Trafalgar day
200 years ago on this very morning, a battle fleet of the Royal Navy under Admiral Lord Nelson was closing slowly, in light wind, on the combined French and Spanish fleets, off Cape Trafalgar. By the end of the day 18 of the 33 battleships in the enemy fleet had been captured or destroyed, Napoleon’s threat of invasion of Britain was ended, and 100 years of British naval dominance began. Nelson himself was killed in the battle.
Nelson’s tactics in the battle were unusual. Normally, two fleets sailed in roughly parallel line, slowly converging until they were within range, and then exchanged broadsides. The trouble with this was the leeward fleet, usually the defender, could always evade the battle if it went against them, by sailing downwind. Nelson wanted a battle of annihilation, rather than a mere victory. So he divided the fleet into two columns, and sailed straight at the French and Spanish fleets, breaking their line about 1/3 and 2/3 along. His aim was to get in and behind the enemy ships, so that there could be no escape. Hence his famous order to his captains, that “no captain could do very wrong, if he laid his ship alongside the enemy”. Also, the time taken for the leading 1/3 of the enemy fleet to put about would temporarily remove the enemy's advantage in numbers
This made for an uncomfortable approach, as the lead ships of the British columns, including Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory, were exposed to the fire of the combined fleet for some time without being able to return fire themselves. After the famous signal “England expects that every man will do his duty” Nelson’s last signal to the fleet was “engage the enemy more closely”, as it had been at the battles of the Nile and at Copenhagen. About an hour after engaging the enemy Nelson was shot down on his own quarterdeck, dying about three hours afterwards as the battle ended. His last words are supposed to have been “Thank God, I have done my duty.”
Casualties were high. The British lost 449 men killed and 1241 wounded, the French and Spanish fleets lost 4408 men killed and 2545 wounded.
In the immediate aftermath of the battle an Atlantic storm with hurricane force winds blew for some days, and possibly the most remarkable feat of the Navy in the whole campaign was not to lose a single British ship in the storm, bearing in mind they were severely battle damaged, many with only jury masts, and carrying many casualties.
HMS Victory was the most famous ship of the many famous ships built in my Granddad’s old workplace, the Royal Naval Dockyard at Chatham. She is now in dry dock in Portsmouth, still in commission, (the oldest ship in commission in the world) and is the flagship of the Second Sea Lord. If you are ever in England, you can take a train to Portsmouth, about an hour from London, and stand on the spot where Nelson met his end, as well as going all over her gundecks and the rest of the ship.
So, here’s to Lord Nelson, the quintessential English Admiral and hero dying at the moment of his triumph, to Trafalgar, the most iconic British victory, to the men who sailed with him, and to the men of the combined fleet, who, after all, were sailors too.
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Originally Posted by English assassin
Hey! Gimme my axe back right now!
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