The concentration of the English fleet at Plymouth in July 1588 was the culmination of months of preparation by Drake and Howard. Plymouth Sound, protected by its blockhouses and accessible in all weathers, was the ideal assembly point for the English fleet. The provisioning and readying of the fleet at Plymouth was an enormous logistical achievement that drew on the full resources of the Devon maritime community. Without the successful assembly at Plymouth, England would have faced the Armada with a scattered fleet unable to coordinate its response.
The size of the opposing forces is not recorded in the surviving sources.
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