The Armada's fragmented command structure

The Armada combined Spanish and Portuguese sailing ships, galleys, soldiers, and multiple squadrons in the largest European war fleet since antiquity. Medina Sidonia worked above experienced seamen Juan Martínez de Recalde and Miguel de Oquendo, while other nobles and squadron commanders competed over prestige and precedence. Philip II's succession arrangement instead placed the distinguished land commander Alonso Martínez de Leyva above those professional naval officers if Medina Sidonia died. The men expected to execute naval policy therefore did not have equivalent control over who shaped it or inherited overall command. That ambiguity made coordinated adaptation harder, and the campaign later killed or exhausted many of the experienced officers Spain could least afford to lose.