The old view was that the Armada was defeated by English seadogs in smaller, less well-armed ships. The new version is that it was prevented from succeeding by bad planning, and destroyed by bad luck. But a computer analysis reveals a quite different picture. The Armada took a week to sail from Land's End to Calais. On the way there were a number of skirmishes, but the English did not sink a single Spanish ship - and on the last two days, not a shot was fired. Yet by the time it reached Calais, the Armada had been cheated of its goal.