Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar ( 21 October 1805 ) was a naval engagement fought by the Royal Navy against the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies , during the War of the Third Coalition ( August – December 1805 ) of the Napoleonic Wars ( 1803 – 1815 ) . The battle was the most decisive naval victory of the war . Twenty - seven British ships of the line led by Admiral Lord Nelson aboard defeated thirty - three French and Spanish ships of the line under French Admiral Pierre - Charles Villeneuve off the southwest coast of Spain , just west of Cape Trafalgar . The Franco - Spanish fleet lost twenty - two ships , without a single British vessel being lost . The British victory spectacularly confirmed the naval supremacy that Britain had established during the previous century and was achieved in part through Nelson ' s departure from the prevailing naval tactical orthodoxy , which involved engaging an enemy fleet in a single line of battle parallel to the enemy to facilitate signalling in battle and disengagement , and to maximise fields of fire and target areas . Nelson instead divided his smaller force into two columns directed perpendicularly against the larger enemy fleet , with decisive results . Nelson was mortally wounded during the battle , becoming one of Britain ' s greatest war heroes . The commander of the joint French and Spanish forces , Admiral Villeneuve , was captured along with his ship " Bucentaure " . Spanish Admiral Federico Gravina escaped with the remnant of the fleet and succumbed months later to wounds sustained during the battle . Origins . In 1805 , the First French Empire , under Napoleon Bonaparte , was the dominant military land power on the European continent , while the Royal Navy controlled the seas . During the course of the war , the British imposed a naval blockade on France , which affected trade and kept the French from fully mobilising their own naval resources . Despite several successful evasions of the blockade by the French navy , it failed to inflict a major defeat upon the British . They were able to attack French interests at home and abroad with relative ease . When the Third Coalition declared war on France , after the short - lived Peace of Amiens , Napoleon was determined to invade Britain . To do so , he needed to ensure that the Royal Navy would be unable to disrupt the invasion flotilla , which would require control of the English Channel . The main French fleets were at Brest in Brittany and at Toulon on the Mediterranean coast . Other ports on the French Atlantic coast harboured smaller squadrons . France and Spain were allied , so the Spanish fleet based in Cádiz and Ferrol was also available . The British possessed an experienced and well - trained corps of naval officers . By contrast , most of the best officers in the French navy had either been executed or dismissed from the service during the early part of the French Revolution . As a result , Vice - Admiral Pierre - Charles Villeneuve was the most competent senior officer available to command Napoleon ' s Mediterranean fleet . However , Villeneuve had shown a distinct lack of enthusiasm for facing Nelson and the Royal Navy after the French defeat at the Battle of the Nile in 1798 . Napoleon ' s naval plan in 1805 was for the French and Spanish fleets in the Mediterranean and Cádiz to break through the blockade and join forces in the Caribbean . They would then return , assist the fleet in Brest to emerge from the blockade , and together clear the English Channel of Royal Navy ships , ensuring a safe passage for the invasion barges . The Caribbean . Early in 1805 , Admiral Lord Nelson commanded the British fleet blockading Toulon . Unlike William Cornwallis , who maintained a tight grip off Brest with the Channel Fleet , Nelson adopted a loose blockade in the hope of luring the French out for a major battle . However , Villeneuve ' s fleet successfully evaded Nelson ' s when the British were blown off station by storms . While Nelson was searching the Mediterranean for him , erroneously supposing that Villeneuve intended to make for Egypt , Villeneuve passed through the Strait of Gibraltar , rendezvoused with the Spanish fleet , and sailed as planned for the Caribbean . Once Nelson realised that the French had crossed the Atlantic Ocean , he set off in pursuit . Cádiz . Villeneuve returned from the Caribbean to Europe , intending to break the blockade at Brest , but after two of his Spanish ships were captured during the Battle of Cape Finisterre by a squadron under Vice - Admiral Sir Robert Calder , Villeneuve abandoned this plan and sailed back to Ferrol . There he received orders from Napoleon to return to Brest according to the main plan . Napoleon ' s invasion plans for Britain depended entirely on having a sufficiently large number of ships - of - the - line before Boulogne in France . This would require Villeneuve ' s force of 33 ships to join Vice - Admiral Ganteaume ' s force of 21 ships at Brest , along with a squadron of five ships under Captain Allemand , which would have given him a combined force of 59 ships - of - the - line . When Villeneuve set sail from Ferrol on 10 August , he was under orders from Napoleon to sail northward toward Brest . Instead , he worried that the British were observing his manoeuvres , so on 11 August he sailed southward