Cadiz, where she arrived on August 15, 1805 Villeneuve's squadron consisting of 33 battleships (18 French, 15 Spanish), was blocked Nelson's squadron , numbering 27 battleships.

October 20, 1806 by order Napoleon The Franco-Spanish under the command of Villeneuve left Cadiz with the goal of breaking into the Mediterranean Sea for action against Naples. In terms of combat training, it was inferior to the British squadron. Myself Villeneuve didn't believe in victory. Being a representative of French tactics of the 18th century, he avoided battle. Developed battle plan Villeneuve didn't have. The instructions given to them before leaving Cadiz indicated only the need for mutual support in battle and provided for the allocation of a reserve. Nelson He developed a battle plan in advance, in which he sought to decisively defeat the enemy. In this regard, it provided for the construction of a marching order that could simultaneously be a combat one, the use of reserves in battle, approaching at the shortest distance, cutting through the formation, dividing enemy forces and striking flagship ships in order to disrupt control.

Assuming that the strength of his squadron will be increased to 40 battleships, Nelson decided to divide the entire squadron into three parts, two of which, with 16 battleships each, in the formation of wake columns were supposed to simultaneously attack the enemy, and the third of eight battleships was to form a reserve.

The main blow was to be delivered Collingwood's column , for which she should have cut through the formation of the French squadron at the 12th ship from the end and attacked the cut off ships. Nelson's Column was supposed to carry out a supporting blow at this time: attack the center of the French squadron and, having tied it up in battle, preventcometo help the rearguard of the column. No forces were allocated against the French vanguard, since Nelson, knowing about the poor preparation of the French, believed that their rearguard and center would be defeated before reaching the battlefield.

Having set general tasks for the command of their ships, Nelson allowed them to act independently, refusing to control forces and adjust tasks during the battle.

Leaving Cadiz, Villeneuve, trying to avoid battle, turned to the northwest, trying to mislead the British. After walking in this direction for some time, Villeneuve turned south. At dawn on October 21, he ordered a change from a marching order - five wake columns - to a combat one - one.

About 6 o'clock on the parallel of Cape Trafalgar The British saw the enemy. About 8 o'clock Villeneuve ordered to turn north through to be closer to Cadiz. By 10(?) o'clock the turn was completed. Despite the fact that it lasted two hours, the line of formation fell into disarray due to weak winds and poor seamanship of the ship commanders. The allied fleet sailed at a speed of two to three knots.

At this time, the English squadron was moving in two parallel columns, descending on the enemy. Since by the beginning of the battle Nelson There were 27 battleships instead of the expected 40, then he refused to allocate a reserve and ordered an attack on the French squadron in two columns. The main attack on the French rearguard was carried out by 15 battleships, and the auxiliary attack was carried out by 12 battleships.

Meteorological conditions extremely favored the British. A weak wind was blowing in a west-northwest direction, which made it difficult to control the ships of the Franco-Spanish squadron. Being more to the wind, the British could control their ships better. The Allied ships accepted the ocean swell coming from the west, which made it very difficult to conduct targeted artillery fire. After turning north, Villeneuve was unable to form a squadron into a battle line, which made it easier for Nelson to cut through the enemy's formation.

In the process of approaching, when the angle between the course line of the English squadron and the direction towards the enemy for the column of the junior flagship Collingwood was approximately 30°, and for the column Nelson 60°, the Franco-Spanish squadron could inflict severe damage on the British with artillery fire, since the latter could hardly fire at that time. However, due to the poor preparation of the Allied ships and the rolling motion of their ships, the fire of their ships was ineffective.

The first to approach the allied squadron Collingwood's column . At 12 o'clock 30 min. her flagship Royal Sovereign cut through the enemy formation under the stern ship "Santa Anna" , who was in sixteenthfrom the end Thus, namevaluable Nelson the creation of quantitative superiority in the direction of the main attack by cutting through the formation at the twelfth from the end of the French ship due to a miscalculation in maneuvering was not achieved. The following English ships cut through the formation one by one, subjecting themselves to little effective broadside from the Allies, while the longitudinal salvos from the English ships were very effective.

