![]() Captain Thomas Fleming, of the scout bark Golden Hind, arrived to report startling news. Tensions were growing, and preparations had been made to resist the invaders, but there was not much else the English could do until they received definite word of the Armada’s whereabouts. Howard and Drake knew that a large invasion force, called by the Spanish Grande y Felicissima Armada, had set sail some weeks before and was probably nearing the southern shore of their island nation. The stocky seaman from Devonshire had become famous-or infamous-as “El Draque,” the personification (in Spanish minds, at least) of a bloodthirsty pirate. ![]() One of his playing companions that day, Sir Francis Drake, was England’s foremost privateer, a man known for his bold raids on Spanish colonies and shipping on the high seas. Howard was fortunate, however, in having under his command some of the greatest mariners of the age. Howard was an efficient administrator with a genuine concern for the welfare of ordinary seamen, yet he was also a political appointee, chosen more for his rank than his nautical skills, which were largely nonexistent. One player was Lord Charles Howard of Effingham, first cousin to Queen Elizabeth I and Lord High Admiral of England. The men were dressed in full Elizabethan splendor, costumes that marked them as no ordinary mortals. They walked over to the Hoe, a grassy stretch of ground overlooking the harbor at Plymouth, one of England’s leading seaports. On Friday, July 29, 1588, a group of English gentlemen decided to play a friendly game of bowls after a hearty midday meal.
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