towards Cádiz on the southwestern coast of Spain . With no sign of Villeneuve ' s fleet by 26 August , the three French army corps ' invasion force near Boulogne broke camp and marched into Germany , where it was later engaged . The same month , Nelson returned home to Britain after two years of duty at sea , for some rest . He remained ashore for 25 days , and was warmly received by his countrymen , who were nervous about a possible French invasion . Word reached Britain on 2 September about the combined French and Spanish fleet in Cádiz harbour . Nelson had to wait until 15 September before his ship , HMS " Victory " , was ready to sail . On 15 August , Cornwallis decided to detach 20 ships - of - the - line from the fleet guarding the English Channel and to have them sail southward to engage the enemy forces in Spain . This left the Channel drastically reduced of large vessels , with only 11 ships - of - the - line present . Nevertheless , this detached force formed the nucleus of the British fleet that would fight at Trafalgar . This fleet , under the command of Vice - Admiral Calder , reached Cádiz on 15 September . Nelson joined the fleet on 29 September to take command . The British fleet used frigate s ( faster , but too fragile for the line of battle ) , to keep a constant watch on the harbour , while the main force remained out of sight 50 miles ( 80 km ) west of the shore . Nelson ' s hope was to lure the combined Franco - Spanish force out and engage them in a " pell - mell battle " . The force watching the harbour was led by Captain Blackwood , commanding HMS " Euryalus " . He was brought up to a strength of seven ships ( five frigates and two schooners ) on 8 October . Supply situation . At this point , Nelson ' s fleet badly needed provisioning . On 2 October , five ships - of - the - line , HMS " Queen " , " Canopus " , " Spencer " , " Zealous " , " Tigre " , and the frigate HMS " Endymion " were dispatched to Gibraltar under Rear - Admiral Sir Thomas Louis for supplies . These ships were later diverted for convoy duty in the Mediterranean , although Nelson had expected them to return . Other British ships continued to arrive , and by 15 October the fleet was up to full strength for the battle . Nelson also lost Calder ' s flagship , the 98 - gun " Prince of Wales " , which he sent home as Calder had been recalled by the Admiralty to face a court martial for his apparent lack of aggression during the engagement off Cape Finisterre on 22 July . Meanwhile , Villeneuve ' s fleet in Cádiz was also suffering from a serious supply shortage that could not be easily rectified by the impecunious French . The blockade maintained by the British fleet had made it difficult for the Franco - Spanish allies to obtain stores , and their ships were ill - equipped . Villeneuve ' s ships were also more than two thousand men short of the force needed to sail . These were not the only problems faced by the Franco - Spanish fleet . The main French ships - of - the - line had been kept in harbour for years by the British blockade with only brief sorties . The French crews included few experienced sailors , and , as most of the crew had to be taught the elements of seamanship on the few occasions when they got to sea , gunnery was neglected . The hasty voyage across the Atlantic and back used up vital supplies . Villeneuve ' s supply situation began to improve in October , but news of Nelson ' s arrival made Villeneuve reluctant to leave port . Indeed , his captains had held a vote on the matter and decided to stay in harbour . On 16 September , Napoleon gave orders for the French and Spanish ships at Cádiz to put to sea at the first favourable opportunity , join with seven Spanish ships - of - the - line then at Cartagena , go to Naples and land the soldiers they carried to reinforce his troops there , then fight decisively if they met a numerically inferior British fleet . The fleets . British . On 21 October , Admiral Nelson had 27 ships - of - the - line . His flagship , HMS " Victory " , was one of three 100 - gun first rates in his fleet . He also had four 98 - gun second rates and twenty third rates . One of the third rates was an 80 - gun vessel and sixteen were 74 - gun vessels . The remaining three were 64 - gun ships , which were being phased out of the Royal Navy at the time of the battle . Nelson also had four frigates of 38 or 36 guns , a 12 - gun schooner and a 10 - gun cutter . Franco - Spanish . Against Nelson , Vice - Admiral Villeneuve fielded 33 ships - of - the - line , including some of the largest in the world at the time . The Spanish contributed four first - rates to the fleet . Three of these ships , one at 136 guns ( " Santisima Trinidad " ) and two at 112 guns ( Principe de Asturias , Santa Ana ) , were much larger than anything under Nelson ' s command . The fourth first - rate carried 100 guns . The fleet had six 80 - gun third - rates , ( four French and two Spanish ) , and one Spanish 64 - gun third - rate . The remaining 22 third - rates were 74 - gun vessels , of which fourteen were French and eight Spanish . In total the Spanish contributed 15 ships of the line and the French 18 . The fleet also included five 40 - gun frigates and two 18 - gun brig s , all French . The battle . Nelson ' s plan . The prevailing tactical orthodoxy at the time involved manoeuvring to approach the enemy fleet in