ENGLAND AND FREEDOM
THE LAST FIGHT OF THE REVENGE
SIR WALTER RALEIGH
The Lord Thomas Howard, with six of her Majesty’s ships, six victuallers of London, the bark Raleigh, and two or three pinnaces, riding at anchor near unto Flores, one of the westerly islands of the Azores, the last of August in the afternoon, had intelligence by one Captain Middleton of the approach of the Spanish Armada.
He had no sooner delivered the news but the fleet was in sight. Many of our ships’ companies were on shore in the island, some [providing ballast] for their ships, others filling of water and refreshing themselves from the land with such things as they could either for money or by force recover. By reason whereof our ships being all pestered and every thing out of order, very light for want of ballast, and that which was most to our disadvantage, the one half of the men of every ship sick and utterly unserviceable. For in the Revenge there were ninety diseased; in the Bonaventure, not so many in health as could handle her mainsail; the rest, for the most part, were in little better state.
The names of her Majesty’s ships were these, as followeth: the Defiance, which was Admiral, the Revenge, Vice Admiral, the Bonaventure, commanded by Captain Crosse, the Lion, by George Fenner, the Foresight, by Thomas Vavisour, and the Crane, by Duffield; the Foresight and the Crane being but small ships only—the others were of middle size. The rest, besides the bark Raleigh, commanded by Captain Thin, were victuallers, and of small force or none.
The Spanish fleet, having [shrouded their approach] by reason of the island, were now so soon at hand as our ships had scarce time to [weigh their anchors], but some of them were driven to let slip their cables and set sail. Sir Richard Grenville was the last weighed, to recover the men that were upon the island, which otherwise had been lost. The Lord Thomas with the rest very hardly recovered the wind, which Sir Richard Grenville not being able to do, was persuaded by the master and others to cut his mainsail and cast about, and to trust to the sailing of his ship. But Sir Richard utterly refused to turn from the enemy, alleging that he would rather choose to die than to dishonor himself, his country, and her Majesty’s ship, persuading his company that he would pass through the two squadrons in despite of them and enforce those of Seville to give him way. Which he performed upon divers of the foremost, who, as the mariners term it, fell under the lee of the Revenge.
In the meanwhile, as he attended those which were nearest him, the great San Philip, being in the wind of him, and coming toward him, becalmed his sails—so huge was the Spanish ship, being of a thousand and five hundred tons; who afterlaid the Revenge aboard. When he was thus bereft of his sails, the ships that were under his lee also laid him aboard; of which the next was the admiral of the Biscayans, a very mighty and [puissant ship] commanded by Brittan Dona. The said Philip carried three tier of ordnance on a side and eleven pieces in every tier.