Nelson's flagship Victory only at 13 o'clock did I get close to Villeneuve's flagship Bucentaur and cut through the lineunder him stern Behind Nelson The remaining ships followed one by one. The wind died down, the speed decreased to 1.2 knots, and the approaching ships Nelson's Columns were under Allied fire for a long time. The British, having cut off the center of the Franco-Spanish squadron from the vanguard, concentrated their fire on the flagship ships - "Bucentaur" and "Santissima Trinidad". Despite the signal being raised at about 2 p.m. Villeneuve on providing assistance to the attacked center, 10 ships of the French vanguard under the command Dumanoir continued on the same course.

Nelson's flagship was subjected to fierce artillery and rifle fire, as a result of which the English squadron lost control. During this shelling Nelson was mortally wounded by a French non-commissioned officer firing from the mast ship "Redoutable" , and died before the end of the battle.

At about 3 p.m., individual ships of the French vanguard began to turn partly, partly across, and went to the aid of their forces. Admiral Collingwood, having completed the almost complete encirclement of the rearguard by this time, discovered the turn of the French vanguard. But since no signals were received from Nelson’s ship, and the situation in the northern sector of the battle was not clear to Collingwood, he raised the “lead to wind” signal in order to meet the approaching enemy vanguard. This erroneous decision allowed both French and Spanish ships to escape the encirclement and go to Cadiz. In addition, four ships left Dumanoir. Ships Collingwood were severely damaged, the personnel suffered heavy losses, so pursue the Allied ships Collingwood I couldn't. At 5 p.m. 30 min. the fight is over.

The Allies lost 18 ships (17 were captured, one burned) and more than 6,000 people killed, wounded and captured. The British lost 3,000 people. The English ships were so badly damaged that they were unable to bring the captured French ships to their bases. Some of them were recaptured by the French the next day, while others sank during a storm. Thus, The British failed to completely destroy Villeneuve's squadron.

conclusions

1. The English fleet defeated a weaker enemy at the Battle of Trafalgar. The English ships showed greater skill in individual and group maneuvering than the French. The English naval artillery fired better than the French, and the ship's crews showed greater resilience. A significant role was played by the British system of firing at the hulls of enemy ships, while the French fired at the mast.

2. Nelson was able to ensure the preparation of the squadron for battle and its deployment. He developed a battle plan in advance aimed at decisively defeating the enemy. Nelson's tactics in this regard were not new. Techniques such as building a new marching order, which could also be a combat formation, allocating a reserve, approaching at the shortest distance, striking flagship ships in order to disrupt control, were used by the creator of offensive tactics, the outstanding Russian admiral F. F. Ushakov, during the war with Turkey in 1787-1791.

Cutting through the formation and dividing the enemy forces were also recommended John Clerk .

3. In terms of combat Nelson made the following mistakes:

- refused control in battle;

- miscalculated in determining the tempo of the battle, which, when refusing at the last moment to allocate a reserve in case the enemy vanguard approached, led to the fact that the junior flagship of the English squadron, without fully completing the task of delivering the main blow to the French rearguard, turned towards the approaching enemy vanguard and thereby gave the opportunity to 11 ships of the Franco-Spanish rearguard to leave the encirclement and escape.

Nelson's mistakes did not have a significant impact on the outcome of the battle because the enemy failed to take advantage of them.

The success of the British was facilitated by the following shortcomings of the Franco-Spanish squadron:

- low level of combat training;

- lack of interaction;

- Villeneuve's indecisiveness.

Trafalgar fight did not have much military-political significance. In this battle the British achieved only tactical success.