a single line of battle and then engaging broadside in parallel lines . Before this time the fleets had usually been involved in a mixed mêlée . One reason for the development of the line of battle system was to facilitate control of the fleet : if all the ships were in line , signalling in battle became possible . The line also allowed either side to disengage by breaking away in formation ; if the attacker chose to continue , their line would be broken as well . This often led to inconclusive battles , or allowed the losing side to minimise its losses ; but Nelson wanted a conclusive action . His solution to the problem was to deliberately cut the opposing line in three . Approaching in two columns , sailing perpendicular to the enemy ' s line , one towards the centre of the opposing line and one towards the trailing end , his ships would break the enemy formation into three , surround one third , and force them to fight to the end . Nelson hoped specifically to cut the line just in front of the flagship ; the isolated ships in front of the break would not be able to see the flagship ' s signals , hopefully taking them out of combat while they reformed . The intention of going straight at the enemy echoed the tactics used by Admiral Duncan at the Battle of Camperdown and Admiral Jervis at the Battle of Cape St Vincent , both in 1797 . The plan had three principal advantages . First , the British fleet would close with the Franco - Spanish as quickly as possible , reducing the chance that they would be able to escape without fighting . Second , it would quickly bring on a mêlée and frantic battle by breaking the Franco - Spanish line and inducing a series of individual ship - to - ship actions , in which the British were likely to prevail . Nelson knew that the superior seamanship , faster gunnery and better morale of his crews were great advantages . Third , it would bring a decisive concentration on the rear of the Franco - Spanish fleet . The ships in the van of the enemy fleet would have to turn back to support the rear , which would take a long time . Additionally , once the Franco - Spanish line had been broken , their ships would be relatively defenceless against powerful broadsides from the British fleet , and it would take them a long time to reposition to return fire . The main drawback of attacking head - on was that as the leading British ships approached , the Franco - Spanish fleet would be able to direct raking broadside fire at their bows , to which they would be unable to reply . To lessen the time the fleet was exposed to this danger , Nelson had his ships make all available sail ( including stuns ' l s ) , yet another departure from the norm . He was also well aware that French and Spanish gunners were ill - trained , would probably be supplemented with soldiers , and would have difficulty firing accurately from a moving gun platform . The Combined Fleet was sailing across a heavy swell , causing the ships to roll heavily and exacerbating these problems . Nelson ' s plan was indeed a gamble , but a carefully calculated one . During the period of blockade off the coast of Spain in October , Nelson instructed his captains , over two dinners aboard " Victory " , on his plan for the approaching battle . The order of sailing , in which the fleet was arranged when the enemy was first sighted , was to be the order of the ensuing action , so that no time would be wasted in forming a precise line . The attack was to be made in two bodies ; one , led by his second - in - command Cuthbert Collingwood , was to throw itself on the rear of the enemy , while the other , led by Nelson , was to take care of the centre and vanguard . In preparation for the battle , Nelson ordered the ships of his fleet to be painted in a distinctive yellow and black pattern ( later known as the " Nelson Chequer " ) that would make them easy to distinguish from their opponents . Nelson was careful to point out that something had to be left to chance . Nothing is sure in a sea battle , so he left his captains free from all hampering rules by telling them that " No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy . " In short , circumstances would dictate the execution , subject to the guiding rule that the enemy ' s rear was to be cut off and superior force concentrated on that part of the enemy ' s line . Admiral Villeneuve himself expressed his belief that Nelson would use some sort of unorthodox attack , stating specifically that he believed — accurately — that Nelson would drive right at his line . But his long game of " cat and mouse " with Nelson had worn him down , and he was suffering from a loss of nerve . Arguing that the inexperience of his officers meant he would not be able to maintain formation in more than one group , he chose not to act on his assessment . Departure . The Combined Fleet of French and Spanish warships anchored in Cádiz and under the leadership of Admiral Villeneuve was in disarray . On 16 September 1805 Villeneuve received orders from Napoleon to sail the Combined Fleet from Cádiz to Naples . At first Villeneuve was optimistic about returning to the Mediterranean , but soon had second thoughts . A war council was held aboard his flagship , " Bucentaure " , on 8 October . While some of the French captains wished to obey Napoleon ' s orders , the Spanish captains and other French officers , including