The importance of this is the battle in history is enormous as it established British domination of the oceans of the world. The next time Britain faced an enemy that was prepared to challenge this, would be 1914 and the German high seas fleet.

The Main Players

Admiral Nelson

Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson

29 September 1758, Burnham Thorpe Norfolk. – 21 October 1805, Cape Trafalgar Spain.

Admiral Villeneuve

Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve French Vice Admiral

1763, Valensoles Provence. - 1806, Paris France.

Admiral Calder

Admiral Sir Robert Calder, Bt. KCB

13 July 1745, Elgin Scotland. – 1 September 1818, Holt, Bishop's Waltham, in Hampshire.

Admiral Collingwood

Admiral Lord Cuthbert Collingwood

24 October 1748, Newcastle upon Tyne - 1810, Died at sea near Minorca.

Captain Hardy

Captain Thomas Masterman Hardy. Later, Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy 1st Baronet.

5 April 1769, Long Bredy Dorset. – 20 September 1839, Greenwich, Kent.

Vice-Admiral Ganteaume

The Preamble To The Battle

By 1805, Napoleon's First French Empire dominated Europe, and so Napoleon began a campaign to take control of the English Channel with a view to invading Britain, something the French had failed repeatedly at since 1066. Aware of Napoleon's intentions, the Royal Navy blockaded the French and were generally successful for a time. However, after the Third Coalition of Austria, Russia and the United Kingdom declared war upon France, Napoleon made new plans to invade Britain. This would require good control of the Channel, but would also require the French and Spanish fleets to escape the British blockade and rendezvous with other forces in the West Indies.

France's most senior naval officer of the time, Admiral Villeneuve had been blockaded in Toulon but broke out on 30 March 1805 after Nelson's loose blockade was blown off by storms. Villeneuve met up with the Spanish fleet and then sailed for the West Indies as planned, with Nelson giving chase. Villeneuve then returned to Europe with hopes of breaking the blockade that had trapped Vice-Admiral Ganteaume at Brest, but failed after fighting an indecisive action against Calder and his squadron of 15 ships just off Cape Finisterre. The visibility was poor and Calder failed to press home his advantage and Admiral Villeneuve broke free, with the French fleet making for Martinique.

Villeneuve then left Martinique, turned north and sailed for Ferrol in northern Spain. From here, he had orders direct from Napoleon to sail for Brest once more, but due to a paranoia that he was being watched, Villeneuve headed for Cadiz instead. The invasion force waiting for Villeneuve at Brest gave up waiting on the 26 August, and ended up taking part in Napoleon's invasion of Russia instead. Meanwhile, Nelson's fleet returned home to rest after their voyage looking for the French. He was forced to wait until mid-September before HMS Victory was ready to sail, but meanwhile Cornwallis, who had been tightly blocking Brest, had detached 20 ships of the line from his group and sent them south under Calder with the intention of meeting the French in battle. This left the channel slightly exposed, but would later provide Nelson with the ships he needed to fight the French at Trafalgar. Calder reached Cadiz on 15 September, with Nelson joining him and taking command on 29 September.

Preparations for Battle

The scene was set for the Battle of Trafalgar, it was fought on the 21 October 1805 off Cape Trafalgar on the Spanish coast. The battle was fought by the British fleet, and the combined fleets of France and Spain.

The ships of the French fleet:

1. Formidable 80¹
2. Scipion 74
3. Mont-Blanc 74
4. Duguay-Trouin 74
5. Heros 74
6. Bucentaure 80 The flagship of Admiral Villeneuve
7. Neptune 80
8. Redoutable 74
9. Indomptable 80
10. Fougueux 74
11. Aigle 74
12. Algesiras 74
13. Swiftsure 74
14. Pluton 74
15. Intrepide 74
16. Argonaute 74
17. Achille 74
18. Berwick 74

The Ships of the Spanish fleet:

1. San Augustin 74
2. Rayo 100
3. Santisima Trinidad 140
4. San Justo 74
5. San Leandro64
6. Montanez 74
7. Santa Anna 112
8. Principe de Asturias 112
9. Neptuno 80
10. Monarca 74
11. San Francisco de Asis 74
12. Argonauta 80
13. Bahama 74
14. San Ildefonso 74
15. San Juan Nepomuceno 74

In addition there were five Frigates Rhin, Themis, Argus, Algecira and Furet as well as two un-named schooners.

