By 1588 King Philip Il of Spain finally had enough of Queen Elizabeth I and her English privateers like Drake. He assembled a huge fleet of Spanish warships called the Spanish Armada and sent them to crush the British and take over England.
Queen Elizabeth had made Sir Francis Drake Vice Admiral of the English Navy. They waited for the ' Spanish Armada ' to arrive. Many thought the had little chance. Drake had an idea, however. In the middle of the night they lit several empty English ships on fire. They sent them into the midddle of the Spenish fleet. The captains of the fleet panicked and scattered. Then the English pounced.
A little while later, a huge storm hit the fleet. Many of the Spanish ships were sunk or brock up on the rocks of England's shore. The English defeated the Spanish and now were the most powerful navy in the world.