Villeneuve , thought it best to remain in Cádiz . Villeneuve changed his mind yet again on 18 October 1805 , ordering the Combined Fleet to sail immediately even though there were only very light winds . The sudden change was prompted by a letter Villeneuve had received on 18 October , informing him that Vice - Admiral François Rosily had arrived in Madrid with orders to take command of the Combined Fleet . Stung by the prospect of being disgraced before the fleet , Villeneuve resolved to go to sea before his successor could reach Cádiz . At the same time , he received intelligence that a detachment of six British ships ( Admiral Louis ' squadron ) , had docked at Gibraltar , thus weakening the British fleet . This was used as the pretext for sudden change . The weather , however , suddenly turned calm following a week of gales . This slowed the progress of the fleet leaving the harbour , giving the British plenty of warning . Villeneuve had drawn up plans to form a force of four squadrons , each containing both French and Spanish ships . Following their earlier vote on 8 October to stay put , some captains were reluctant to leave Cádiz and as a result they failed to follow Villeneuve ' s orders closely and the fleet straggled out of the harbour in no particular formation . It took most of 20 October for Villeneuve to get his fleet organised ; it eventually set sail in three columns for the Straits of Gibraltar to the southeast . That same evening , " " Achille " spotted a force of 18 British ships - of - the - line in pursuit . The fleet began to prepare for battle and during the night , they were ordered into a single line . The following day , Nelson ' s fleet of 27 ships - of - the - line and four frigates was spotted in pursuit from the northwest with the wind behind it . Villeneuve again ordered his fleet into three columns , but soon changed his mind and ordered a single line . The result was a sprawling , uneven formation . The British fleet was sailing , as they would fight , under signal 72 hoisted on Nelson ' s flagship . At 5 : 40 a . m . , the British were about 21 miles ( 34 km ) to the northwest of Cape Trafalgar , with the Franco - Spanish fleet between the British and the Cape . At 6 a . m . that morning , Nelson gave the order to prepare for battle . At 8 a . m . , Villeneuve ordered the fleet to " wear together " ( turn about ) and return to Cádiz . This reversed the order of the allied line , placing the rear division under Rear - Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley in the vanguard . The wind became contrary at this point , often shifting direction . The very light wind rendered manoeuvering virtually impossible for all but the most expert seamen . The inexperienced crews had difficulty with the changing conditions , and it took nearly an hour and a half for Villeneuve ' s order to be completed . The French and Spanish fleet now formed an uneven , angular crescent , with the slower ships generally to leeward and closer to the shore . By 11 a . m . Nelson ' s entire fleet was visible to Villeneuve , drawn up in two parallel columns . The two fleets would be within range of each other within an hour . Villeneuve was concerned at this point about forming up a line , as his ships were unevenly spaced and in an irregular formation . The Franco - Spanish fleet was drawn out nearly five miles ( 8 km ) long as Nelson ' s fleet approached . As the British drew closer , they could see that the enemy was not sailing in a tight order , but rather in irregular groups . Nelson could not immediately make out the French flagship as the French and Spanish were not flying command pennants . Nelson was outnumbered and outgunned , the enemy totalling nearly 30 , 000 men and 2 , 568 guns to his 17 , 000 men and 2 , 148 guns . The Franco - Spanish fleet also had six more ships - of - the - line , and so could more readily combine their fire . There was no way for some of Nelson ' s ships to avoid being " doubled on " or even " trebled on " . As the two fleets drew closer , anxiety began to build among officers and sailors ; one British sailor described the time before thus : " During this momentous preparation , the human mind had ample time for meditation , for it was evident that the fate of England rested on this battle " . Battle . The battle progressed largely according to Nelson ' s plan . At 11 : 45 , Nelson sent the famous flag signal , " England expects that every man will do his duty " . The term ' England ' was widely used at the time to refer to the United Kingdom ; the British fleet included significant contingents from Ireland , Scotland and Wales . Unlike the photographic depiction ( right ) , this signal would have been shown on the mizzen mast only and would have required 12 ' lifts ' . As the battle opened , the French and Spanish were in a ragged curved line headed north . As planned , the British fleet was approaching the Franco - Spanish line in two columns . Leading the northern , windward column in " Victory " was Nelson , while Collingwood in the 100 - gun " Royal Sovereign " led the second , leeward , column . The two British columns approached from the west at nearly a right angle to the allied line . Nelson led his column into a feint toward the van of the Franco - Spanish fleet and then abruptly turned toward the actual point of attack . Collingwood altered the course of