The English captains saw fireships as the only way to dislodge the Armada.

Evidence

There was only one way to do it: fire-ships. — Garrett Mattingly, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 717

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Garrett Mattingly, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 717
• XREF: connects to: Surviving Cadiz permanently cured English sailors of fearing shore guns, galleys, and fire-ships. — Garrett Mattingly, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 243; The English navy reorganized into squadrons mid-campaign in imitation of the Spanish — Garrett Mattingly, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 691; On the night of 7 August, English fireships broke the Spanish formation, and Medina Sidonia’s ships ‘scattered in a…’ — British History in depth: Armada Gallery (+2 more)