These privateers began a campaign of raids against Spanish possessions in the New World and Spanish ports, culminating in the sinking of an anchored Spanish fleet in Cadiz in 1587. The English ships w...These privateers began a campaign of raids against Spanish possessions in the New World and Spanish ports, culminating in the sinking of an anchored Spanish fleet in Cadiz in 1587. The English ships were smaller and more maneuverable, their cannons were faster and easier to reload, and English captains knew how to navigate in the fickle winds of the Channel more easily than their Spanish counterparts.