White found two small ships that were not being used to defend England against the Spanish Armada. He hired the ships to sail to Roanoke. They set sail in the spring of 1588. The captains of the ships were greedy. They tried to attack some Spanish ships to steal their cargo. ("Cargo" is things being carried by a ship. Cargo can be food, supplies, money, or treasure.) The Spanish ships fought White's ships and won. The Spanish took all of White's cargo. White's ships turned around and sailed back to England because they had nothing to take to the colony.