'Battle of Trafalgar' 21st October 1805 dcb102

This great sea battle was fought on 21st. October 1805 and was possibly one of England's, and Nelson's, greatest victories at sea.

On an almost windless day off Cape Trafalgar, between Gibraltar and Cadiz, the British Fleet under Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson decisively defeated the combined fleets of France and Spain under the command of Admiral Villeneuve.

Against normal practice of battle tactics, Nelson was making the dangerous maneouvre of crossing the enemy line at right-angles and in doing so suffered much damage, but survived, and the painting shows the 'Victory' (100 guns) in the centre almost head-on, firing a broadside into the stern of the French 'Bucentaure' (74 guns). The next French ship is the 'Redoubtable' (74 guns), which eventually collided with and laid alongside the Victorys' starboard side, from which a French marksman in the rigging fatally wounded Nelson in his hour of glory. On her starboard side is the French 'Neptune' (74 guns) followed by the 'Indomptable' (French 80 guns) and the 'San Leandro' (Spanish 64 guns). Immediately behind the Victory is the famous 'fighting' 'Temeraire' (98 guns), who under the brave Captain Harvey came to the crucial assistance of Nelson and the Victory by raking the Redoubtable and taking on the French 'Neptune' and the, not shown, 'Fougueux' (80 guns).

The battle then developed into a confused array of individual engagements until the final defeat of the French-Spanish fleet and a memorable victory for Nelson and his ships.