. A typical Spanish galleon was 100–150 feet in length and 40–50 feet wide.

Galley

Galley: A ship or boat propelled solely or chiefly by oars:

Galleass

Galleass: A large fast galley used especially as a warship by Mediterranean countries in the 16th and 17th centuries and having both sails and oars but usually propelled chiefly by rowing.

Urca

Zabra

Patache

Pinaza

Caravel

Square-rigged caravel (Round caravel)

Nao (Carrack)

Summary of Armada Make Up

By 5LK Collecting Data/ Under Construction