Half of the ships had not partaken in the shakedown cruise out to the caribbean. Two thirds of the sailors aboard had not been out to sea ever before. Three of the spanish ships had crews so weak that they weren't even expected to fight. Nelson's line would approach the enemy's extended line in a line ahead formation, that is, one ship after the other. And at the moment of closing in onto the enemy's line, nelson would turn his ship the victory and attack,. The centre of the french line with the flagship of the commander in chief actually managed to confuse the enemy.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the events of 21st October 1805, in which the British fleet led by Nelson destroyed a combined Franco-Spanish fleet in the Atlantic off the coast of Spain. Nelson's death that day was deeply mourned in Britain, and his example proved influential, and the battle was to help sever ties between Spain and its American empire. In France meanwhile, even before Nelson's body was interred at St Paul's, the setback at Trafalgar was overshadowed by Napoleon's decisive victory over Russia and Austria at Austerlitz, though Napoleon's search for his lost naval strength was to shape his plans for further conquests.
The image above is from 'The Battle of Trafalgar' by JMW Turner (1824).
With
James Davey
Lecturer in Naval and Maritime History at the University of Exeter
Marianne Czisnik
Independent researcher on Nelson and editor of his letters to Lady Hamilton
And
Kenneth Johnson
Research Professor of National Security at Air University, Alabama
Producer: Simon Tillotson