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England Defeats Spanish Armada (1588) On July 29, 1588 England defeats the Spanish Armada Off the coast of Gravelines, France, Spain’s so-called “Invincible Armada” is defeated by an English naval force under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake. After eight hours of furious fighting, a change in wind direction prompted the Spanish to break off from the battle and retreat toward the North Sea. Its hopes of invasion crushed, the remnants of the Spanish Armada began a long and difficult journey back to Spain. Link to full article on History.com.

Mary Rose Sinks (1545) Several theories are thought to explain how and why Henry VIII’s flag ship sunk at the Battle of Solent. Recovered in 1982 and is now on display in Portsmouth, UK. Mary Rose was one of the largest ships in the English navy through more than three decades of intermittent war, and she was one of the earliest examples of a purpose-built sailing warship. She was armed with new types of heavy guns that could fire through the recently invented gun-ports. She was substantially rebuilt in 1536 and was also one of the earliest ships that could fire a broadside, although the line of battle tactics had not yet been developed. Several theories have sought to explain the demise of the Mary Rose, based on historical records, knowledge of 16th-century shipbuilding, and modern experiments. The precise cause of her sinking is subject to conflicting testimonies and a lack of conclusive evidence. Link to full article on Wikipedia.

Sir Martin Frobisher The advance of science appeared more dramatically in the efforts of adventurous or acquisitive spirits to explore the “great Magnet” (North America) for geographical or commercial purposes. In 1576 Sir Humphrey Gilbert published a suggestive Discourse… for a New Passage to Cataia – i.e., “Cathay,” or China – proposing a northwest sailing through or around Canada. Sir Martin Frobisher, in that year, set out with three small vessels to find such a route. One of his ships foundered, another deserted; he went ahead in the tiny twenty-five-ton Gabriel; he reached Baffin Land, but the Eskimos fought him, and he returned to England for more men and supplies. His later voyages were diverted from geography by a vain hunt for gold. Gilbert took up the quest for a northwest passage, but was drowned in the attempt (1592). The Age of Reason Begins, Will and Ariel Durant. It is commonly taught that the English ships were smaller than the Spanish. This is a misconception caused by the practice of Spanish captains to inflate the size of their ships in order to get more compensation for their use in war. At the beginning of the 16th century the English ton was equal to the Spanish tonelada, but by the time of the Armada the tonelada had shrunken to 1/2 ton. In addition, the largest ship in the battle was the 1,100 ton Triumph under the command of Frobisher. The Cavalier Compendium, Mark & Jennie Gist The English explorer Martin Frobisher created a gold fever in England in 1578 when he returned from Baffin Island with 200 tons of glittering gold ore. Great preparations were made for getting more and more gold, but it turned out that the ore was merely iron pyrite (“fool’s gold”). It was eventually crushed and used for road repair. Isaac Asimov’s Book of Facts Elizabethan Mariners

Naval hero John Paul Jones dies in Paris On July 18, 1792, the Revolutionary War naval hero John Paul Jones dies in his Paris apartment, where he was still awaiting a commission as the United States consul to Algiers. Commander Jones, remembered as one of the most daring and successful naval commanders of the American Revolution, was born in Scotland, on July 6, 1747. He became an apprentice to a merchant at 13 and soon went to sea, traveling first to the West Indies and then to North America as a young man. In Virginia at the onset of the American Revolution, Jones sided with the Patriots and received a commission as a first lieutenant in the Continental Navy on December 7, 1775. After departing from Brest, Jones successfully executed raids on two forts in England’s Whitehaven Harbor, despite a disgruntled crew more interested in gain than honor. Jones then continued to his home territory of Kirkcudbright Bay, Scotland, where he intended to abduct the earl of Selkirk and then exchange him for American sailors held captive by Britain. Although he did not find the earl at home, Jones’ crew was able to steal all his silver, including his wife’s teapot, still containing her breakfast tea. From Scotland, Jones sailed across the Irish Sea to Carrickfergus, where his Ranger captured the HMS Drake after delivering fatal wounds to the British ship’s captain and lieutenant. Link to full article on History.

Mutiny on the Amistad slave ship (July 2, 1839) Early in the morning of July 2, 1839, Africans on the Cuban schooner Amistad rise up against their captors, killing two crewmembers and seizing control of the ship, which had been transporting them to a life of slavery on a sugar plantation at Puerto Principe, Cuba. Link to full article on History.com

Zong slave ship trial June 22, 1783 London: Hearing arguments in the case of the Zong, a slave ship, the Chief Justice of the King’s Bench in London states that a massacre of enslaved African “was the same as if Horses had been thrown over board” on June 22, 1783. The crew of the Zong had thrown at least 142 captive Africans into the sea, but the question before the court was not who had committed this atrocity but rather whether the lost “cargo” was covered by insurance. The trial laid bare the horror and inhumanity of the Atlantic slave trade and galvanized the nascent movement to abolish it. Link to full article on History.com

Henry Hudson Set Adrift by mutineers (June 22, 1611) After spending a winter trapped by ice in present-day Hudson Bay, the starving crew of the Discovery mutinies against its captain, English navigator Henry Hudson, and sets him, his teenage son, and seven supporters adrift in a small, open boat. Hudson and the eight others were never seen again. Link to full article on History.com