his column slightly so that the two lines converged at this line of attack . Just before his column engaged the allied forces , Collingwood said to his officers : " Now , gentlemen , let us do something today which the world may talk of hereafter . " Because the winds were very light during the battle , all the ships were moving extremely slowly , and the foremost British ships were under heavy fire from several of the allied ships for almost an hour before their own guns could bear . At noon , Villeneuve sent the signal " engage the enemy " , and " Fougueux " fired her first trial shot at " Royal Sovereign " . " Royal Sovereign " had all sails out and , having recently had her bottom cleaned , outran the rest of the British fleet . As she approached the allied line , she came under fire from " Fougueux " , " Indomptable " , " San Justo " and " San Leandro " , before breaking the line just astern of Admiral Alava ' s flagship " Santa Ana " , into which she fired a devastating double - shotted raking broadside . The second ship in the British lee column , " Belleisle " , was engaged by " L ' Aigle " , " Achille " , " Neptune " and " Fougueux " ; she was soon completely dismasted , unable to manoeuvre and largely unable to fight , as her sails blinded her batteries , but kept flying her flag for 45 minutes until the following British ships came to her rescue . For 40 minutes , " Victory " was under fire from " Héros " , " Santísima Trinidad " , " Redoutable " and " Neptune " ; although many shots went astray , others killed and wounded a number of her crew and shot her wheel away , so that she had to be steered from her tiller belowdecks . " Victory " could not yet respond . At 12 : 45 , " Victory " cut the enemy line between Villeneuve ' s flagship " Bucentaure " and " Redoutable " ; she came close to the " Bucentaure " , firing a devastating raking broadside through her stern which killed and wounded many on her gundecks . Villeneuve thought that boarding would take place , and with the Eagle of his ship in hand , told his men , " I will throw it onto the enemy ship and we will take it back there ! " However " Victory " engaged the 74 - gun " Redoutable " ; " Bucentaure " was left to be dealt with by the next three ships of the British windward column : " Temeraire " , " Conqueror " and " Neptune " . A general mêlée ensued and , during that fight , " Victory " locked masts with the French " Redoutable " . The crew of " Redoutable " , which included a strong infantry corps ( with three captains and four lieutenants ) , gathered for an attempt to board and seize the " Victory " . A musket bullet fired from the mizzentop of " Redoutable " struck Nelson in the left shoulder , passed through his spine at the sixth and seventh thoracic vertebrae , and lodged two inches below his right scapula in the muscles of his back . Nelson exclaimed , " They finally succeeded , I am dead . " He was carried below decks . " Victory " ' s gunners were called on deck to fight boarders , and she ceased firing . The gunners were forced back below decks by French grenade s . As the French were preparing to board " Victory " , " Temeraire " , the second ship in the British windward column , approached from the starboard bow of " Redoutable " and fired on the exposed French crew with a carronade , causing many casualties . At 13 : 55 , Captain Lucas , of " Redoutable " , with 99 fit men out of 643 and severely wounded himself , surrendered . The French " Bucentaure " was isolated by " Victory " and " Temeraire " , and then engaged by " Neptune " , and " Conqueror " ; similarly , " Santísima Trinidad " was isolated and overwhelmed , surrendering after three hours . As more and more British ships entered the battle , the ships of the allied centre and rear were gradually overwhelmed . The allied van , after long remaining quiescent , made a futile demonstration and then sailed away . The British took 22 vessels of the Franco - Spanish fleet and lost none . Among the captured French ships were " L ' Aigle " , " Algésiras " , , " Bucentaure " , " Fougueux " , " Intrépide " , " Redoutable " , and " Swiftsure " . The Spanish ships taken were " Argonauta " , " Bahama " , " Monarca " , " Neptuno " , " San Agustín " , " San Ildefonso " , " San Juan Nepomuceno " , " Santísima Trinidad " , and " Santa Ana " . Of these , " Redoutable " sank , and " Santísima Trinidad " and " Argonauta " were scuttled by the British . " Achille " exploded , " Intrépide " and " San Augustín " burned , and " L ' Aigle " , " Berwick " , " Fougueux " and " Monarca " were wrecked in a gale following the battle . As Nelson lay dying , he ordered the fleet to anchor , as a storm was predicted . However , when the storm blew up , many of the severely damaged ships sank or ran aground on the shoals . A few of them were recaptured , some by the French and Spanish prisoners overcoming the small prize crews , others by ships sallying from Cádiz . Surgeon William Beatty heard Nelson murmur , " Thank God I have done my duty " ; when he returned , Nelson ' s voice had faded and his pulse was very weak . He looked up as Beatty took his pulse , then closed his eyes . Nelson ' s chaplain , Alexander Scott , who remained by Nelson as he died , recorded his last words as " God and my country . " It has been suggested by Nelson historian Craig Cabell that Nelson was actually reciting his own