As the Ships of the French and Spanish fleet made their way north the picket line of ships stationed by Nelson caught sight of them. The signals were soon sent to Nelson and the fleet.

0430 Frigate Sirius to Line to Prince and Dreadnought - Enemy's ships are coming out of port. The message was repeated down the chain of ships until it reached HMS Achilles.

Nelson had written a detailed explanation of his plan on 9 October, though not entirely followed during the battle it set out the tactics. The battle lines ware drawn up by Nelson and ordres were to be given in advance. Nelson asked his captains to come on board the Victory, there he explained his plan of battle, 'He decided to divide the fleet into three supporting parts, the first part was consisted of seven ships positioned to his north to protect his flank. All the other ships of the fleet were to attack in two columns and sail at the center and rear of the enemy fleet, this would cut off the van (the head) of the enemy fleet and isolate them from the battle.

Nelson was to command one line and Admiral Collingwood to command the other.

The fleet captains had been given orders, to form the two columns each ship had been allocated its place in line, the disposition of the fleet was as follows-

Nelson then divided the remainder of his fleet into two distinct lines to attack the enemy fleet, The weather line under his own direct command²
under his own command and to the south the lee³ line under the command of Admiral Lord Collingwood .

The Ships of Admiral Nelsons Line.

1. HMS Victory100 Capt Thomas Masterman Hardy
2. HMS Temeraire 98 Capt Eliab Harvey
3. HMS Neptune 98 Capt Thomas Francis Freemantle
4. HMS Leviathan 74 Capt Henry William Bayntun
5. HMS Conqueror 74 Capt Israel Pellew
6. HMS Agamemnon 64 Sir Edward Berry
7. HMS Britannia 100 Capt Charles Bullen
8. HMS Ajax 74 Lieut John Pilford
9. HMS Orion 74 Capt Edward Codrington
10. HMS Minotaur 74 Capt Charles John Moore Mansfield
11. HMS Spartiate 74 Capt Sir Francis Laforey
12. HMS Africa 64 Capt Henry Digby.

The Ships of Admiral Collingwoods Line (The lee line)

1. HMS Royal Sovereign 100 Capt Edward Rotherham
2. HMS Bellisle 74 Capt William Hargood
3. HMS Colossus 74 Capt James Nicoll Morris
4. HMS Mars 74 Capt George Duff
5. HMS Tonnant 80 Capt Charles Tyler
6. HMS Bellerophon 74 Capt John Cooke
7. HMS Achille 74 Capt Richard King
8. HMS Polyphemus 64 Capt Robert Redmill
9. HMS Revenge 74 Capt Robert Moorsom
10. HMS Swiftsure 74 Capt William Gordon Ruthreford
11. HMS Defence 74 Capt George Hope
12. HMS Thunderer 74 Lieut John Stockham
13. HMS Defiance 74 Capt Philip Charles Durham
14. HMS Prince 98 Capt Richard Grindall
15. HMS Dreadnought 98 Capt John Conn

In addition to the two groups of Capital Ships, Nelson also had a number of smaller frigates and schooners under his control, sailing apart from the two lines. These were:

1. HMS Pickle (a schooner) 10 Lieut John Richards La Pentoiere.
2. HMS Entreprenante 8 Lieut Robert Benjamin Young
3. HMS Naiad 38 Capt Thomas Dundas
4. HMS Phoebe 36 Capt Hon. Thomas Bladen Capell
5. HMS Sirius 36 Capt William Prowse
6. HMS Euryalus 36 Capt Hon Henry Blackwood

HMS Africa had drifted north during the night and dawn found the ship far to the north amoung the ships stationed to the north of Nelsons line,.

