The story of the Spanish Armada is almost legendary - Queen Elizabeth I versus her former brother-in-law and one-time suitor, Phillip II.

Sir Francis Drake singeing Spanish beards and playing bowls - fire ships in Calais harbour - Spanish galleons shipwrecked off the coast of Ireland. It has always been told as a story of English heroism and skill, beating off the greatest armada ever assembled, helped a little by the weather. Now marine archaeology and new documentary evidence are telling a new tale - not so much of English flair and skill, more a case of Spanish ill-preparedness for a naval battle and incompetence. It may have been an armada, but the evidence suggests the Spanish simply never intended to fight at sea.

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This film was first broadcast: 23 Jul 2003

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