He said, "When I shall have landed I must fight battle
after battle. I shall lose men by wounds and disease, I must leave
detachments behind me to keep open my communications, and in a
short time the body of my army will become so weak that not only I
may be unable to advance in the face of the enemy, and time may be
given to the heretics and your majesty's other enemies to interfere,
but there may fall out some notable inconvenience, with the loss
of everything, and I be unable to remedy it."
Unfortunately, the English fleet was far less prepared than the
land forces. The militia had been easily and cheaply extemporized,
but a fleet can only be prepared by long and painful sacrifices.
The entire English navy contained but thirteen ships of over four
hundred tons, and including small cutters and pinnaces there were
but thirty- eight vessels of all sorts and sizes carrying the
queen's flag. Fortunately, Sir John Hawkins was at the head of the
naval administration, and in spite of the parsimony of Elizabeth
had kept the fleet in a good state of repair and equipment. The
merchant navy, although numerous, was equally deficient in vessels
of any size.
Philip had encouraged ship building in Spain by grants from the
crown, allowing four ducats a ton for every ship built of above
three hundred tons burden, and six ducats a ton for every one above
five hundred tons.
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