A Conversation for The Battle of Trafalgar
Copper-bottomed ships
BigAl Patron Saint of Left Handers Keeper of the Glowing Pickle and Monobrows Started conversation Jun 24, 2007
Hi BS et al 
I've just added the following to the convo thread of my 'Chemistry of Copper...' Entry at A20074529, which you may be interested in:
'Just discovered, from BBCs 'Coast' programme, that Swansea (S. Wales) was once known as 'Copperopolis' as it supplied two-thirds of the World's copper.
This was instrumental in the success of Nelson's Navy at the Battle of Trafalgar as his ships (including Vicory) were quite literally 'copper-bottomed'. This prevented infestation by barnacles and thus Nelson's ships were significantly more manoeuverable than the French ships.
A
Copper-bottomed ships
Al Johnston Posted Jun 28, 2007
That was also one reason why Royal Sovereign was isolated for so long: her copper plating had recently been refurbished; the rest of the fleet couldn't keep up.
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Copper-bottomed ships
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