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Trafalgar Day 21st
October
October 21st 2005 marked the 200th anniversary of the British
Navy's great sea victory off the coast of Southern Spain that
routed a combined French and Spanish force which might eventually
have spearheaded the conquest of Britain. It was also the
battle in which Nelson died.
Just about everyone has heard of the Battle of Trafalgar.
It was fought on October 21, 1805, off Cape Trafalgar, not
far from the Spanish port of Cadiz. This was during the Napoleonic
Wars and it inflicted a final and fatal blow to French sea
power. |
| On October 20 the combined French and Spanish
fleets sailed out of Cadiz. Overnight, Admiral Nelson kept
his fleet under sail to stay in contact, and at daybreak the
British navy could see the enemy about twelve miles away.
The British attacked in two lines led by Nelson and Admiral
Collingwood; they had 27 men-of-war and 4 frigates, and the
combined enemy fleet had 33 large ships and 7 frigates. When
the battle ended several hours later, Napoleon's naval force
was broken; he could no longer contemplate an invasion of
England. Nelson, shot by a French sniper about 1.25pm, lived
long enough to know he had won a major victory.
The 200th anniversary is an opportunity for the Royal Navy
and Royal Marines , in particular, to celebrate the values
which England was seeking to defend at the time, as well as
the bravery and ability of the British fleet and and the personal
courage and genius of the remarkable admiral who lost his
life in battle.
Napoleon, already in control of much of Europe, was threatening
to cross the Channel and invade. Like the Battle of Britain
in World War II, the British victory at Trafalgar under Nelson
was a turning point in an extended struggle to prevent sovereign
European independent states being unwillingly brought under
the rule of one nation. Nelson was sincerely convinced of
his duty to fight, both for the freedom of Britain and for
the benefit of Europe as a whole. His famous signal to the
fleet before the battle is remembered today. "England
expects every man will do his duty"
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