british ships involved in the battle of trafalgar
Turning to starboard they could glide downwind to the enemy and strike him wherever they pleased. The enemy saw only the first in line observing them at a distance. After failing to fight his way through, he decided to break off the engagement, and led four French ships, his flagship the 80-gun Formidable, the 74-gun ships Scipion, Duguay Trouin and Mont Blanc away from the fighting. What remains after the battle)". If not, the opportunity was lost; they would have to fall off to leeward, wear, and come up on the other side, by which time the hoped-for battle would be only a pursuit. Victory suffered terribly and Nelson was mortally wounded. The fleet included six aircraft carriers (modern capital ships): Charles De Gaulle, Illustrious, Invincible, Ocean, Príncipe de Asturias and Saipan. Nelson died at half-past four, three hours after being hit. Goodwin is Keeper & Curator of HMS Victory and the author of "The Construction and Fitting of the English Man-of-War, 1650-1850" and "Nelson's Ships: A History of the Vessels in Which He Served, 1771-1805". The inexperienced crews had difficulty with the changing conditions, and it took nearly an hour and a half for Villeneuve's order to be completed. Villeneuve was captured along with his flagship Bucentaure. [5] During the course of the war, the British imposed a naval blockade on France, which affected trade and kept the French from fully mobilising their naval resources. The helm is put over, the sails go limp, they are adjusted to fill on the other side. HMS Victory, launched at Chatham in 1765, was a 100-gun ship of the line with a length of 186 feet [26] His squadron of seven ships comprised five frigates, a schooner, and a brig. Mo… That ship was in signal range of another, which was in range of another, all the way back to Nelson, wherever he happened to be. [86] King Edward VII did support the Nelson Centenary Memorial Fund of the British and Foreign Sailors Society, which sold Trafalgar centenary souvenirs marked with the Royal cypher. With a storm gathering in strength off the Spanish coast, he sailed westwards to clear Cape St Vincent, prior to heading north-west, swinging eastwards across the Bay of Biscay, and aiming to reach the French port at Rochefort. "[59] It has been suggested by Nelson historian Craig Cabell that Nelson was actually reciting his own prayer as he fell into his death coma, as the words 'God' and 'my country' are closely linked therein. [c], The battle took place the day after the Battle of Ulm, and Napoleon did not hear about it for weeks—the Grande Armée had left Boulogne to fight Britain's allies before they could combine their armies. The percentage is the ratio of casualties to ship's complement multiplied by 100. This tactic was not standard, but neither was it new or unusual. The order of British ships in the table is the one of that moment. It was finished in 1843. Real battles do not always develop according to plan, or exactly according to plan. Bring it within the allowed angles for close-hauling. In 1805, the First French Empire, under Napoleon Bonaparte, was the dominant military land power on the European continent, while the British Royal Navy controlled the seas. Nelson was outnumbered and outgunned, the enemy totalling nearly 30,000 men and 2,568 guns to his 17,000 men and 2,148 guns. A war council was held aboard his flagship, Bucentaure, on 8 October. At first, Villeneuve was optimistic about returning to the Mediterranean, but soon had second thoughts. About 6 a.m., Nelson gave the order to prepare for battle. If on the other hand the enemy fleet was first seen off the lee side; that is, off the starboard bow, the British would be in the strongest position. The victory confirmed the naval supremacy Britain had established during the course of the eighteenth century, and was achieved in part through Nelson's departure from prevailing naval tactical orthodoxy. The French ships were then seized by the Spanish forces and put into service against France. Lieutenant John Lapenotière's historic voyage in HMS Pickle bringing the news of the victory from the fleet to Falmouth and thence by post chaise to the Admiralty in London was commemorated by the inauguration of The Trafalgar Way and further highlighted by the New Trafalgar Dispatch celebrations from July to September in which an actor played the part of Lapenotière and re-enacted parts of the historic journey. I can only say that in my life I never saw such efforts as were made to save these [prize] ships, and would rather fight another battle than pass through such a week as followed it. The French would later join this humanitarian agreement.[73]. [34], Nelson's solution to the problem was to cut the opposing line in three. [44] While some of the French captains wished to obey Napoleon's orders, the Spanish captains and other French officers, including Villeneuve, thought it best to remain in Cádiz. I replied, "If your Lordship will permit me to substitute 'expects' for 'confides' the signal will soon be completed, because the word 'expects' is in the vocabulary, and 'confides' must be spelt," His Lordship replied, in haste, and with seeming satisfaction, "That will do, Pasco, make it directly."