Falsification of the role of the English fleet by bourgeois historiography

in the Napoleonic Wars and Nelson's role in the development of naval art

Bourgeois, especially American-British historians (Mahan, Colomb) argue that the English fleet played a decisive role in the victory over Napoleonic France. Such a statement by bourgeois historians does not correspond to reality. In the fight against Napoleonic France, Russia played a major role with its armed forces, the actions of the English fleet were of auxiliary importance. The largest battles at sea between the English and French fleets at Abukir in 1798 and at Trafalgar in 1805. brought only tactical successes to the British. In the subsequent years of the struggle against Napoleonic France, the English fleet had no major military clashes with the French fleet.

English bourgeois historians, in order to show the decisive role of the English fleet in the victory over Napoleonic France, exalted Admiral Nelson, who commanded the English naval forces at Aboukir and Trafalgar. Nelson's personality suited the English bourgeoisie well, since he was a loyal servant of his class and actively supported the reaction. For example, in the summer of 1799 he dealt with the Republicans in Italy with terrible cruelty. The great Russian democrat A. I. Herzen rightly called Nelson a bad person.

He is credited with the honor of creating new tactics, the main provisions of which were developed and applied by the outstanding Russian admiral F. F. Ushakov in the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791.

When comparing these two naval commanders, it must be noted that Nelson was, at best, a talented tactician. Nelson's mistakes in analyzing and assessing the strategic situation indicate that, unlike Ushakov, he did not have a breadth of strategic views on the use of naval forces.

Kubrick's notes:

On the pages of our website you can read poems by Dmitry Maslov , and article by Alexey Romanov with colorful

illustrations .

On October 21, 1805, a historic naval battle took place between British and Franco-Spanish naval forces on the Atlantic coast of Spain off Cape Trafalgar near the city of Cadiz. During the eight-hour battle, the British squadron of Admiral Horatio Nelson, without losing a single ship, completely destroyed the allied fleet, destroying and capturing half of its ships. Nelson himself died in this battle.

In 1805, the leading land force in Europe was the army of the French Empire led by Napoleon. And at sea, the main force was the English Royal Navy, which introduced a naval blockade in France, affecting its trade and the mobilization of naval forces. Despite several fairly successful campaigns, the French were unable to completely break the blockade. And then Napoleon switched to the same policy, establishing a continental blockade, prohibiting all countries dependent on him from trading with Great Britain. This, in turn, disrupted the British Isles' connection with Europe.

Not limiting himself to his plans to seize the English colonies, Napoleon intended to land a large force on the territory of Foggy Albion, and called the preparation for this operation the “Boulogne expedition.” Actually this was the reason for the Battle of Trafalgar. The English squadron of Admiral Nelson blocked the Franco-Spanish fleet in the harbor of Cadiz. The French Admiral Villeneuve received an order from Napoleon to break through the encirclement and break into the waters of the Mediterranean Sea to reunite with the forces there.

The English squadron consisted of 27 battleships and 4 frigates, and the Franco-Spanish fleet included 33 battleships and 5 frigates. Villeneuve, using traditional tactics, lined up the ships. Nelson used a revolutionary technique - he built a squadron in two columns, which, using a tailwind, rushed at the slow-moving enemy ships.

The first salvo of this battle was heard at 11 o'clock, and at 17.30 the battle ended with the complete defeat of the allied fleet. As a result of the battle, France and Spain lost twenty-two ships, while Great Britain lost none. The British victory was overshadowed by the death of their admiral: 47-year-old Nelson, whose personal courage and skill as a naval commander played a decisive role in the battle, was mortally wounded on his flagship Victory - a musket bullet shattered his spine. The French admiral Charles Villeneuve was captured.

The Trafalgar triumph brought England more than a century of undivided world dominance on the seas. Britain's victory confirmed the country's naval supremacy, established in the 18th century. After his defeat, Napoleon abandoned his plan to attack southern England and began a war against the other two main powers in Europe: Russia and Austria.

Today in the UK, Trafalgar Day is a national holiday - festive events are held in its honor every year.

