Strategy, weather, and a mission kill

Weather helped English strategy, but it does not explain the result on its own. Walsingham's intelligence network gave commanders a useful picture of the Spanish plan, while constant pressure denied the Armada time to organize. The English did not need a spectacular annihilating battle because keeping the Spanish moving was enough to stop the invasion mission. In modern terms, this was a mission kill achieved at less cost in lives and treasure than destroying the whole fleet.