As the Victory approached the French line, Nelson ordered a series of feints towards the head of the line as if to cut off the retreat to Cadiz before tacking towards the center as the Allied lines revealed their colours at 11.45, sailing parallel to the enemy but in the opposite direction. His plan was to disguise the point of attack until the last moment so that the enemy would keep his formation as long as possible. This, however, also caused disorder in his column as they attempted to follow. At 12.40, Victory came within range of the leading enemy ships but pressed on towards the center. Bucentaure fired the first effective salvos at 12.15 as Victory closed and it is estimated that Victory may have had as many as 50 casualties by the time she reached the French line.1. Nelson’s original intention was to pass between Bucentaure (Villeneuve) and the Santissima Trinidad but Bucentaure closed the gap forcing him to pass astern. The following ship, Redoubtable attempted to close the gap but Victory barged through anyway. As she passed astern of Bucentaure, she fired the port 68 pounder cannonades and gun by gun as they came to bare, ripping out the insides of the ship. Fired on by Bucentaure, Neptune and Redoubtable from the starboard, Victory turned hard a port and crashed into Redoubtable at 1.10, locking yardarms.

Despite Vileneuve’s pre-battle instructions that “any captain who is not under fire is not at his post”, Admiral Dumunoir, commanding the van, led the 10 ships at the head of the line on their original course, leaving the British with a numerical superiority of 27:23.

Victory Engaging Redoubtable
Victory breaking the allied line & battle
Source: Schom A. Trafalgar: Countdown to Battle 1803-1805, Michael Joseph Ltd., London, 1990, p.326

The commander of Redoubtable, having recognized the British superiority in shiphandling and gunnery had trained his crew at sharpshooting and boarding. Ordering his sharpshooters into the rigging, he prepared to board. Victory continued to pound Redoubtable which had closed its gun ports to prevent boarding by Victory. So effective was murderous fire of the French sharpshooters that Nelson ordered the 12-pounder crews on the quarterdeck and the marines below in order to save life. It was about 1.25 when a sharpshooter shot Nelson through the spine. As Redoubtable attempted to board, a short sharp fight developed with 19 killed and 22 wounded.

Nelson Shot
Nelson Shot by a French sharpshooter in Redoubtable’s rigging

Help came as Temeraire pulled out of Victory’s wake, passing astern of Redoubtable and between Victory and Neptune (Fr), firing into both French ships, but was raked by San Justo from astern and San Leandro from starboard. Using the starboard batteries to engage San Justo and the port batteries on Redoubtable, she was heavily battered. As Victory and Redoubtable battered each other, the heavy swell slowly took Redoubtable into Temeraire and they locked together. Together, the two British ships, with three times the firepower of the French ship, proceeded to pummel Redoubtable into submission, who finally surrendered to Victory with 487 killed and 81 wounded out of a crew of 643.

As Redoubtable surrendered, Fougueux, who had just left a skirmish with Belleisle ranged up and raked Temeraire with a broadside. As Temeraire had lost both of her flags in the battle, the French ship mistakenly believed that she had struck colours and approached to board. When she had closed to within 100 yards, Temeraire unleashed a series of devastating broadsides, wrecking the French ship, before boarding. In only 10 minutes, Fougueux surrendered. Victory managed to break free of Redoubtable, leaving Temeraire with a captured ship lashed to each side in her charge. Neptune (Fr) continued to fire into Temeraire and her prizes until threatened by Leviathan.

At around 1.45, Neptune (Br), followed by Leviathan and Conqueror, each passed astern of Bucentaure, raking her stern as they passed, taking away her masts. Neptune (Br) moved up alongside Santissima Trinidad and engaged, helped by Leviathan. Conqueror, engaged Bucentaure, who also fired on by Victory and Leviathan, eventually surrendered to the Conqueror at around 4.15.

Leviathan, leaving Neptune (Br) to deal with Santissima Trinidad, headed for Neptune (Fr) who fled. Without a prize for the day, she closed on the van and engaged San Augustin returning to the battle at 3.00. When within 100 yards, the Spaniard turned hard to starboard to rake her but Leviathan beat her turning to port and raking her starboard side. Fearful that the Spaniard with full maneuverability would escape, Leviathan ran aboard her, laid down heavy fire and captured the Spanish ship. Having just secured her capture, Leviathan was raked by Intrepide, returning from the van. They exchanged broadsides before Intrepide turned to meet the fast approaching Africa.

