Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 2).djvu/166

 Ships. Tons. Mariners. The Queen's ships, under Admiral Lord} Howard of Effingham, consisted of }         34      11,850       6,279 Serving with the Lord High Admiral            10         750         230 Serving with Sir Francis Drake                32       5,120       2,348 Fitted out by the City of London              38       6,130       2,710 Coasters with the Lord High Admiral           20       1,930         993 Coasters with Lord Henry Seymour              23       2,248       1,073 Volunteers with the Lord High Admiral         18       1,716         859 Victuallers (store transports?)               15                     810 Sundry vessels, of which particulars are} wanting                              }       7 —-                                                         197      29,744      15,785                                              ===      ======      ======

This return shows that almost two-thirds of the comparatively small force, which achieved in less than twenty-four hours the destruction of the Armada of Spain, consisted of merchant vessels, many of which must have been small craft, for though the number of vessels exceeded those of Spain, the tonnage and proportion of their crews were only about one half; yet so thoroughly complete was the defeat of the great fleet which Philip had been so many years in preparing, that out of the one hundred and thirty-eight sail despatched from the Tagus to invade England, only fifty-three returned to Spain, the remainder being either sunk, destroyed, captured, or wrecked upon the English coasts.

While events were maturing which, with the assistance of Hawkins, ultimately led to the complete overthrow of the Spanish intrigues, English seamen were exploring seas then unknown, in search, it may be, of plunder, like their compeers in the English Channel, but professedly, though not in all cases