two o'clock
When they reached the open channel Lord Howard discovered his policy to his men . They were not to come to close quarters with the towering , unwieldy galleons , but to pour broadside after broadside into them at a distance and to bide their opportunity to fall upon them . Nearer and nearer drew the two fleets , the Spanish preparing to begin the action at daybreak . But at two o'clock the gibbous moon arose in a clear sky and showed to the astonished Spanish the English fleet lying in their rear just out of cannon shot . The next morning Lord Howard , sending before him a pinnace called the Defiance , provoked the fight by discharging a piece of her ordnance and presently out of his own ship , called the Ark Royal , thundered upon a Spanish craft which he supposed was that of the Spanish Admiral , Medina Sidonia , but which proved to be that of Alphonso de Leon . At the same time Drake , Hawkins and Frobisher fell terribly upon the rear which was valiantly commanded by Juan Martinez de Recaldo . The English invaded , retired , and re-invaded them from every quarter with incredible celerity .