This naval battle off the coast of Spain turned out to be decisive for the fate of Europe. In the event of a victory for the Franco-Spanish naval forces, France would have deprived England of its main weapon of defense - the fleet, and then the landing of Napoleon's troops on the island would have been sealed, as might have been the fate of Great Britain. After the defeat at Trafalgar, Napoleon abandoned his landing plans and focused on the land theater of military operations - where he had no equal. In the future, there was an intention to strike India - the main colony of the British - from land, which Napoleon had already agreed on with the Russian Tsar Paul in 1800. The plans of the world conqueror were broken by the English Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson - a bright personality, an experienced and talented naval commander. He managed to waylay the Franco-Spanish fleet when, on Napoleon's orders, it left the port of Cadiz with the goal of sailing into the Mediterranean Sea and connecting there with ships located in Toulon and Spanish ports. The Allied ships under the command of Admiral Villeneuve had a numerical superiority over the British and sailed in a wake column heading south, towards Gibraltar. Not far from Cape Trafalgar, Nelson saw enemy ships. The English fleet, without reforming into a linear combat column, moved in two columns to approach the Allied ships from the west, perpendicular to their movement. Nelson’s courageous flag order, hung on his flagship, the ship Victory, has forever entered world naval history: “England expects that every man will do his duty.” Villeneuve, noticing the British maneuver, decided to return to Cadiz, his ships made a “all of a sudden” turn by 180 degrees (i.e., with a tailwind) and went back, but at the same time they broke formation and hesitated, fearing a collision with each other. Nelson's ships "cut up" Villeneuve's column, wedging between the enemy ships heading north and firing on both sides. The British gunners were better prepared than the French and Spaniards - for every shot from an enemy cannon they responded with three shots, and they hit mainly the lower decks, suppressing the crews of the heavy guns. Then the Victory entered into a boarding battle with the French flagship. At that moment, a gunner from the top of the French ship noticed the shiny ceremonial uniform and the Order of Nelson and mortally wounded him. Meanwhile, Villeneuve lowered the flag and surrendered to the enemy. The formation broke down everywhere, one-on-one ship battles began, and 11 ships of the Allied rearguard did not get involved in the battle and passed by their comrades fighting the British in Cadiz, abandoning them to their fate. As a result, the result of the battle was incredible: the allies lost one ship sunk by the enemy, and 17 (!) surrendered to the British, who, in turn, did not lose a single ship. Losses in people were also in their favor: 2 thousand people versus 7 thousand for the allies. But the British lost Admiral Nelson, who alone was worth entire fleets: he died before the end of the battle. "Victory" was in terrible condition and went to Gibraltar for repairs, and the body of the great admiral was placed in a barrel of rum (according to another version - with brandy), where it lay until returning to England.

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On this day 210 years ago, two inextricably linked events took place in British history.
The first of them is the Battle of Trafalgar, which became the triumph of British guns and brought Great Britain the status of master of the seas.
It so happened that the Battle of Trafalgar became the last battle for the commander of the English fleet, Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson. During the battle he was mortally wounded and subsequently died.
Since these two events, I repeat, are inextricably linked, we will talk about them simultaneously.

Battle of Trafalgar

So, a little history. Brief information about the Battle of Trafalgar.
Occurred on October 21, 1805 at Cape Trafalgar on the Atlantic coast of Spain near the city of Cadiz between British and Franco-Spanish naval forces.
The battle was part of the War of the Third Coalition and the major naval confrontation of the 19th century.

Battle of Trafalgar

For reference
War of the Third Coalition (also known in history as the Russian-Austro-French War of 1805)– fighting between France, Spain, Bavaria and Italy, on the one hand, and the Third Anti-French Coalition: Austria, Russia, Great Britain, Sweden, the Kingdom of Naples and Portugal, on the other.
What were the results of the historical battle?
Spain and France, which acted in an alliance, lost 18 ships (1 was sunk, the rest were captured). These losses amounted to almost almost the entire fleet. As for manpower, the losses here amounted to about 15 thousand people killed, wounded and captured.
The British did not lose a single ship. However, many of them were damaged. For example, the flagship Victory had to be repaired in Gibraltar before it could reach England. Their human losses amounted to about 2 thousand people. This is if we talk about military tactics.
The strategic results of this battle were much more significant. France and Spain lost their naval supremacy forever. Napoleon had to abandon plans to invade England and the Kingdom of Naples. Great Britain finally acquired the status of mistress of the seas.