The fleet that had lain ready during the night maid ready and prepared to move off as to the orders Nelson had issued the day before.

The winds were light and the fleet started to take position in line, the ships HMS Victory and HMS Royal Sovereign being the first to move off.

The preparation of ship of the line for action at sea, or battle stations, only took a few minutes.

The moveable bulkheads were folded and stowed the officers’ effects were stowed in the hold, and the lower decks cleared of all unnecessary kit. The crew secured all sails, then secured safety nets below the masts and rigging to stop things falling on the men below.

As fire was a constant risk, the sails and masts and spas were soaked with sea water, the upper works and ships boats were also soaked. The crews hammocks were placed in nets on the top of the bulwarks (the top of the ships rail), these were also soaked, and served a function similar to sandbags stopping splinters. The ship’s fire pump was prepared up on the main deck, and hoses were set out. The fire buckets were filled, and wet sand was spread on the upper decks to provide grip (blood is slippery) and retard the spread of fire from sparks.

The gun crews prepared the recoil rigging on cannon, and opened the gun ports. Round shot was set out on all decks and rope quoits prevented the round shot from rolling around as the ship healed over. The powder monkeys (boys who carried gun powder) went to the magazines to collect the powder cases. The cannon were fired by a flintlock that was fixed to the touch hole these were removed when the cannon was laid up. The gun-captains went down to the store to be issued these together with priming powder flasks.

It was the duty of the ships cook to douse the fire and set the candles in the magazine light boxes. Pikes were placed at the foot of the masts, and small arms were issued. these were for use if the ship were boarded. On the orlop deck⁴ the ships surgeon and the surgeons mates prepared for the casualties, and prepares the wound dressings, the floor of this deck was traditionally painted red to hide the blood.

The marines shut and stood guard over the hatches to prevent any un authorised access during any action. Then a report was made to the captain ‘ship cleared for action’ and the men stood ready awaiting orders.

The prevailing wind was blowing in an east south easterly direction and was in favour of the British fleet (in as much as it made steering easier). Bear up meant to sail closely to the wind.⁵ The term sailing large⁶ meant the wind was blowing from the stern (back) of the ship and keeping a course was easier without as many changes to the set of the ships sails.

0705 Nelson to Britannia - Take station as convenient without regard to the order of sailing. Britannia the 100 gun first rate ship under the command of Captain Charles Bullen, was delayed in setting sail. In order maintain the discipline of his line, Nelson sent this following signal to Britannia.

0720 Nelson to Prince and Dreadnought - Take station as convenient without regard to the order of sailing. Prince and Dreadnought these two 98 gun first rate ships in Collingwood’s line were also delayed and the were to eventually take station as the last two ships the in line. Nelson sent the preceding signal. to their captains, Richard Grindall and John Conn.

0735 Nelson to Euryalus, Naiad, Phoebe and Sirius
- Captain to come on board flagship. , Nelson sent the signal to the captains of the frigates stationed on his northern flank, that they could receive final orders for their part in the coming battle, they were Thomas Dundas of the Naiad, Thomas Bladen Capell of the Phoebe, William Prowse of the Sirius and Hon Henry Blackwood of the Euryalus, were to attend the Admiral as he wished them to receive their orders directly. These ships were to take station to the north of Nelsons line. The positioning was vital as the head of the enemy fleet could turn south to harry the flank of Nelsons line and the detailed instruction was given of what was expected of these ships during the coming battle.

0840 Nelson to Prince
- Bear up and sail large on course steered by Admiral.
The prevailing wind was still blowing in an east south easterly direction.. Prince was to adjust her course to sail more closely to the wind, as the ship was evidently not sailing in quite the direction Nelson wished.

