Spain held the weather-gauge but not full tactical surprise at Plymouth

Evidence

The Spaniards had achieved a kind of tactical surprise. It would be possible to say that for the moment they had the advantage of time and place which should be half the victory. They had the weather-gauge and their enemy was trapped in harbour to leeward. But it would be easy to exaggerate the completeness of the surprise. — Garrett Mattingly, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 599

Categorization

• FICTION: The weather-gauge vs partial-surprise tension sets up the dramatic imbalance of the opening battle scene.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Garrett Mattingly, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 599
• XREF: connects to: Calm weather favored the Spanish close formation tactic in the Channel — Garrett Mattingly, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 682

Broader Connections

• Calm weather favored the Spanish close formation tactic in the Channel #qualifies (0.70) — Garrett Mattingly, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 682