I can’t seem to find the name of the Spanish Armada flagship destroyed by Sir Francis Drake’s raid on Cadiz harbor. Lots on Drake’s fleet online. emphasized text
My best guess is it was the São Martinho.
Thanks Whack-a-Mole. This was a consequential attack on the armada led by a novice commander-in-chief. You’d think there would be more scholarly work on the in-and-outs of the armada. Maybe there is, just not in English.
That link says she was active during the Armada a year after Drake’s attack on Cadiz.
As far as I know, the ships at Cadiz did not have an overall naval commander, thus no flagship. They were in Cadiz to provision before joining the Armada in Lisbon. Alonso Pérez de Guzmán (who would receive command of the Spanish Armada months later) did direct the defense of Cadiz from ashore (He was captain-general for the defense of Andalusia). Despite his appointment the following February, he had no experience as a naval commander.
I wonder if Guzmán‘s presence at Cadiz led someone to make the assumption that the Armada’s flagship was also present and among the 26 or 36* ships destroyed in Drake’s raid.
*This confusion by historians speaks to just how little is known about the ships actually envolved.
To have a flagship, the boss has to be there … for the Battle of Cadiz, the top boss was in Lisbon.
That was Álvaro de Bazán, Marquis of Santa Cruz , who had not yet formed an armada by the time of Cadiz. He is having trouble with lack of funds and empowerment from the king…
But Alvaro dies, and his replacement, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, chooses the Sao Martinho…for the 1588 amada…
The question may be moot - there was no navy top brass at Cadiz for a nominal “flagship” to be there . Maybe it was at Lisbon with the top brass ?
To clarify, the Duke of Medina Sidonia was Alonso Pérez de Guzmán who directed the shore defenses at Cadiz during the Drake raid. So, the future commander of the Spanish Armada was at Cadiz.
Pedro Bravo de Acuña , who later became far more famous (eg as Gov of Phillipines),
was there, but he wasn’t even meant to be boss, he was just the most senior officer present. He pretty much defended the land , firing guns and other actions that kept Drake’s forces from landing. The spanish did manage to capture a British ship, but that may be due to its involvement in a landing attempt ? No spanish navy is required to capture the british ship in that event.
Thanks Elmer_j. Fudd for this helpful clarification.