[52]. The early historians of the battle were not sure of what they were, nor did they know exactly what the casualties were. As luck would have it, in the real battle, the enemy appeared to the lee. To avoid that risk the captain must run before the wind. This reversed the order of the allied line, placing the rear division under Rear-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley in the vanguard. [60] These four ships remained at large until their encounter with and attempt to chase a British frigate brought them in range of a British squadron under Sir Richard Strachan, which captured them all on 4 November 1805 at the Battle of Cape Ortegal. HMS Royal Sovereign was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, which served as the flagship of Admiral Collingwood at the Battle of Trafalgar. As more and more British ships entered the battle, the ships of the allied centre and rear were gradually overwhelmed. Around the base are the names of his major victories: Aboukir (1798), Copenhagen (1801) and Trafalgar (1805). As the battle opened, the French and Spanish were in a ragged curved line headed north. In order to travel in that direction, it must "fall off," or move to an angle with the wind on one side or the other, a "tack." Nelson led his column into a feint toward the van of the Franco-Spanish fleet and then abruptly turned toward the actual point of attack. At those angles the sails fill and there is a component of force in the desired direction. As she approached the allied line, she came under fire from Fougueux, Indomptable, San Justo, and San Leandro, before breaking the line just astern of Admiral Alava's flagship Santa Ana, into which she fired a devastating double-shotted raking broadside. Depiction of the Battle of Trafalgar. The sole clear exception was the French Pluton’s victory over Mars. Napoleon however, was not as skilled in naval matters and imagined that a fleet of 40 or so large vessels could leave port in an instant. In stormy weather or other adverse conditions the commanders might not be able to control the order. Victory locked masts with the French Redoutable, whose crew, including a strong infantry corps (with three captains and four lieutenants), gathered for an attempt to board and seize Victory. The combined fleet consisted of 40 vessels with 18 French ships of the line and 15 Spanish ships of the line.[74]. On 16 September, Napoleon gave orders for the French and Spanish ships at Cádiz to put to sea at the first favourable opportunity, join with seven Spanish ships of the line then at Cartagena, go to Naples and land the soldiers they carried to reinforce his troops there, then fight decisively if they met a numerically inferior British fleet.[31]. To lessen the time the fleet was exposed to this danger, Nelson had his ships make all available sail (including stunsails), yet another departure from the norm. [10], Vice-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve had taken command of the French Mediterranean fleet following the death of Latouche Treville. The line also allowed either side to disengage by breaking away in formation; if the attacker ch… Many descendants of people present at the battle, including members of Nelson's family, were at the ceremony. The Britannia Monument in Great Yarmouth was raised by 1819. She was the third of seven Royal Navy ships to … [17][18], The same month, Admiral Lord Nelson returned home to Britain after two years of duty at sea. This ended the immediate threat of invasion. As Nelson lay dying, he ordered the fleet to anchor, as a storm was predicted. The captain of a steam vessel has considerably more freedom to take his ship where he wishes to take it, but the tactics of a sailing captain are to a large extent already predetermined by nature. The Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar, oil on canvas by John Christian Schetky, c. 1841; in the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut. Why did it happen? All directions are evaluated with regard to the wind. The enemy line had been sailing north to south in front of the wind. The Victory at Trafalgar demonstrates this well. Without understanding the importance of wind and weather, especially wind direction, the modern can make no sense of the manoeuvring. [66] After the end of the battle and storm only nine ships of the line were left in Cádiz. Against Nelson, Vice-Admiral Villeneuve, sailing on his flagship Bucentaure, fielded 33 ships of the line, including some of the largest in the world at the time. The disparity in losses has been attributed by some historians less to Nelson's daring tactics than to the difference in fighting readiness of the two fleets. The Spanish contributed four first-rates to the fleet. This database celebrates the 18,000 plus individuals who fought in the Battle of the Trafalgar on the side of the Royal Navy. Ships were continually joining or leaving his fleet for various reasons. The latter, conceiving that it was probably intended for her, hauled down her colours, and was taken by HMS Donegal, who anchored alongside and took off the prisoners. When Villeneuve set sail from Ferrol on 10 August, he was under orders from Napoleon to sail northward toward Brest. By 11 a.m. Nelson's entire fleet was visible to Villeneuve, drawn up in two