Leviathan And San Augustin
Leviathan’s fight
Source: Schom A. Trafalgar: Countdown to Battle 1803-1805, Michael Joseph Ltd., London, 1990, p.336

Africa, having fallen out of position during the night, had hastened to the battle. When finally in position, believing Santissima Trinidad had struck her colours, she had sent Lieutenant John Smith aboard to receive her surrender. On boarding, he was informed that the Spanish ship had not surrendered and according to the custom of the time, the Spanish commander allowed him to return to his own ship. In the 3/4 hour battle with Intrepide, she was crippled and only avoided capture as Orion raked Intrepide’s bow and came between them. In the battle that followed, Intrepide fought valiantly, finally surrendering dismasted and surrounded by six English ships at 5.00. Meanwhile, Santissima Trinidad, unable to fight and out of control, eventually surrendered to Prince.

Admiral Dumanoir eventually responded to Villeneuve’s frantic signals, which he had ignored for over two hours, and turned his division back at around 2.00pm. The only way for him to envelop the rear of the British column would be to tack into the wind. Instead he chose the easier option of wearing with the wind. As the wind dropped, they were forced to lower their boats to drag the ships around. Of the ships in the van, Scipion, Formidable, Duguay-Trouin and Mont-Blank turned and remained in good order under Dumanoir’s command, San Francisco de Asis and Rayo ignored Dumanoir and continued on towards Cadiz while only Intrepide, San Augustin and Neptuno had headed for the thick of the battle.

Ajax and Agamemnon at the rear of the English column place themselves between the embattled Intrepide and Dumanoir’s column to block any attempt at rescue. Meanwhile Britannia, who had managed to stay out of any great danger for the entire battle, fired on the rapidly departing San Francisco de Asis and Rayo from long range.

Leaving Orion in possession of Intrepide, Minotaur and Spartiate gave chase to and caught Neptuno, ranging up on either side. For the next hour, they blasted the Spaniard until she surrendered at 5.10. Out of control, she eventually drifted into Temeraire, still lashed to two enemy ships.

Dumanoir and his four ships sailed between the beaten Intrepide and the besieged Neptuno making no effort to come to the aid of either. He was challenged by Ajax and Agamemnon and was hit by several broadsides but declined the honor of battle. They continued to sail on out of harms way into the Atlantic.

Collingwood’s original intention was to break the line 12 ships from the rear but he found himself heading for the 18th and 19th in line, the Santa Ana and Fougueux. The first shots were fired a little before 12.00 at Collingwood’s Royal Sovereign by the French ship Fougueux, closely followed by the Santa Ana, Monarca, Pluton and Indompable. The Royal Sovereign, fresh out of the dockyards, had broken away ahead of the others in his division by about 3/4 of a mile, causing Nelson to comment, “See how that noble fellow Collingwood carries his ship into action.”

The British fleet as dipicted by William Heath Fougueux put on extra sail to get ahead and Santa Ana slowed in order to close the gap for which the Royal Sovereign was heading but were too late. Royal Sovereign stormed through the gap, raking Santa Ana’s stern and came along side her. She soon found herself surrounded, however, as Fougueux, Monarca, and Indompable came up to the leeward of the Royal Sovereign firing at and demasting her.

Belleisle, the second of Collingwood’s column, broke through behind Fougueux having received heavy fire. Firing into Fougueux’s stern, Belleisle engaged Indompable and San Juan Nepomuceno, losing her main topmast at 12.45. At around 1.00, Fougueux approached from the starboard. Half an hour later, Achille (Fr) moved across her stern while Aigle, San Leandro and San Justo appeared off her bows. To make matters worse, for Belleisle, the powerful Principe de Asturias passed her bows firing a salvo while Neptune (Fr) also moved to engage. Surrounded and blasted by five enemy ships, Belleisle somehow managed to hand on until 3.15 when Polythemus came between her and Neptune (Fr), drawing fire. At 3.20, Defiance engaged Aigle and a few minutes later, Swiftsure (Br) attacked Achille (Fr). With no masts from which to hang a flag, the desperate but unbeaten crew of Belleisle proudly waved their colours from a pike, drawing cheers from the British ships coming to her aid. On seeing Argonauta strike, Belleisle’s Captain Hardwood even managed to send a boarding party to claim the surrender.

