 Casualties were exceptionally heavy for the Spanish ; as two galleys sank with all hands , with perhaps over 2 @,@ 000 were killed wounded or captured . At Calais the wrecked galley was chopped up and used as firewood by the French , the Spanish crew were interned and the galley slaves freed . Casualties for the Dutch and English were light with some ships suffering no casualties at all . Two Dutch ships were damaged in the ramming that took place and but the rest of the Dutch ships suffered only minor damage . The English ships suffered no damage at all except for a broken mast on Samson due to the gale . The battle clearly showed the difference between galleons and galleys , the transition in warfare , along with the introduction of much cheaper cast iron guns in the 1580s , proved the " death knell " for the war galley as a significant military vessel . 
