Cannon balls

[fernando]

Originally Posted by M ELEY

... I need to read up on the Gravelines battles...

May i save you some time?

Indeed a part of this research was done for the subject in discussion. A nice work on artillery connected with the episode may be read
HERE
... despite the ommission of certain pages

The usual wikepedia article, concerning the battle, may be read
HERE

The portuguese version, for my surprise with a varied text, may be read
HERE

Very important for the desmistification of the battle, a portuguese view may be read
HERE

I assume the last two links constitute a problem for english speaking readers but, who knows, a good willing Portuguese friend in the neighbourhood will translate it for you, in case of interest .

Other details i took from a couple books in my micro library.
In short ...
According to the majority of historians, the Portuguese war vessels were the the Spanish Kingdom great expectation of success for their invasion of Britain. In fact, the Comander in chief of the fleet selected a Portuguese Galeon, São Martinho, for his flag ship. Nine of these twelve ships together with four galeasses from the Kingdom of Naples were the most powerful vessels in the fleet. Most of the remaining ships were normaly used for transport, having been equiped with artillery transferred from inland fortresses or smaller ships.
As already mentioned, the Spanish strategists were so confident that they would invade Britain with a relative facility, that they overlooked vital parts that were to be dealt on sea. In fact, the whole campaign was a disaster.