Part one applies the most recent analyses in a re-examination of events prior to the English Armada, focusing on the episode of the Spanish Armada. The myth of the defeat of the Spanish Armada lay in the notion that the Spanish Armada was defeated in a major naval battle and that the vast majority of its ships were lost during the return journey, thereby putting an end to Spanish supremacy on the seas and contributing to English hegemony ever since. This myth was discredited by, amongst others, José Luis Casado Soto in 1988 in his book Los Barcos españoles del siglo XVI y la Gran Armada de 1588 [Spanish Chips of the 16th century and the Armada of 1588] and more recently by Antonio Luis Gómez Beltrán in his book La Invencible y su leyenda negra [The Invincible Armada and its Black Legend]. This part of the book reassesses the operations in the English Channel, using new information that reinforces the notion that the Spanish Armada was not defeated in naval combat and nor was it heavily damaged on its return.