0845 Collingwood to Lee Column
- Keep on the larboard line of bearing though on the starboard tack. The line under the command of Collingwood was heading to the starboard (its right) this point, Collingwood required the line to take formation to the larboard (port or left) of the ship that preceded it. this was because the line was to head east north east to take is place in the battle.

0850 Collingwood to Lee Column
- Form the larboard line of bearing. The line was to form up, and as the ships took position in line behind Royal Sovereign. And one by one head east north east to take is place in the battle.

0850 Collingwood to Lee Column
- Make more sail, leading ship first.
Make more sail simply increase the area or number of sail to increase the speed of the ship. The leading ship Royal Sovereign first, then Tonnant and so on to avoid the ships behind over taking the lead ships.

0900 Nelson to Collingwood
- Report if Tonnant cannot close: order other ships between. HMS Tonnant under the command of Captain Charles Tyler, was one of the larger ships and was slow to gain speed. This had been noted by Nelson who made signal.

0915 Collingwood to Belleisle and Tonnant
- Interchange places in the line.
HMS Belleisle and HMS Tonnant were instructed to change places in line as Tonnant was still trying to gain speed. The change was made as it was vital to keep the sailing order.

0915 Collingwood to Dreadnought
- Make more sail.
HMS Dreadnought was taking time to pick up speed and so she was signalled to make more sail simply to increase the speed of the ship.

0920 Collingwood to Belleisle
- Make more sail. HMS Belleisle was also taking time to pick up speed, the larger and slower ships being at the head of the line did not help. So she was signalled to make more sail to increase her speed.

0930 Collingwood to Belleisle
- Take station bearing SW from Admiral. The Belleisle was out of line to far north and was instructed to alter course to rectify this.

0936 Nelson to Leviathan
- Take station astern of Temeraire. The Leviathan under the command of Captain Henry William Bayntun, was instructed to take a new position in Nelsons line astern of the Temeraire.

0930 Collingwood to Revenge
- Take station bearing from Admiral as pointed out by compass signal. The Revenge was now out of line to far north and was instructed to alter course to rectify this.

0940 Collingwood to Revenge
- Make more sail. HMS Revenge was taking time to pick up speed, so she was signalled to make more sail to increase her speed.

0941 Nelson to Mars
- Take station of Royal Sovereign. HMS Mars 74 gun commanded by Capt George Duff was ordered up the line to take station (position) on the lee side of the Royal Sovereign.

0945 Collingwood to Lee Column
- Take station bearing from the Admiral as pointed out and make more sail.Collingwood signalled all ships in the lee column to make more sail to increase their speed.

1010 Nelson to Mars
- Lead the Lee Column. HMS Mars was ordered up the line to take the lead position of the lee column.

1045 Nelson to Mars
- Head the Column. HMS Mars was ordered up the line to take the head of the lee column and lead them into battle.

As the wind could blow the British fleet on to shore after the battle, Nelson ordered that the fleet was to prepare for the anchorage position, and make sure the fleet knew where it would be, prior to the start of the battle.

1102 Nelson to Defence
- Make all sail possible with safety to the masts. HMS Defence had fallen back and needed to close up so she was signalled to make more sail without damaging her masts and rigging, and increase her speed.

1140 Nelson to Defence
- Make all sail possible with safety to the masts (Africa was out of the main line of battle and sailing down from the NW). HMS Defence was ordered to close up so she was signalled to join he line as soon as possible.

1140 Nelson to Collingwood
- I intend to go through the enemy's line to prevent them getting into Cadiz. This change of tactic was required, Nelson had now seen the disposition of the enemy fleet and had decided to alter his attack. Collingwood needed to be informed of this.

1145 Nelson to Mars
- Make all sail possible with safety to the masts. HMS Mars needed to close up so she was signalled to make more sail without damaging her masts and rigging, and increase her speed.

1145 Collingwood to Lee Column
- Make more sail. This signalled it was time for the last push into the enemy line and all ships in Collingwoods line needed to close with the enemy as fast as possible.

