Trafalgar, Battle of

During the Napoleonic Wars, victory of the British fleet, commanded by Admiral Horatio Nelson, over a combined French and Spanish fleet on 21 October 1805. Nelson was mortally wounded during the action. The victory laid the foundation for British naval supremacy throughout the 19th century. It is named after Cape Trafalgar, a low headland in southwest Spain, near the western entrance to the Straits of Gibraltar.

The British fleet consisted of 27 ships of the line mounting 2,138 guns; the Franco‐Spanish fleet consisted of 33 ships with 2,640 guns under Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve. The French were sailing in a loose line formation and Nelson divided his force into two parts which he intended to drive through the French line at different points. The manoeuvre was successful, Nelson's flagship Victory passing the stern of the French flagship Bucentaure and discharging its broadside at a range of 11 m/12 yd, causing 400 casualties. Other British ships used similar tactics of close‐quarter gunnery. The battle commenced at about 12 noon. Nelson was mortally wounded by a musket‐shot in the hour of victory, and died at 4.30 p.m. By 5 p.m. the battle was over, and the surviving French and Spanish ships were concentrating on escape. Of their number, 15 had been sunk, and of the 18 that escaped 2 were wrecked on 24 October and 4 taken by a British squadron on 3 November. The British lost no ships and sustained casualties of 449 killed and 1,242 wounded; French and Spanish casualties amounted to about 14,000.