The overwhelming victory over the French and Spanish fleet off Cape Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 gave the Royal Navy its most famous triumph and confirmed a long tradition of naval supremacy.

On 19 October a British frigate watching Cadiz spotted the Franco-Spanish fleet leaving harbour. It consisted of 33 ships of the line including the 136 gun Santissima Trinidad, the largest ship in the world. The French Admiral Villeneuve’s orders were to try to break into the Mediterranean.

The message was passed to Nelson’s fleet, 48 miles off the coast and he ordered a general chase. By dawn on 21 October the British fleet was only 9 miles away from the enemy. At 11.48 HMS Victory hoisted the famous signal ‘England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty’ followed by ‘Engage the enemy more closely’. The two columns led by HMS Victory and HMS Royal Sovereign successfully pierced the enemy line firing into the bow and stern of enemy ships as they passed between them.

The fighting was severe and much of it was at close quarters. Many of the British ships were damaged, some seriously, including the HMS Victory which engaged the French flagship Bucentaure and the Redoubtable. But Nelson’s faith in the superior gunnery and ship handling skills of the British crews was fully borne out with the capture of 18 enemy ships including the Santissima Trinidad. Villeneuve had surrendered at 13.45 and despite renewed resistance by some Spanish ships the battle was over by 16.30.

A much more detailed account is on the official Royal Navy website:

Royal Navy - Battle of Trafalgar

Trafalgar 200: Past Glories – Future Horizons

The 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar and the death of Admiral Lord Nelson is the inspiration for one of the biggest ever international maritime festivals and a host of remarkable events taking place during the summer and autumn of 2005.

Full information is on the official website:

Trafalgar 200

Vice-Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson KB

The vice-admiral's personal homepage, maintained on his behalf by The 1805 Club. His life, battles ships and correspondence with loved ones.
Vice Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson

HMS Victory

Official homepage maintained by the Royal Navy. The site contains a huge amount of information about the ship, its battles and crew. Also details of how to visit her.
HMS Victory

The Nelson Society

The story of the life and times of Lord Nelson. The Society's aim is "to remember the most spectacular officer in the age of fighting ships-of-the-line, Horatio Nelson, who died at Trafalgar aged 47 years as his fleet defeated the combined ships of France and Spain".
Nelson Society

The Norfolk Nelson Museum

Close to Nelson's birthplace, the museum aims to bring together a single collection solely devoted to England's greatest naval hero.
Norfolk Nelson Museum

The Historical Maritime Society

A UK based historical research and re-enactment group recreating the Royal Navy in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The society undertakes research into the life and times of Horatio Nelson and the Royal Navy of the Napoleonic Wars period. Their website contains a wealth of information about the period.
Historical Maritime Society

The War Times Journal

Contains on-line editions of Horatio Nelson's dispatches and letters based directly on the original nineteenth century editions.
War Times Journal