Flagship "Victory"

Trafalgar Square

In honor of this victory of the British fleet, one of the squares in London, which formerly bore the name of King William IV, was renamed Trafalgar.
On one of the pedestals standing in the square there is a huge copy of the flagship Victory in a giant glass bottle. Also erected on the square is a column of Vice Admiral Nelson.

Replica of the ship "Victory" in a bottle,
installed in Trafalgar Square



Nelson's Column
in Trafalgar Square

Horatio Nelson

Well, now the story will be about the hero of the battle (and not only that) Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson.

Childhood and youth

The future vice admiral was born on September 27, 1758. His father was a parish priest.
After studying at school for several years, at the age of 11 he went to serve as a cabin boy on a ship commanded by his uncle, Captain Maurice Suckling.
After this there was service on merchant and military ships sailing to the West and East Indies, and participation in a polar expedition.
Having gained enormous experience, at the age of 19 he brilliantly passed the exam for the rank of lieutenant, proved himself in the war with the North American colonists, and a year later he was already captain of a brig, and a year later - captain of a frigate.

Mature years

While serving in the merchant marine in the West Indies, Nelson constantly fought against smuggling. Most officials patronized the smugglers because they received good bribes from them. Because of this, the truth-seeking Nelson often clashed with his superiors, demanding strict adherence to the law. Thus, he made many enemies among Admiralty officials.
When he returned to England from the West Indies, he was forced to live in the village for 5 years, since he was actually excommunicated from the fleet.
When the war with France began in 1793, Nelson was appointed to the post of captain of a battleship as part of the Mediterranean squadron. In the same year he fought near Toulon, and in 1794 he commanded a landing party in Corsica.
On July 13, 1795, Nelson forced the surrender of a French ship that was much stronger than his own.
But the real glory of a national hero came to him after the battle on February 14, 1797 at Cape St. Vincent (Portugal). On his own initiative, he took his ship out of the squadron's line formation and boarded two of the four Spanish ships captured by the British, for which he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Bath and the rank of rear admiral.
For reference
Most Venerable Order of the Bath- British order of chivalry. It was founded by King George I on May 18, 1725. The name of the order was given by an ancient ritual, during which applicants for knighthood on the eve of the knighthood ritual had to stay up all night, fast, pray and wash in a bathhouse (in 1815 the ceremony was abolished).


Order of the Bath

On August 1, 1798, in the Gulf of Abukir (the mouth of the Nile), he attacked 13 French ships with 10 ships and destroyed 11 of them. However, only a few of his ships received minor damage and needed only minor repairs. Napoleon's army was defeated in Egypt. For this, George III created Nelson a peerage of Neale and Burnham Thorpe.
Having repaired his ships in Naples and assisted the King of the Two Sicilies Ferdinand IV in suppressing the Neapolitan revolution, he received the title of Duke of Bronte in gratitude.
In 1801, Nelson returned to England and received the rank of vice admiral and the position of 2nd flagship of the Baltic squadron. April 2, 1801 burns the Danish fleet in the harbor of Copenhagen and receives the title of viscount for this.
In 1803, hostilities against France were resumed. Nelson leads the British Mediterranean squadron and literally chases the enemy for two years, evading the general battle that will take place on October 2, 1805.