prayer as he fell into his death coma , as the words ' God ' and ' my country ' are closely linked therein . Nelson died at half - past four , three hours after being hit . Towards the end of the battle , and with the combined fleet being overwhelmed , the still relatively un - engaged portion of the van under Rear - Admiral Dumanoir Le Pelley tried to come to the assistance of the collapsing centre . After failing to fight his way through , he decided to break off the engagement , and led four French ships , his flagship the 80 - gun " Formidable " , the 74 - gun ships " Scipion " , " Duguay Trouin " and " Mont Blanc " away from the fighting . He headed at first for the Straits of Gibraltar , intending to carry out Villeneuve ' s original orders , and make for Toulon . On 22 October he changed his mind , remembering a powerful British squadron under Rear - Admiral Thomas Louis was patrolling the straits , and headed north , hoping to reach one of the French Atlantic ports . With a storm gathering in strength off the Spanish coast , he sailed westwards to clear Cape St Vincent , prior to heading north - west , and then swinging eastwards across the Bay of Biscay , aiming to reach the French port at Rochefort . These four ships remained at large until their encounter with and attempt to chase a British frigate brought them in range of a British squadron under Sir Richard Strachan , which captured them all on 4 November 1805 at the Battle of Cape Ortegal . Storm and sortie . Cosmao sorties . Only eleven ships escaped to Cádiz , and of those , only five were considered seaworthy . The seriously wounded Admiral Gravina passed command of the remainder of the fleet over to Captain Julien Cosmao on 23 October , who determined to make an attempt to recapture some of the prizes . He ordered the rigging of his ship , the 74 - gun " Pluton " , to be repaired and reinforced her crew ( which had been depleted by casualties from the battle ) , with sailors from the French frigate " Hermione " . Taking advantage of a favourable northwesterly wind , he took the " Pluton " , the 80 - gun " Neptune " and " Indomptable " , the Spanish 100 - gun " Rayo " and 74 - gun " San Francisco de Asis " , together with five frigates and two brigs , out of the harbour towards the British . The British cast off the prizes . Soon after leaving port , the wind shifted to west - southwest , raising a heavy sea with the result that most of the British prizes broke their tow - ropes , and drifting far to leeward , were only partially re - secured . The combined squadron came in sight at noon , causing Collingwood to summon his most battle - ready ships to meet the threat . In doing so , he ordered them to cast off towing their prizes . He had formed a defensive line of ten ships by three o ' clock in the afternoon and approached the Franco - Spanish squadron , covering the remainder of their prizes which stood out to sea . The Franco - Spanish squadron chose not to approach within gunshot and then declined to attack . Collingwood also chose not seek action , and in the confusion of the powerful storm , the French frigates managed to retake two Spanish ships - of - the - line which had been cast - off by their British captors , the 112 - gun " Santa Ana " and 80 - gun " Neptuno " , taking them in tow and making for Cádiz . On being taken in tow , the Spanish crews rose up against their British prize crews , putting them to work as prisoners . Despite this initial success the Franco - Spanish force , hampered by battle damage , struggled in the heavy seas . The " Neptuno " was eventually wrecked off Rota in the gale , while the " Santa Ana " reached port . The French 80 - gun ship " Indomptable " was wrecked on the 24th or 25th off the town of Rota on the northwest point of the bay of Cádiz . At the time the " Indomptable " had 1 , 200 men on board but no more than 100 were saved . The " San Francisco de Asís " was driven ashore in Cádiz Bay , near Fort Santa - Catalina , although her crew was saved . The " Rayo " , an old three - decker with more than 50 years of service , anchored off Lucar , a few leagues to the northwest of Rota . There , she lost her masts ; they had been damaged by shot earlier . Heartened by the approach of the squadron , the French crew of the former flagship " Bucentaure " also rose up and retook the ship from the British prize crew , but she was wrecked later on 23 October . The " Aigle " , escaped from the British ship HMS " Defiance " but was wrecked off the port of Santa María on 23 October , while the French prisoners on the " Berwick " cut the tow cables , but caused her to founder off Sanlúcar on 22 October . The crew of the " Algesiras " rose up and managed to sail into Cádiz . Observing that some of the leewardmost of the prizes were escaping towards the Spanish coast , " Leviathan " asked for and was granted permission by Collingwood to try to retrieve the prizes and bring them to anchor . " Leviathan " chased the " Monarca " , but on 24 October she came across the " Rayo " , dismasted but still flying Spanish colours , at anchor off the shoals of San - Lucar . At this point the 74 - gun HMS " Donegal " , en route from Gibraltar under Captain Pulteney Malcolm , was seen approaching from the south on the larboard tack with a moderate breeze from northwest - by - north , and steered directly for the Spanish three - decker . At about ten o ' clock , just as the " Monarca " had got within little more than a mile of the " Rayo " , " Leviathan " fired a warning shot wide of the " Monarca " , to oblige her to drop anchor . The shot fell between the " Monarca " and the " Rayo " . The latter , conceiving that it was probably intended for her , hauled down her colours , and was taken by HMS " Donegal " , who anchored alongside and took off the prisoners . " Leviathan " resumed her pursuit of the " Monarca " , eventually catching up and forcing her to surrender . On boarding her , her British captors found that she was in a sinking state , and so removed the British prize crew , and nearly all of her original Spanish crew members . The nearly empty " Monarca " parted her cable and was wrecked during the night . Despite the efforts of her British prize crew , the " Rayo " was driven onshore on 26 October and wrecked , with the loss of twenty - five men . The remainder of the prize crew were made prisoners by the Spanish . Aftermath . In the aftermath of the storm , Collingwood wrote : On balance , the allied counter - attack achieved little . In forcing the British to suspend their repairs to defend themselves , it influenced Collingwood ' s decision to sink or set fire to the most damaged of his remaining prizes . Cosmao retook two Spanish ships of the line , but it cost him one French and two Spanish vessels to do so . Fearing their loss , the British burnt or sank the " Santisima Trinidad " , " Argonauta " , " San Antonio " and " Intrepide " . Only four of the British prizes , the French " Swiftsure " , the Spanish " Bahama " , " San Ildefonso " , and the Spanish " San Juan Nepomuceno " survived to be conducted to Britain . After the end of the battle and storm only nine ships - of - the - line were left in Cádiz . Results of the battle . When Rosily arrived in Cádiz , he found only five French ships , rather than the 18 he was expecting . The surviving ships remained bottled up in Cádiz until 1808 , when Napoleon invaded Spain . The French ships were then seized by the Spanish forces and put into service against France . HMS " Victory " made her way to Gibraltar for repairs , carrying Nelson ' s body . She put into Rosia Bay , Gibraltar and after emergency repairs were carried out , returned to Britain . Many of the injured crew were brought ashore at Gibraltar and treated in the Naval Hospital . Men who subsequently died from injuries sustained at the battle are buried in or near the Trafalgar Cemetery , at the south end of Main Street , Gibraltar . One Royal Marine officer was killed on board " Victory " ; Captain Charles Adair . Royal Marine Lieutenant Lewis Buckle Reeve was seriously wounded and lay next to Nelson . The battle took place the day after the Battle of Ulm , and Napoleon did not hear about it for weeks — the Grande Armée had left Boulogne to fight Britain ' s allies before they could combine a huge force . He had tight control over the Paris media and kept the defeat a closely guarded secret . In a propaganda move , the battle was declared a " spectacular victory " by the French and Spanish . Vice - Admiral Villeneuve was taken prisoner aboard his own flagship and taken back to Britain . After his parole in 1806 he returned to France , where he was found dead in his inn room during a stop on the way to Paris , with six stab wounds in the chest from a dining knife . It was officially recorded that he had committed suicide . Despite the British victory over the Franco - Spanish navies , Trafalgar had negligible impact on the remainder of the War of the Third Coalition . Less than two months later , Napoleon decisively defeated the Third Coalition at the Battle of Austerlitz , knocking Austria out of the war and forcing the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire . Although Trafalgar meant France could no longer challenge Britain at sea , Napoleon proceeded to establish the Continental System in an attempt to deny Britain trade with the continent . The Napoleonic Wars continued for another ten years after Trafalgar . Nelson ' s body was preserved in a barrel of brandy for the trip home to a hero ' s funeral . Consequences . Following the battle , the Royal Navy was never again seriously challenged by the French fleet in a large - scale engagement . Napoleon had already abandoned his plans of invasion before the battle and they were never revived . The battle did not mean , however , that the French naval challenge to Britain was over . First , as the French control over the continent expanded , Britain had to take active steps with the Battle of Copenhagen in 1807 and elsewhere in 1808 to prevent the ships of smaller European navies from falling into French hands . This effort was largely successful , but did not end the French threat as Napoleon instituted a large scale shipbuilding programme that produced a fleet of 80 ships of the line at the time of his fall from power in 1814 , with more under construction . In comparison Britain had 99 ships of the line in active commission in 1814 , and this was close to the maximum that could be supported . Given a few more years , the French could have realised their plans to commission 150 ships of the line and again challenge the Royal Navy , compensating for the inferiority of their crews with sheer numbers . For almost 10 years after Trafalgar , the Royal Navy