Admiral Nelson and the HMS Victory

Admiral Nelson wasn't the Captain of the HMS Victory during the October, 1805 Battle of Trafalgar. That task was left to Captain Thomas Hardy.  Nelson was Admiral of the fleet of 27 vessels charged with defending England against Napoleon's combined invasion fleet of 33 French and Spanish ships led by Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve.


Admiral Nelson                                                  Admiral Villeneuve

Nelson had pioneered a radical attack/defense strategy against the French fleet.  Normal strategy for naval warfare was to form the fleet in a line and attack the defending line.  This was Villenueve's plan.  Nelson, however, didn't stay with this strategy.  Instead, he arranged his fleet in columns with the HMS Victory in the lead.

The Victory came under heavy fire.  Two of Nelson's aides were cut down almost immediately.  And the wheel was cut off.  But the Victory survived.  During the battle, however, a French sharpshooter aboard the Redoubtable took aim at Nelson from a range of 50 feet.. The bullet severed Nelson's spine and he was mortally wounded.

The Battle of Trafalgar by J.M.W. Turner

                                                                           










The British took 22 vessels of Combined French-Spanish fleet and lost none of their own.  Admiral Villeneuve was captured and taken aboard his own flagship back to England where he was held for a number of years.  On his return trip to France he was found murdered in an inn.

Nelson was returned to England and given a state funeral.  His funeral procession was attended by 32 Admirals, more than 100 Captains, and over 10,000 soldiers and sailors.  After the four hour funeral service in St Paul's Cathedral he was interred in a sarcophagus originally intended for Cardinal Wolsey.  Nelson has been named the ninth most important person in all of British history.

You can view a detailed scale model of the HMS Victory here.