The ships that defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588 sailed from the mouth of the River Plym.

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As flotillas go, there was little that would have worried the Spanish armada.

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Perhaps, though, they not only permitted the Vikings to reach America, but also helped save England from the Spanish Armada.

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By the 1590s, the English had escaped the Spanish Armada and were embarking on centuries of their own imperial expansion.

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The story goes that Queen Elizabeth was eating goose a favorite of hers when she learned that her Navy had defeated the Spanish Armada in1588.

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In 1588, the Spanish Armada of about 125 ships sent by Philip II to try to invade England was defeated by an English fleet under Lord Howard and Sir Francis Drake.

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The castle website claims the building was commissioned by Henry VIII in about 1540 to defend the Spithead, Southampton Water and the Solent from the invasion by the Spanish Armada.

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The ship, which led the UK's naval forces during the invasion of Iraq, is the fifth vessel to carry the name - the first saw battle in 1588 against the Spanish Armada.

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