Excerpt from Sir Francis Drake's Memorable Service Done Against the Spaniards in 1587 Of all the expeditions undertaken by Sir Francis Drake that of 1587 when he was reluctantly dispatched by his perplexed sovereign to Spain, to curb the gigantic preparations of Philip the Second for the invasion of this country - must be acknowledged as the most happy in its conceptions, and the most brilliant in its results. In less than two months from the time of his departure from Plymouth, the intrepid admiral completely swept from the coasts of Gallicia, Portugal, and Andalusia every description of craft, from the formidable galley to the humble trawl, bearing the flag of, or politically connected with, the dynasty of Spain. Drake's achievements in that brief space of time are absolutely unparalleled in the annals of naval warfare. In his rapid progress he annihilated the tunny fishery, upon the annual success of which the Spanish nation almost exclusively depended during Lent and other seasons of abstinence. To a devoted Catholic nation such a loss, in that age, was a serious if not irreparable calamity. In the harbour of Cadiz he destroyed ten thousand tons of shipping, besides warlike stores and provisions of incalculable value, which had been laboriously gathered from the widely-spread dominions of Philip, and from other countries in alliance with the crown of Spain, to furnish supplies for the renowned, and so-called "Invincible," Armada. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.