Nelsons signal officer Lieutenant Pasco was ordered to signal to the fleet

‘Mr Pasco, I wish to say to the Fleet 'England confides that every man will do his duty'.

Lieutenant Pasco requested from Nelson permission to change word 'expects' for 'confides' the reason was confides would need to be signalled letter by letter. The change was agreed and the signal was run up the signal halyards. The signal caused some comment and some said that they would always do their duty for Nelson and need not be asked.

This signalled it was time for the last push into the enemy line and all ships needed to close as fast as possible. All ships in the fleet were signalled to make more sail without damaging their masts and rigging, and increase their speed.

Battle Commences

The first shots were fired at the Combined fleet by the 100 gun HMS Royal Sovereign as she came within range of the 74 gun Fougueux. Captain Edward Rotherham of the Royal Sovereign ordered ' open fire' at 12 noon.

1215 Nelson to Temeraire
- Take station astern of Victory. HMS Temeraire⁷ 98 gun commanded by Captain Eliab Harvey was to take position to the lee side (starboard side) of Victory to provide support.

Nelson ordered Lieutenant Pasco to make this final signal. The Victory had now come within range of the enemy fleet and was being fired upon.

12130 Nelson to Africa
- Make all sail possible with safety to the masts. Nelson ordered his signal officer, Lieutenant Pasco to make this final signal of the day. On the night of the 20th October, HMS Africa, the smallest capital ship in the fleet, under the command of Capt. Henry Digby, had drifted away from the rest of Nelson's fleet, and, as dawn broke on the morning of the battle she found herself unsupported, to the north of the Franco-Spanish fleet. Nelson signalled the Africa to increase speed and rejoin the fleet so she was signalled to make more sail with care for her masts and rigging and
rejoin the rest of the fleet, but Digby apparently decided to ignore the signal, and take on the whole enemy fleet single handed.

Fighting Tactics

In order to understand the way that these battles were fought a brief explanation of the tactics used is necessary. The British navy's tactics at the time were, in the main, to fire solid shot into the hull of the enemy ship, thus trying to sink it outright.They used to do this by timing the firing of the guns so that the ship fired its broadside 'on the downroll' I.e.: when the roll of the ship was such that the guns were aiming lower. This, incidentally caused enormous casualties on the other side, not from cannonballs piercing the hulls of the enemy ship, rather from the splinters of wood shooting across the inside of the enemy gundecks whenever the outside of the hull was hit by a cannonball.

The French, on the other hand, used much more grapeshot and fired 'on the uproll', aiming for the masts and rigging of their enemies, with the final aim of simply disabling the enemy ship before closing to board and capture it.

This is one of the reasons for the disproportionate casualty figures⁸ of battles like The Battle of the Nile and Trafalgar.

Close Action

The first ship to reach the line of allied ships was the Royal Sovereign which, having recently had its bottom scraped and having started at the head of the lee line, quickly broke in to the stern of the Santa Ana and fired a raking broadside (A raking broadside is one aimed at the front or back of a ship, thus making it harder to hit the target, but with each successful shot ripping through the ship lengthways. More importantly, the enemy ship is unable to return fire). Meanwhile, HMS Belleisle, the next in the lee line, was quickly mobbed by a group of four French ships, with the attack demasting the ship to the point that many of the cannons were obscured by the drifting sail. Despite this, the ship continued to fly its flag until rescued three quarters of an hour later.

Meanwhile, the Victory closed on the enemy fleet at the head of the weather line, taking fire for forty minutes before Hardy finally succeeded in his aim of passing between Villeneuve's flagship Bucentaure and the French ship Redoubtable. Having already incurred many casualties, including Nelson's secretary, John Scott, and the marines stationed on the upper deck, the Victory was now able to pass close to the Bucentaure and unleash a devastating raking broadside which included a keg's worth of musket balls fired from one of the ship's 68 pounder cannons. This wiped out many of the crew above deck, leading Villeneuve to assume that Nelson would soon attempt to board his ship. Instead, Hardy ordered the Victory to turn northwest to pull alongside the Redoubtable, and having exchanged broadsides as the cannons came to bear, the ships crashed together and locked masts.