maintained a close blockade of French bases and anxiously observed the growth of the French fleet . In the end , Napoleon ' s Empire was destroyed before the ambitious buildup could be completed . Nelson became – and remains – Britain ' s greatest naval war hero , and an inspiration to the Royal Navy , yet his unorthodox tactics were seldom emulated by later generations . The first monument to be erected in Britain to commemorate Nelson may be that raised on Glasgow Green in 1806 , albeit possibly preceded by a monument at Taynuilt , near Oban in Scotland dated 1805 , both also commemorating the many Scots crew and captains at the battle . The tall " Nelson Monument " on Glasgow Green was designed by David Hamilton and paid for by public subscription . Around the base are the names of his famous victories : Aboukir ( 1798 ) , Copenhagen ( 1801 ) and Trafalgar ( 1805 ) . In 1808 , Nelson ' s Pillar was erected by leading members of the Anglo - Irish aristocracy in Dublin to commemorate Nelson and his achievements ( between 10 % and 20 % of the sailors at Trafalgar had been from Ireland ) , and remained until it was destroyed in a bombing by " Old IRA " members in 1966 . Nelson ' s Monument in Edinburgh was built between 1807 and 1815 in the form of an upturned telescope , and in 1853 a time ball was added which still drops at noon GMT to give a time signal to ships in Leith and the Firth of Forth . In summer this coincides with the " one o ' clock gun " being fired . The Britannia Monument in Great Yarmouth was raised by 1819 . London ' s famous Trafalgar Square was named in honour of Nelson ' s victory , and his statue on Nelson ' s Column , finished in 1843 , towers triumphantly over it . The statue of Lord Nelson in Bridgetown , Barbados , in what was also once known as Trafalgar Square , was erected in 1813 . The disparity in losses has been attributed by some historians less to Nelson ' s daring tactics than to the difference in fighting readiness of the two fleets . Nelson ' s fleet was made up of ships - of - the - line which had spent a considerable amount of sea time during the months of blockades of French ports , whilst the French fleet had generally been at anchor in port . However , Villeneuve ' s fleet had just spent months at sea crossing the Atlantic twice , which supports the proposition that the main difference between the two fleets ' combat effectiveness was the morale of the leaders . The daring tactics employed by Nelson were to ensure a strategically decisive result . The results vindicated his naval judgement . The Royal Navy proceeded to dominate the sea for the remaining years of sail . Although the victory at Trafalgar was typically given as the reason at the time , modern analysis by historians suggest that relative economic strength was an important underlying cause of British naval mastery . 100th anniversary . In 1905 , there were events up and down the country to commemorate the centenary , although none were attended by any member of the Royal Family , apparently to avoid upsetting the French , with whom the United Kingdom had recently entered the " Entente cordiale " . King Edward VII did support the " Nelson Centenary Memorial Fund " of the British and Foreign Sailors Society , which sold Trafalgar centenary souvenirs marked with the Royal cypher . A gala was held on 21 October at the Royal Albert Hall in aid of the fund , which included a specially commissioned film by Alfred John West entitled " " Our Navy " " . The event ended with " God Save the King " and " La Marseillaise " The first performance of Sir Henry Wood ' s " Fantasia on British Sea Songs " occurred on the same day at a special Promenade Concert . 200th anniversary . In 2005 , a series of events around the UK , as part of the " Sea Britain " theme , marked the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar . The 200th anniversary of the battle was also marked by six days of celebrations in Portsmouth during June and July , and at St Paul ' s Cathedral ( where Nelson is entombed ) and in Trafalgar Square in London in October ( " T Square 200 " ) , as well as across the UK . On 28 June , the Queen was involved in the largest Fleet Review in modern times in the Solent , in which 167 ships from 35 nations took part . The Queen inspected the international fleet from the Antarctic patrol ship HMS " Endurance " . The fleet included six aircraft carriers - ( modern capital ships ) : " Charles De Gaulle " , " Illustrious " , " Invincible " , " Ocean " , " Príncipe de Asturias " and " Saipan " . In the evening a symbolic re - enactment of the battle was staged with fireworks and various small ships playing parts in the battle . Lieutenant John Lapenotière ' s historic voyage in HMS " Pickle " bringing the news of the victory from the fleet to Falmouth and thence by post chaise to the Admiralty in London , was commemorated by the inauguration of The Trafalgar Way and further highlighted by the New Trafalgar Dispatch celebrations from July to September , in which an actor played the part of Lapenotière and re - enacted parts of the historic journey . On 21 October , naval manoeuvres were conducted in Trafalgar Bay , near Cádiz , involving a combined fleet from Britain , Spain and France . Many descendants of those men who fought and died in these waters , including members of Nelson ' s family , were present at the ceremony .