Death

Several times she sneaked up very close to Nelson. But he, one might say, got off with a slight fright.
In 1794, when he was commander of the landing force in Corsica, during the siege of the Calvi fortress, he was left without his right eye,
In July 1797, during an unsuccessful attempt to capture the port of Santa Cruz (Tenerife), he lost his right arm.
Death awaited him on October 21, 1805.
And again a few words about the course of the battle. Naval battles in those days were fought according to the same pattern: during the battle, squadrons passed sideways to each other and fired from all the cannons on one side.
Nelson decided to move away from this scheme. In preparation for the Battle of Trafalgar, the truly brilliant vice admiral decided to first concentrate the attack on the fifth or sixth ship of the enemy formation, destroy it, thus breaking the enemy’s battle formation, and then deal with the remaining ships.


Battle of Trafalgar. Disposition

His idea was a success, and the Franco-Spanish system was destroyed. When the flagship Victory came alongside one of the French ships, Nelson was on the captain's bridge. At one point, he stopped to give the order for the portrait of his mistress Lady Hamilton, which hung in the cabin, to be removed to a safe place. (This portrait was very dear to the vice admiral, not only as a man, but also as a naval commander, because Emma Hamilton was not just his beloved woman, but also the inspiration of his victories). Suddenly Nelson fell. The adjutant who ran up heard the following words;
- This time, Hardy, they killed me!
- I hope not, sir!
But there was nothing to hope for. The bullet that wounded Nelson was fired from above, from the mast. It pierced the epaulette, entered the left shoulder, passed through the lung and spine and got stuck in the back muscles.


Nelson's death

The sailors carried the dying vice admiral to a special cabin where the wounded were housed. The ship's doctor attended to him, trying to ease his suffering. But even on his deathbed, the fleet commander thought only about the outcome of the battle. Hardy constantly reported to the commander on the progress of the battle
An hour after Nelson was wounded, Hardy reported that the French fleet had wavered. After some time, the flagship of the allied fleet surrendered. Of course, the French commander-in-chief, Admiral Villeneuve, also surrendered. A few hours later the British achieved complete victory.
Nelson had the opportunity to transfer command to Admiral Collingwood, but he did not want to do this until his death. In the logbook of the admiral's ship "Victory" that day, an entry was made: "The rare fire continued until four and a half hours, when, after reporting to Lord Viscount Nelson about the victory, he died from his wound."

Transporting Nelson's body to England

There is an old maritime custom: all sailors who die or are killed on a ship on the high seas are buried at sea, throwing the body overboard.
Nelson, who had gone to sea since childhood, was, of course, well aware of this custom, but for some reason, the vice admiral did not want to be buried in this way, and therefore wrote in his will that wherever he died, he should be buried in London. Of course, the sailors could not refuse to fulfill the will of their commander. The body had to be transported to England. The question arose: how?
Of course, there was no talk of any refrigerators for transportation at the beginning of the 19th century, so for safety, the vice admiral’s body was placed in a wine barrel and filled to the brim with brandy, which in those days was mandatory for all ships. In this way, the body was preserved both during the repair of the Victory and during transportation to England.

Nelson's death mask

Funeral

The solemn state funeral of the commander of the British fleet, Vice Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, took place in London on January 9, 1806.
An unusual funeral procession took place the day before.
A large royal boat was sailing along the Thames; on it, under a canopy, stood the coffin with the body of the vice-admiral. The sides of the boat were draped in black velvet, and a mourning plume fluttered above the canopy. The boat's crew: ten oarsmen, a helmsman and a lookout, were dressed all in black. The boat was accompanied by more than 60 different rowing vessels. The funeral procession moved slowly up the Thames to the sound of cannon salutes, and finally stopped at the landing steps at Whitehall.
The next day, Horatio Nelson found eternal rest in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral, where many famous people of the United Kingdom are buried.


St Paul's Cathedral in London

A black coffin was installed at the vice admiral's grave. This coffin has a very interesting history. It was made under Henry VIII for the remains of Cardinal Wolsey. But the cardinal fell out of favor with the king (it was very easy to fall out of favor with Henry VIII). The king gave orders not to bury Wolsey in a manufactured coffin, which had stood in Windsor Castle all this time. As a result, it was decided to place it on Nelson's grave.