The Redoubtable quickly shut its gunports to prevent boarding and its large crew, which included an infantry corp, were positioned ready to board the Victory. The Victory also ceased fire to allow its gunners to man the decks and fight the French, but they were forced back down by a barrage of grenades and musket fire, and thus the Victory's guns continued to fire into the French ship. Having dispersed his Marines about the boat to protect them from the earlier barrage of cannonballs, Nelson had left his ship open to attack by French sharpshooters, and at 1.15pm he was shot through the left shoulder with a musket ball while walking on the quarterdeck with Hardy. Nelson knew the wound would be fatal and was carried below decks - we will resume his story later on.

As fighting continued on the decks, the British ship Temeraire came up on the Redoubtable's starboard side, and the French infantry above decks were hit with rounds from the Temeraire's carronades while the ships on either side hit the French ship with continuous cannonfire. At 13.55, around an hour after close action had begun, the Redoubtable was forced to surrender, with most of its crew having become casualties.

Meanwhile, the Royal Sovereign had been taking hits for 30 minutes without support before the rest of Admiral Collingwood's lee line arrived, with the head of the line breaking through the allied fleet's first line while the rest of the lee line fanned out to engage the southern part of the allied line. The head of the lee line then turned south between the two allied lines to help engage the southern half of the enemy fleet, the second line of which had now arrived at the battle. Meanwhile, the weather line was almost completely engaged with the allied fleet except for the rear two ships, which had turned north to engage the vanguard of the French fleet. While approaching the allied line, Nelson had feinted northwards to head for the vanguard before heading back to his original course, thus preventing the French vanguard from turning to protect the main body of the allied line. The vanguard had thus been cut off from the main body by the front of the weather line, but had now started to turn and was pounding the two British ships that had sailed to face it. Having gained the upper hand and disabled the surrounding allied ships, Victory and the head of the weather line turned north to help out the pair of ships, cutting off the vanguard from the rest of the battle.

By this point, the superior gunnery of the Royal Navy was beginning to show, with many of the allied ships having surrendered. As the wind began to drop, ships with their masts and sails broken or shot away slowly drifted about, and ships caught up in the melee were forced to take whatever opportunity they had to attack other ships. Standing on the deck of the Mars, Captain Duff lost his head to a canonball while trying to spot the enemy ships which then went on to rake his boat. Meanwhile, Admiral Dumanoir finally arrived with the van of the Combined Fleet and passed windward of the British fleet, firing as he went, following which the four ships turned to leave the battle. Three headed for Cadiz, with only the aptly-named Intrepide turning and heading to Admiral Villeneuve's aid. For its trouble, the Intrepide was then attacked by multiple British ships, later being commended for its bravery by the captains of the ships which pummelled it.

The Death Of Nelson

Several rumours and unsubstantiated comments come to light over the years on the subject of Nelson's death. Among these are the reports, by a number of his officers, that they asked him, prior to the battle, to remove his uniform coat, which was embroidered, in silver, with the four Orders of Knighthood he had been granted. These, said various officers, would greatly simplify the task of the snipers in the enemies' masts, to identify and gun-down British officers during the battle.

Who it was who actually suggested he should remove his coat is not recorded, and what Nelson's response was to the suggestion, is still a point of conjecture. Legend has it that he deliberately wore the coat to ensure he would be visible to his own sailors, thus improving their morale during the battle

Another comment, reported by the captain of the frigate HMS Penelope, Henry Blackwood, who was onboard the Victory during the hours leading up to the battle, was that as the first shots were fired, and Capt. Blackwood was preparing to leave the Victory to return to his own ship, Nelson turned to him and said, "God bless you Blackwood, I shall never speak to you again".

