Driven mercilessly toward the Irish coast by gale winds, the small band of ships struggled valiantly to overcome the waves and weather, but still many were dashed to pieces on the rocks.  Still, the once-mighty warships, with dragging flags and torn sails, sailed on towards their native Spain, straining to reach it before supplies and hope ran out.  Such was the Spanish Armada, this pitiful fleet of old tubs, that had started out from Portugal with a fair wind at their backs and no doubts but that they would be victorious and defeat that scum, the English Protestants.

 The Spanish Armada was the Spanish (obviously) attempt at vanquishing England once and for all.  Spain wanted to crush England because English privateers were sinking Spanish galleons bringing back gold from the New World.  This plan for the defeat of the English didn't really work, however; the Armada was squashed, and Spain was defeated.

 The Spanish Armada was a fleet of ships assembled by Philip II of Spain, and indeed armada mea s "fleet of ships" in Spanish.  The plan was that Philip would create an 'invincible armada' with 556 ships and 94,222 men.  They would sail from Spain/Portugal, and make for the English Channel.  At Calais, France, Alessandro Farnese, the Duke of Parma, and his soldiers would board the armada to be ferried across the Strait of Dover to England.  Then the Duke and his men would march to London and capture the Queen, Elizabeth I.
Why did Philip II bear such a grudge against England and Elizabeth I?  For many years, English ships had been stealing gold from Spanish galleons returning to Spain.  The king of Spain had good reason to suspect that the ships were authorized privateers, ships that Elizabeth had allowed and even expressly ordered/commissioned to raid the galleons.
 Also, most English were Protestant, while most of the mainland (including Spain) was Catholic.  The Catholics on the continent and many of those on the island supported the claim of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotts.  They believed that Mary should have gotten the throne instead of Elizabeth.  The queen before Elizabeth was Mary Tudor, who reigned as Mary I.  She was married to Philip II, her cousin.  When Mary died, her half-sister Elizabeth became queen, and Philip offered to marry her.  She refused, saying she wished to keep England's independence.  Philip didn't like this, and Spain and England became enemies, so the Catholics supported Mary Stuart's claim to the throne instead of Elizabeth's.  Mary was raised as a Catholic in France, and later she returned to Scotland to rule.  She fled from Scotland into England when she was suspected of planning her husband's death.  Elizabeth I, who was wary of plots against her throne, imprisoned her. Mary was beheaded when one of these plots was uncovered.  Her right to rule England was through her grandmother, Margaret, who was the sister of Henry VIII.

 Philip I ordered Don Álvaro de Bazan, the Marquis of Santa Cruz to draw up plans for an 'invincible armada.'  It was to be made up of 556 ships and 90,222 men, but the raids of Francis Drake considerably lessened both those numbers to 130 ships and 30,493 men.  Then the Marquis of Santa Cruz died, and Philip appointed Don Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, the Duke of Medina Sedonia (an inexperienced warrior) in his place as commander of the armada.  The Armada met up with an even greater force of 197 English ships.
With dreams of easy victory, the ships set out from Lisbon on the 28th of May 1588.  On the 19th of June, the Armada lands at La Coruña to take on supplies.  On the 29th of July, the Armada is sighted as it approaches the coast of Cornwall, and the Western Squadron of English ships manages to get behind the Armada as it entered the English Channel and sailed slowly towards Plymouth.  On the 31st of July, the ships engage in battle near Plymouth.  Two Spanish ships are damaged; the Rosario loses her foremast and the San Salvador catches fire and explodes.  The English then capture the ships.
 On the 2nd of August, there is another battle near Portland Bill.  Several sea fights take place in the next two days, and a battle off the Isle of Wight.   The Armada and several English ships dock near Calais on the 6th of August.  During the night, the English launch a fireship attack on the anchored Spanish fleet; the Spanish cut their anchor cables and flee northward, leaving the Duke of Parma stranded in France.  The Narrow Seas Squadron led by Lord Henry Seymour joins the Western Squadron.
 Battles near Gravelines and along the coast of Belgium the 8th and 9th of August yield more Spanish losses. The Armada flees northward towards Scotland, but stormy weather drives many ships onto the coast of Ireland.  In October, the remnants of the grand Armada, 67 sadly defeated ships, returns to Spain.  All in all, 63 vessels were lost, only four of which sunk in battle.

 Some reasons why the Spanish lost most of the battles are: the Spanish Armada ships were larger and bulkier, so the lower more agile English ships could sail rings around them. The Spanish were expecting the English to use the 'ramming and boarding' technique (in which the main purpose is to get on the other boat), but the English kept away and fired at the Armada from a distance. Before the Armada set sail, Francis Drake captured many of the Spanish ships, so there were not quite as many boats as planned.

 If the Spanish had accomplished their goal, the world would probably be different than it is now.  For one thing, all the history books and accounts of the battles would be different.  The Spanish galleons would most likely be bringing more gold into Spain, because Elizabeth I would have been told to call off her privateers.  Maybe Spanish rule in Europe and the New World would have lasted longer.  One of the main reasons Spain fell out of power was a lack of gold, and the rulers couldn't keep their kingdom in good shape.
If Mary Stuart had become Queen instead of Elizabeth,  things would have been different.  For one thing, mary was Catholic and Elizabeth was Protestant.  Mary had also named Philip II as her successor, so he would have been king after she died, and the history of the world would change greatly.