Sir Francis Drake had been secretly commissioned by her majesty, Queen Elizabeth, to attack the Spanish in America and seize the treasures from their ships. This infuriated Philip, who demanded that Drake be punished as a pirate. Philip was outraged when, upon his return to England, Drake was knighted by her royal highness, Queen Elizabeth. Philip decided to take the matter into his own hands.
In 1588, Philip set the Armada, an invasion fleet, out to sea. A captured Spanish sailor admitted that Philip intended not only to seek revenge for Drake's actions, but also to install a Catholic monarch in England.
The Armada met with the English navy in the English Channel. The English were unsure at first what to expect of the Spanish fleet, but when the unresponsiveness of the bulky Spanish ships was made apparent to them, they quickly gained confidence. In an unprecedented maneuver, Drake had eight ships loaded with gunpowder and set aflame, then aimed these ships into the heart of the Armada. The results for the Spanish were devastating. Several ships caught fire, and a few exploded. With the Armada in disarray, Drake drove the remaining ships into the North Sea. There, through divine intervention, the Spanish were pummelled by a great storm, the "Protestant Wind." Only half of their fleet managed to limp back to Spain.
Drake announced at a press conference that he was pleased with the outcome of the incident. King Philip refused to comment.