Spanish Armada (1588) La Armada Invencible

The Spanish Armada (Spanish: Grande y Felicísima Armada, "Great and Most Fortunate Navy") was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English involvement in the Spanish Netherlands and English-sponsored piracy in the Atlantic. The fleet's mission was to sail to the Gravelines in Flanders and transport the famous Tercios de Flandes, a ground force of over 30,000 men led by the Duke of Parma, across the Channel to England. The mission eventually failed due to strategic errors of the Spanish Commander, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, bad weather, and early English attacks on the Armada, especially during the Battle of Gravelines.

The failed mission was an early event in a nearly twenty year long Anglo-Spanish war.
The expedition of the Spanish Armada led to a similar campaign by England the following year, the failed Drake–Norris Expedition of 1589,sent to occupy Portugal and northwestern Spain, which was also unsuccessful.