Fireship

On the night before the decisive battle, Howard ordered fireships towards the anchored Armada. Spanish crews moved their ships to escape the threat, disrupting the crescent formation. The fireships’ importance lay chiefly in creating disorder, not in burning the whole fleet.

On the night of 7 August, the English sent eight fireships towards the anchored Armada. The threat of burning ships caused Spanish captains to cut their anchor cables and move away urgently. The fireships’ main achievement was to scatter the fleet and disrupt its protective formation, rather than destroy it directly.

The English sent eight fireships towards the anchored fleet. Spanish crews cut their anchor cables and moved away to escape the danger. The fireships' importance was therefore not simply any damage they caused: they disrupted the fleet's formation and helped expose it to further attack.