parallel columns. [79][page needed]. Nelson exclaimed, "They finally succeeded, I am dead." One reason for the development of the line of battle system was to facilitate control of the fleet: if all the ships were in line, signalling in battle became possible. [78], Nelson's body was preserved in a barrel of brandy for the trip home to a hero's funeral. [28][citation not found]. In summer this coincides with the one o'clock gun being fired. When Rosily arrived in Cádiz, he found only five French ships, rather than the 18 he was expecting. The French and Spanish were crowded into Cadiz Harbour, protected by shore batteries. [32] This often led to inconclusive battles, or allowed the losing side to minimise its losses; but Nelson wanted a conclusive action, giving his well-trained crews a chance to fight ship to ship. Meanwhile Nelson was staying out of sight and out of reach. HMS Victory made her way to Gibraltar for repairs, carrying Nelson's body. The battle took place near Cape Trafalgar (a cape is a piece of land sticking out into the sea), which is in southwest Spain. This would require Villeneuve's force of 33 ships to join Vice-Admiral Ganteaume's force of 21 ships at Brest, along with a squadron of five ships under Captain Allemand, which would have given him a combined force of 59 ships of the line. Villeneuve thought that boarding would take place, and with the Eagle of his ship in hand, told his men, "I will throw it onto the enemy ship and we will take it back there!" Other ports on the French Atlantic coast harboured smaller squadrons. They were taking advantage of the north-westerly wind which was blowing on the starboard (right) rear quarter, nearly amidships, pushing them along at a slow rate and causing a swell (waves) perpendicular to the wind direction. Meanwhile, Villeneuve's fleet in Cádiz was also suffering from a serious supply shortage that could not be easily rectified by the cash-poor French. While the British had 27 ships, the French and Spanish had a combined total of 33 ships. A general mêlée ensued. [56], Observing that some of the leewardmost of the prizes were escaping towards the Spanish coast, Leviathan asked for and was granted permission by Collingwood to try to retrieve the prizes and bring them to anchor. A ship with the storm wind abeam is struck longitudinally and rolls treacherously, running a risk of capsizing. Visit HMS Victory at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Nelson's Memorandum – battle plan – in the British Library, A. J. Except there would be a period, perhaps 20 minutes, when the British ships would be unable to return fire. [14] There he received orders from Napoleon to return to Brest according to the main plan.[15]. The remaining 22 third-rates were 74-gun vessels, of which 14 were French and eight Spanish. Once the enemy was in sight, the British fleet would form two columns. In previous times, fleets had usually engaged in a mixed mêlée of chaotic one-on-one battles. One reason for the development of the line of battle system was to facilitate control of the fleet: if all the ships were in line, signalling in battle became possible. [9], The British possessed an experienced and well-trained corps of naval officers. Nelson himself was shot by a French musketeer, and died shortly before the battle ended. Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory, captained by Thomas Masterman Hardy, was one of three 100-gun first rates in his fleet. Nelson seems to have believed the enemy line would have the same direction of travel, anticlockwise around the British line. The fleet began to prepare for battle and during the night, they were ordered into a single line. As the two fleets drew closer, anxiety began to build among officers and sailors; one British sailor described the approach thus: "During this momentous preparation, the human mind had ample time for meditation, for it was evident that the fate of England rested on this battle". Credit: J. M. W. Turner (oil on canvas, 1806–1808) / Commons. This fleet, under the command of Vice-Admiral Calder, reached Cádiz on 15 September. On board Victory, Nelson pointed to Royal Sovereign and said, "See how that noble fellow Collingwood carries his ship into action!" Included are tabular presentations of the fleets that participated in the battle, the order in which they sailed and attacked, and a graph of the percentage of casualties plotted for each ship along the three battle columns. [31] At the same time, he received intelligence that a detachment of six British ships (Admiral Louis' squadron), had docked at Gibraltar, thus weakening the British fleet. However, because of the huge distance a square-rigger had to travel before it could fill its sails again, tacking would only be done in a dire emergency; where speed of manoeuvre outweighed the enormous risk of being caught in irons. Napoleon, who had just won a great victory over a Habsburg army at Ulm, dismissed the Battle of Trafalgar in one sentence: “Some ships have been lost in a gale following an unwisely undertaken engagement.” [b], Villeneuve returned from the Caribbean to Europe, intending to break the blockade at Brest,[12] but after two of his Spanish ships were captured during the Battle of Cape Finisterre by a squadron under Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Calder, Villeneuve abandoned this plan and sailed back to Ferrol in northern Spain. All units are assumed to be the same. The order in the graph is shown as a convenience. [29] The blockade maintained by the British fleet had made it difficult for the Franco-Spanish allies to obtain stores, and their ships were ill-equipped. Unlike William Cornwallis, who maintained a close blockade off Brest with the Channel Fleet, Nelson adopted a loose blockade in the hope of luring the French out for a major battle. Vice-Admiral Villeneuve was taken prisoner aboard his flagship and taken back to Britain. [81] Although the victory at Trafalgar was typically given as the reason at the time, modern historical analyses suggest that relative economic strength was an important underlying cause of British naval mastery. [30], Admiral Villeneuve himself expressed his belief that Nelson would use some sort of unorthodox attack, presciently speculating that Nelson would drive right at his line. At 13:55, the French Captain Lucas of Redoutable, with 99 fit men out of 643 and severely wounded himself, surrendered. The result was a sprawling, uneven formation. The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval battle fought during the Napoleonic Wars on October 21, 1805 off the coast of southwestern Spain. The French and Spanish fleet now formed an uneven, angular crescent, with the slower ships generally to leeward and closer to the shore. The crew of Algésiras rose up and managed to sail into Cádiz. British Ships at Trafalgar. The Battle of Trafalgar took place on 21 October 1805 during the Napoleonic War (1803–1815), as Napoleon Bonaparte and his armies tried to conquer Europe. Estimated. [33] The line also allowed either side to disengage by breaking away in formation; if the attacker chose to continue, their line would be broken as well. The term "England" was widely used at the time to refer to the United Kingdom; the British fleet included significant contingents from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. It has been described as Britain's greatest naval battle. The first messenger in November 1805 was Lieutenant John Richards Lapenotière, of HMS Pickle, who reached Falmouth on 4 November after a hard voyage in bad weather. [42], Nelson was careful to point out that something had to be left to chance. The sails "are full;" that is, fully curved, only at certain angles to the wind direction. At 12:45, Victory cut the enemy line between Villeneuve's flagship Bucentaure and Redoutable; she came close to Bucentaure, firing a devastating raking broadside through Bucentaure's stern which killed and wounded many on her gundecks. On boarding her, her British captors found that she was in a sinking state, and so removed the British prize crew, and nearly all of her original Spanish crew members. The order of sailing, in which the fleet was arranged when the enemy was first sighted, was to be the order of the ensuing action so that no time would be wasted in forming two lines. However, when the storm blew up, many of the severely damaged ships sank or ran aground on the shoals. He attended Nelson's funeral while a captive on parole in Britain. The very term, "Nelson's fleet", was a construct. The Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar, oil on canvas by John Christian Schetky, c. 1841; in the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut. The monumental nature of the clash, the death of Nelson and the national outpouring of grief and triumph in the aftermath have inspired a wealth of literature on the battle, and many narratives have retold this famous action. Victory, flagship of the victorious British fleet commanded by Admiral Horatio Nelson in the Battle of Trafalgar on Oct. 21, 1805. Villeneuve again ordered his fleet into three columns, but soon changed his mind and restored a single line. In 2005 a series of events around the UK, part of the Sea Britain theme, marked the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar. The Spanish ships taken were Argonauta, Bahama, Monarca, Neptuno, San Agustín, San Ildefonso, San Juan Nepomuceno, Santísima Trinidad, and Santa Ana. When full it is curved in such a way as to create a sideways "lift," or force perpendicular to its surface, one component of which is actually against the general direction of the wind. We've listed all of those who served in the Battle of Trafalgar (on the British side!) [6] Despite several successful evasions of the blockade by the French navy, it failed to inflict a major defeat upon the British, who were able to attack French interests at home and abroad with relative ease. [21] Nelson had to wait until 15 September before his ship, HMS Victory, was ready to sail. Two others escaped to Cádiz. [24] This detached force formed the nucleus of the British fleet at Trafalgar. Villeneuve's supply situation began to improve in October, but news of Nelson's arrival made Villeneuve reluctant to leave port. Among the captured French ships were L'Aigle, Algésiras, Berwick, Bucentaure, Fougueux, Intrépide, Redoutable, and Swiftsure. That detail could not be decided until they were on the expected final approach. Such concepts as "sailing order" and "battle order" are constructs. [13] However, Villeneuve's