Regardless of rumour or comments, it is clear, from a prayer Nelson wrote in the hours leading up to the battle, that he was ready to die for his country if that was to be his fate...

May the Great God, whom I worship, grant to my Country, and for the benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious Victory; and may no misconduct in anyone tarnish it; and may humanity after Victory be the predominant feature in the British Fleet. For myself, individually, I commit my life to Him who made me, and may His blessing light upon my endeavours for serving my country faithfully. To him I resign myself and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend.



Amen. Amen. Amen.

The chain of events leading to Nelson's death that day came to a head at approximately 2pm on the 21st October 1805. The Victory was engaging the French Redoutable when a sniper, perched in the mizzen mast of the French Man-o-War, fired down onto the Victory's quarterdeck, hitting Nelson in his left shoulder.

Nelson remained concious, and was lifted to his feet by two seamen. When approached by Hardy, Nelson is reported to have said, 'They've done for me at last Hardy, my backbone is shot through.'.

He was then carried below to the ship's surgeon, but it was clear to both the surgeon, and Nelson himself, that the Admiral could not survive the wound. Nelson described his symptoms as 'a gush of blood every minute within his breast' and that he could feel nothing of his lower body apart from an acute pain from his spine, where he thought the ball had lodged.

Nelson repeatedly asked to see Hardy, but, because of the battle, it was over an hour before his flag captain could free himself from command for long enough to visit the admiral. When Hardy did appear, one of Nelson's first questions was 'How goes the battle?', to which Hardy responded that they had captured between 12 and 14 of the enemy's ships. He then went on to ask whether any of his own ships had struck their colours and had to be reassured that none of them had surrendered to the enemy.

During this period, Nelson repeatedly told those around him that he was sure that his back was broken and that nothing could be done for him, he even sent the surgeon away from him at one stage, telling the man to treat the other wounded, as, he said 'You can do nothing for me'.

Fifty minutes later, Hardy returned to see Nelson a second time with news that the battle was over. Giving his final order, Nelson insisted that Hardy ordered the signal to the fleet to anchor, but then added that he didn't want to be buried at sea. Next came the famous words 'Take care of poor Lady Hamilton. Kiss me, Hardy', to which Hardy responded by kissing Nelson's forehead, evoking the words 'Now I am satisfied. Thank God I have done my duty.' It was those last seven words that Nelson is said to have uttered repeatedly while in his death throes, albeit intermixed with the words 'Drink, drink. Fan, fan. Rub, rub.'

In order to transport it back to England, Nelson's body was placed in a large cask that was then filled with brandy to preserve the remains. The cask had to be topped up with 'spirit of wine', a type of practically pure ethanol, at Gibraltar on 28 October, the reason for this supposedly being that the body had absorbed a large quantity of the brandy that it had been placed in. Finally, the Victory arrived at Portsmouth on 4 December, with Nelson's body sailed up to Greenwich Hospital before being taken up the Thames to Whitehall to be conferred upon the Admiralty. Nelson was given a state funeral, a rare honour only ever given to four other non-royals, and then buried at St Paul's Cathedral on the 9 January.

Unfortunately, Nelson's fame and fortune went to his brother William, who was made Earl Nelson, leaving Nelson's mistress Lady Hamilton and their illegitimate daughter Horatia in poverty despite accounts of Nelson asking that their safety be ensured before his death. However, his legacy of 'The Nelson Touch' - his ability to both forge inspirational strategies and to bring out the best in all of his men - and of course his famous message of 'England Expects' continue to endure. Several statues and monuments exist to him, notably Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London, and in 2005 the Battle of Trafalgar's 200 year anniversary was remembered with extensive celebrations and a battle between the 'Red Team' and the 'Blue Team' in the Solent near Portsmouth. It wasn't until Winston Churchill came along over a hundred years later that another man made such a name for himself protecting the United Kingdom from harm, and so Admiral Horatio Nelson would seem to remain a national hero even today.