The Spanish Armada was the fleet that attempted to escort an army from Flanders as a part the Habsburg Spanish invasion of England in 1588, was divided into ten "squadrons" (escuadras)[1] The twenty galleons in the Squadrons of Portugal and of Castile, together with one more galleon in the Squadron of Andalucia and the four galleasses from Naples, constituted the only purpose-built warships (apart from the four galleys, which proved ineffective in the Atlantic waters and soon departed for safety in French ports); the rest of the Armada comprised armed merchantmen (mostly naos/carracks) and various ancillary vessels including urcas (storeships, termed "hulks"), zabras and pataches, pinnaces, and (not included in the formal count) caravels.
This list is compiled by a survey drawn up by Medina Sidonia on the Armada's departure from Lisbon on 9 May 1588 and sent to Felipe II; it was then published and quickly became available to the English.
For example, Juan Martínez de Recalde, as second-in-command of the whole enterprise, was aboard Medina Sidonia's flagship São Martinho (or San Martin in Spanish), which also carried the Duke's principal staff officers - Diego Flores de Valdés (chief advisor on naval matters) and Francisco Arias de Bobadilla [es] (the general in charge of the fleet's military contingent).
9 unidentified Armada vessels were reported lost off Ireland: County Donegal: Six further ships — unidentified — were wrecked on the Donegal coast: County Mayo: Three vessels lost County Mayo: Twenty two Pataches and Zabras (5 to 10 guns) under Don Antonio Hurtado de Mendoza (total seamen 574; total soldiers 479); Squadron of Galleons under Admiral Juan Martínez de Recalde (total rowers 888; no soldiers);[16] Source[20] Galleon: A heavy square-rigged sailing ship of the 16th to early 18th centuries used for war or commerce especially by the Spanish.
[21] Galley: A ship or boat propelled solely or chiefly by oars: Galleass: A large fast galley used especially as a warship by Mediterranean countries in the 16th and 17th centuries and having both sails and oars but usually propelled chiefly by rowing.