Effective tactics at Gravelines did not translate into the immediate destruction of the Armada. The English guns were neither especially large nor especially powerful, while the isolated Spanish ships began receiving reinforcement after roughly two hours. Alternating ships sustained the bombardment for about eight hours before the English fired their last shots around 1600 and withdrew. Spanish vessels lost in this phase owed as much to dispersal, accumulated fire damage, and the sea as to direct sinking by gunfire. Those material limits qualify claims of a purely gunnery-driven victory.
Notable Point · 1:12:48-1:13:36
Gravelines reveals the limits of sustained gunnery
English tactical success still faces small guns, reinforcement of the Spanish formation, and an eight-hour limit on sustained firing.