The Spanish would be forced to cut their anchor cables as they tried to avoid being burned, throwing the fleet into confusion and making it far easier for the English to attack.

Evidence

Fireships and terror weapons (part 1) (Ian Friel)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• 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; The English captains saw fireships as the only way to dislodge the Armada. — Garrett Mattingly, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 717 (+11 more)

Related

• The fireships caused great confusion, forcing the Spanish ships to cut their cables in order to save themselves. (similarity 0.91)
• The English captains saw fireships as the only way to dislodge the Armada. (similarity 0.89)
• Though not a single Spanish ship was, in fact, torched by the attack, the fireships caused many to cut their anchor cables in panic to avoid… (similarity 0.88)
• The fireships did almost no physical damage; not one Spanish ship actually caught fire, but the Spanish did not know they were ordinary. (similarity 0.87)
• Ships lost their anchors, and drifted out to sea to avoid catching fire, causing the Spanish ships’ formation to be completely broken. (similarity 0.86)
• No Spanish ship was lost other than the eight fire ships; the fireships’ main effect was forcing the Spanish to scatter. (similarity 0.85)
• The English sent fire ships into the Spanish anchorage at Calais, and prevailing winds and storms ultimately scattered and destroyed the Spanish fleet on its retreat. (similarity 0.85)
• The shore guns nor the galleys, nor the fireships did the slightest harm. (similarity 0.85)
• On the night of 7 August, English fireships broke the Spanish formation, and Medina Sidonia’s ships ‘scattered in a…’ (similarity 0.84)
• No Spanish ships were burnt, but the crescent formation had been broken, and the fleet found itself too far leeward of Calais in the rising southwesterly wind. (similarity 0.83)
• Surviving Cadiz permanently cured English sailors of fearing shore guns, galleys, and fire-ships. (similarity 0.82)
• English gunfire had crippled no Spanish ship through deliberate action (similarity 0.81)
• The Spanish ships’ heavy guns. They sustained serious damage and casualties without being able to reply effectively. Three Spanish ships were… (similarity 0.81)
• The next day, the English continued their attacks, despite the Spanish use of heavy onshore guns and fireships sent in to disrupt the English. (similarity 0.81)
• The fireships’ self-discharging guns scattered the defenders and let the ships through. (similarity 0.81)