Spanish Armada

The Spanish Armada was defeated by the English, including Sir Francis Drake, in 1588.

History
In 1587, Drake had launched an attack on the Armada in the port of Cadiz, resulting in it being delayed for a year. (AUDIO: The Flames of Cadiz)

It was launched from Calais and massed in the English Channel before its failed attack on England. The Fourth Doctor and Leela were present for the battle. (AUDIO: The Devil's Armada)

John Whiteside-Smith, an ancestor of the Sixth Doctor's companion Evelyn Smythe, played a role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada. (AUDIO: The Marian Conspiracy)

Other references
When the TARDIS landed in the middle of a battle, Ben Jackson hoped it would be "some glorious battle in Earth history", dreaming it might be, among others, the Spanish Armada. (PROSE: H.M.S. TARDIS)

In an account where Susan was not a student at Coal Hill School, but was instead tutored by Barbara Wright, she thought that the Spanish Armada was a castle, when it was emphatically not. (PROSE: Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks)