“Truce”… then Cannon Fire: San Juan de Ulúa (1568) - The Road to the Armada

On this day in Tudor history, 23 September 1568, a tense “harbour truce” at San Juan de Ulúa (Veracruz) exploded into close-quarters battle.
Spanish warships surged in; cannon roared; John Hawkins and his young kinsman Francis Drake barely escaped with the Minion and Judith as the flagship Jesus of Lübeck was wrecked. Many English sailors were captured, some facing the Inquisition.

I’m Claire Ridgway. In this episode, I unpack the ambush that hardened English attitudes, reshaped the navy, and helped set the course toward the Spanish Armada, including the uncomfortable truth that Hawkins’s ventures were tied to the transatlantic slave trade, central to both profit and Spanish fury.

What you’ll learn:
Why Hawkins sought shelter at San Juan de Ulúa, and the “safe-conduct” deal that failed

The battle itself: ship list, tactics, and how Drake cut free

Two empires, two narratives: “treachery” vs “piracy”

Long consequences: Hawkins’s navy reforms and the rise of race-built galleons

How Ulúa forged the mindset behind later Elizabethan raids and 1588

If this “On This Day” deep dive gripped you, please like, subscribe, and tell me in the comments: Treachery or piracy, how do you read Ulúa?

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