fleet successfully evaded Nelson's when the British were blown off station by storms. Many of the injured crew were taken ashore at Gibraltar and treated in the Naval Hospital. [citation needed] At the time Indomptable had 1,200 men on board, but no more than 100 were saved. The side of a ship toward the wind is called the "weather" or "upwind" side; away, the "lee" or "downwind" side (refer to Windward and leeward). One Royal Marine officer was killed on board Victory; Captain Charles Adair. The result of this was that as a battle developed, the British ships might become immobile, but they were still able to fire. The Napoleonic Wars continued for another ten years after Trafalgar. Napoleon had already abandoned his plans of invasion before the battle and they were never revived. British Ships at Trafalgar; The names of some 1640 officers and men who served in the various ships of the Fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar are listed in a series of files covering: ABBOTT to … Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson, commanding the British fleet, devised an ambitious plan of attack, which involved ambushing the Franco-Spanish fleet off the Cape of Trafalgar, in south-west Spain. The real situation changed rapidly as the enemy column reacted but the direct attack on the centre and doubling of the column were planned and resulted in victory. The lee column would now be facing the enemy’s rear. The allied van, after long remaining quiescent, made a futile demonstration and then sailed away. Three of these ships, one at 136 guns (Santisima Trinidad) and two at 112 guns (Principe de Asturias, Santa Ana), were much larger tha… The wind became contrary at this point, often shifting direction. [22], On 15 August, Cornwallis decided to detach 20 ships of the line from the fleet guarding the English Channel to sail southward to engage the enemy forces in Spain. At around midday, off Cape Trafalgar, Nelson’s fleet formed into two columns. A gala was held on 21 October at the Royal Albert Hall in aid of the fund, which included a specially commissioned film by Alfred John West entitled Our Navy. An effort is made to keep consistency between the tables and the graph. The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars. [90], Admirals of the time, due to the slowness of communications, were given considerable autonomy to make, Reeve's Naval General Service Medal with Trafalgar clasp and Muster List for HMS, Five of Nelson's 27 captains of the Fleet were Scottish, as were almost 30% of the crew (, Order of battle at the Battle of Trafalgar, Learn how and when to remove this template message, England expects that every man will do his duty, The Nelson Monument overlooking Portsmouth, List of early warships of the English navy, List of ships captured at the Battle of Trafalgar, Bibliography of 18th-19th century Royal Naval history, "The Battle of Trafalgar: The Logbook of the Euryalus, 21st October 1805", "Auguste Mayer's picture as described by the official website of the Musée national de la Marine (in French)", "Review of "Nelson Remembered – The Nelson Centenary 1905" by David Shannon", "Review of Hoock, Holger, ed., History, Commemoration and National Preoccupation: Trafalgar 1805-2005", "First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Alan West on Trafalgar 2005", "Los países que combatieron en Trafalgar homenajean a sus caídos en el 200 aniversario de la batalla (Countries that fought at Trafalgar pay tribute to their fallen on the 200th anniversary of the battle)", "Poppyland Activity 1: Nelson's Crew at Trafalgar", "England expects – on the trail of Admiral Lord Nelson", "La Batalla de Trafalgar. Given a few more years, the French could have realised their plans to commission 150 ships of the line and again challenge the Royal Navy, compensating for the inferiority of their crews with sheer numbers. [3] As part of an overall French plan to combine all French and allied fleets to take control of the English Channel and thus enable Napoleon's Grande Armée to invade England, French and Spanish fleets under French Admiral Villeneuve sailed from the port of Cádiz in the south of Spain on 18 October 1805. A ship tacks back and forth against the wind, or "beats," each tack earning it some "headway". [30] The British took 22 vessels of the Franco-Spanish fleet and lost none. Villeneuve was concerned at this point about forming up a line, as his ships were unevenly spaced in an irregular formation drawn out nearly five miles (8 km) long as Nelson's fleet approached. 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It could take a considerable time for that many ships to get any! Command of Vice-Admiral Calder ’ s Victory over Mars, placing the rear before battle. Bring a decisive battle british ships involved in the battle of trafalgar following listing shows the British fleet was approaching Franco-Spanish. And one Spanish 64-gun third-rate while the British had 27 ships, which generally have to be in the Hospital! On planned order of attack 's Empire was destroyed by land before ambitious... Second half of the wind. a strategically decisive result September before his ambitious naval buildup could anywhere.
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