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There have been many battles at sea in the past and some were won against over whelming odds, but one of the most exciting battles ever to take place was between the British fleet and the combined French and Spanish fleet. The battle took place at Trafalgar during the Napoleonic wars. Most people don't know where Trafalgar is located, so let me tell you. It is Cape Trafalgar and is off of the south western coast of Spain. There are a few other things that I would like to tell you about sea battles between sailing ships. Many people think that the most devastating attack was a broadside, but actually it was an attack at the stern of a ship. There was a special reason for this. It was not only that the steering is located there but anything fired at the stern would travel up the length of the entire ship killing, wounding and causing the maximum amount of damage per shot.

The strength of arms on a sailing ship was measured by the amount of cannons it carried. Some of the Spanish ships had way more guns than even the biggest British ship. The British had put Admiral Lord Nelson in charge of their fleet. He was a sailor with much experience but he had lost an eye and an arm. The French Admiral was Villeneuve and the Spanish Admiral was Cisternas. Villeneuve had suffered much criticism after the Battle of the Nile even though he survived the British assault, but the loss to Nelson decimated the French fleet and stopped Napoleon from gaining an eastern empire.

The British fleet was composed of 25 ships of the line with a total of 33 ships. The opposing fleet had 33 ships of the line and a total of 38 ships. The names of the ships that took part in the battle were:

British

HMS Victory, Temeraire, Neptune, Conqueror, Leviathan, Ajax, Orion, Agamemnon, Minotaur, Spartiate, Euryalus, Britannia, Africa, Naiad, Phoebe, Entreprenante, Sirius, Pickle, HMS Royal Sovereign, Belleisle, Mars, Tonnant, Bellerophon, Colossus, Achilles, Polyphemus, Revenge, Swiftsure, Defiance, Thunderer, Prince of Wales, Dreadnought and Defence.

The British lost 449 killed at the battle. about 1150 more were thought to be wounded. Here is a weird footnote to history. Viscount Horatio Nelson, who commanded the fleet, felt that he was going to die at this battle. He felt so strongly about this that he wrote his best friend saying good by and saying that he felt that he was never going to see him again. He was right.

French

Bucentaure, Formidable, Scipion, Intrepide, Cornelie, Duguay Truin, Mont Blanc, Heros, Furet, Hortense, Neptune, Redoubtable, Indomitable, Fougueux, Pluton, Aigle, Swiftsure, Argonaute, Berwick, Hermione, Themis, Achille and Argus.

Spanish

Santa Anna, Santissima Trinidad, Neptuno, Rayo, Santo Augustino, S. Francisco d’Assisi, S. Leandro, S. Juste, Monarca, Algeciras, Bahama, Montanes, S. Juan Nepomucano, Argonauta and Prince de Asturias.

The estimate of French killed has been as high as 1700 with the total of killed, wounded and captured for the French and Spanish was estimated to be between 7,000 to 16000. I think the lower figure is closer to correct.

19 French and Spanish ships were sunk during the sea battle, but no British ships.

The British crews were so well trained that they could load and fire their cannons 3 times for every 2 time the enemy fired. The crew of one French ship boarded the HMS Victory but the crew of the Victory eliminated them all. This was the crew of the Redoubtable, The battle was in close quarters and some ships fired from only a couple of yards away. Here is another odd historical fact. Many of the crew of a British ship came from Press Gangs. The crews were comprised of men from every nationality INCLUDING FRENCH AND SPANISH. The captain of a British ship had the responsibility of recruitment and to see that his ship had a full crew. That is why the press gangs were used. Press gangs just took men where ever they found them. You might be walking down the street one day and in the British Navy the next.

Napoleon wanted to invade Britain and had his Grand Army assembled, but he needed Admiral Vileneuve to bring the French and Spanish fleets to his site. He got so angry at Villeneuve for his tardiness that he accused him of being a coward, at that point Villeneuve left with the ships for the channel. What he didn't know was that Nelson had most of his fleet at sea so it wouldn't be noticed. Two days after Nelson found out that the French and Spanish fleet were moving to the channel, Nelson attacked. Nelson had rehearsed the attack with his captains for weeks so every British ship knew what they were supposed to do and where they were supposed to be. Nelson was extremely confident even though he was outnumbered both in ships and in ship size. Nelson had decided to sail up to the line of French and Spanish ships and cut of the bottom one third and destroy it before help could come. The British ship The Royal Sovereign absorbed a broadside from a French ship but held it's fire until it was at the rear of the Santa Anna, the Spanish flag ship. It then opened fire at the stern and it is said that with this one volley took out over 400 crew, both killed and wounded, and 14 guns. Eventually the Santa Anna was reduced to rubble as was the Royal Sovereign after being attacked by several other ships before they were driven off by the British fleet. The Santa Anna surrendered to the Royal Sovereign.

Nelson was on the deck of the Victory when a sniper hit him with a musket ball. He fell to the deck and broke his back. He did live long enough to know that he had won the battle. The French Admiral Villeneuve's ship Bucentaure surrendered with the admiral on board. After the battle was over, a storm destroyed many of the damaged ships. Admiral Nelson's body is buried at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.