Vice Admiral Nelson's grave

10/21/1805, at Cape Trafalgar, near Cadiz (Spain), during the French war against the 3rd anti-French coalition. The English fleet of Admiral G. Nelson defeated the Franco-Spanish fleet of Admiral P. Villeneuve, which ensured the supremacy of the English fleet at sea.

The Battle of Trafalgar, the largest naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars between the English and Spanish-French fleets, which took place on October 21, 1805 at Cape Trafalgar, near Cadiz (Spain).

Waging a war against England since 1803, Napoleon by mid-1805 concentrated his army on the left coast of the English Channel for an invasion of the British Isles. The landing was planned to begin with the arrival of the main forces of the French fleet. However, the combined Spanish-French squadron of Admiral P. Villeneuve could not reach the English Channel due to opposition from the English fleet of Admiral Nelson. An experienced military leader, but lacking initiative, Villeneuve did not dare to give battle and, whenever he met the enemy, retreated to Spanish ports. In September 1805 Nelson blocked him in Cadiz.

Forced to cancel the landing in England, Napoleon ordered his fleet to support French troops in Italy. On October 20, Villeneuve decided to go to sea after that. when he learned that the emperor had already appointed a successor for him. However, having received information that Nelson was waiting for him at the Strait of Gibraltar, the French admiral turned back.

Nelson gave chase. On October 21 at 5:30 he discovered a Spanish-French squadron heading north. Villeneuve tried to maneuver in unfavorable winds, which caused the formation of his ships to be disrupted.

The English fleet acted according to a plan that Nelson brought to the attention of the captains in advance, while giving them considerable freedom to take the initiative: “If in battle you do not see the signals or do not understand them, place your ship next to the enemy’s - you can’t go wrong.” The Allies had a numerical advantage (33 ships versus 27), but the English sailors were superior to the enemy in experience and training.

Nelson's squadron, in two columns at right angles from the west, attacked a line of enemy ships stretching for almost a mile. The right column (15 ships) under the command of Admiral K. Collingwood was supposed to cut off the Spanish-French rearguard from the main forces and destroy it. The left (12 ships), led by Nelson himself, attacked the enemy center.

At 11 o'clock the first shots were fired. Around 12, the signalmen of the Victory, Nelson's flagship, said: "England expects every man to do his duty."

At 1230 hours Collingwood cut off the Allied rearguard. His Royal Sovereign was significantly ahead of the ships of his line and, before their approach, was surrounded and fought with superior enemy forces.

At 13:00 Nelson wedged himself between the center and the vanguard of the enemy squadron. The ships of the center, caught between two English columns, became mixed up and were forced to take part in a battle in which the British already had a numerical advantage. The Allied vanguard continued to move north. The ships included in it were able to take a reverse course and move to the aid of the main forces only after 15:00, when the outcome of the battle had already been determined.

Nelson's ship was boarded by the French Redoutable. The French resisted desperately, firing rifles from the masts onto the deck of the Victory, and surrendered only after they had lost 80% of the crew. In this battle Nelson was mortally wounded by a musket ball. He died at 16:30, having received before his death a report of the complete victory of the English fleet. At 17:30 the battle ended.

The British captured and destroyed 18 enemy ships. The Allies also lost about 7,000 people killed, wounded and prisoners, the British - about 1,500. French Admiral S. R. Mahon, commander of the rearguard, died in battle. The Spanish flagship C. Gravina died from his wound. Villeneuve was captured, took part in the solemn funeral ceremony of Nelson, and upon returning to France he committed suicide without waiting for the verdict of the military court.

In honor of this victory, which finally freed England from the threat of Napoleonic invasion, a column topped with a statue of Nelson, cast from bronze of French cannons captured at Trafalgar, was erected in London's Trafalgar Square in 1867.