Belleisle In Battle
Belleisle’s fight
Source: Schom A. Trafalgar: Countdown to Battle 1803-1805, Michael Joseph Ltd., London, 1990, p.341

Mars followed and attacked Pluton but was outmaneuvered and raked through the stern. Fired on by San Juan Nepomuceno, Monarca, Pluton and Algesiras, she lost way to avoid hitting Santa Ana and was raked by Monarca and Algesiras. Breaking through between Pluton and Monarca, Tonnant came to the rescue. Fougueux moved away in the direction of Temeraire while Pluton, about to board Mars, broke off action when threatened from astern, moving away from the battle towards Principe de Asturias.

Tonnant headed straight for Algesiras, firing a broadside before coming alongside Monarca, forcing her temporary surrender. At Algesiras attacked, Tonnant ran aboard her while Monarca raised her colours again unnoticed in the background. Admiral Charles Magon aboard Algesiras attempted to board but a well-timed shot from a cannonade filled with grapeshot decimated his boarding party. Its one survivor was captured when he attempted to board. The battle continued for an hour with Tonnant’s starboard guns engaging Algesiras, port guns Pluton and the forwardmost guns aimed at San Juan Nepomuceno. The nearly as damaged Tonnant finally beat Algesiras into submission at around 2.30. San Juan Nepomuceno surrendered at 2.45 but the boat sent to accept her surrender was swamped and Tonnant, without another, was unable to secure her surrender. Defiance eventually accepted the surrender 1 1/4 hours later.

Bellerophon passed astern of Monarca as she rehoisted her colours, moving to the lee side where Aigle engaged her at 12.50. As Monarca and Montanes closed, Bahama laid down heavy fire and Swift-Sure (Fr) engaged from starboard. In 10 minutes, Bellerophon had lost her main and mizzen topmasts and the mainsail had burst into flames. Montanes fell astern while Bahama received a devastating broadside from Colossus who was entering action. Swift-Sure (Fr), moved off to engage her. At 1.45, Aigle dropped astern and was raked by Bellerophon and Revenge. Bellerophon fired her few remaining guns at Monarca who surrendered.

Colossus fired a broadside into Swift-Sure (Fr) and at 1.00 loomed up out of the smoke next to Argonaute and fouled. For the next 10 minutes they pounded each other until the force of their firing pushed them apart. Argonaute steered away and after a brief skirmish with Revenge, steered for Cadiz. Engaging both Swift-Sure (Fr) and Bahama, she forced Bahama’s surrender at around 3.00 as Swift-Sure (Fr) fell astern. Swift-Sure (Fr), still unbeaten, went to Bahama’s aid but was raked by Colossus and when Orion took away her mainmast, she surrendered at 3.30.

Achilles (Br), coming to Bellerophon’s aid, challenged Montanes who steered away before coming upon Argonaute with whom she traded broadsides for an hour. About to board and take possession, Achille (Fr) came up to port and Berwick to starboard separating her from Argonaute. Achille (Fr) continued on towards Bellerophon while Achilles (Br) and Berwick fought on for an hour before Berwick surrendered.

Battle of trafalgar depicted by William Wyllie

At around 2.00, Dreadnought entered action with the badly mauled San Juan Nepomuceno whose surrender was given 1/4 hour later. As she prepared to accept surrender, Dreadnought set off in chase of Principe de Asturias who was attempting to leave the battle, leaving the astonished San Juan Nepomuceno to surrender to Defiance. While Dreadnought and Principe de Asturias exchanged some fire, Dreadnought was too slow through the water and her quarry escaped.

Defense had fought Berwick for half an hour before it broke off action at around 3.00. Looking for another opponent, she came upon San Ildefonso with whom she battled for an hour before the Spaniard’s surrender on the approach of Polythemus.

Defiance, following Defense was badly mauled by Principe de Asturias and was unable to give chase. Coming upon the battered Aigle and meeting no resistance, she boarded with marines that hoisted the British flag but came under heavy musket fire. As the boarding party scrambled back on board, Defiance moved away to a range of about 50 yards, and blasted Aigle for 25 minutes before reboarding and securing the surrender. Later, she came upon the drifting San Juan Nepomuceno who had been abandoned by Dreadnought and secured her surrender also.

At around 3.30, Swiftsure (Br) engaged Achille (Fr) who had been firing on Belleisle. Polythemus, who had been firing on Neptune (Fr) engaged on the other side. By this stage 11 of the 19 ships in the second half of the allied line had surrendered and seven had fled. Achille (Fr) ceased resistance as she caught fire and was fired on by Prince who also ceased firing when she realized what had happened. The British ships sent their boats to rescue as many of the crew as possible, rescuing about 100 from the flames. When the fire reached the magazine, Achille (Fr) blew up at around 5.45 marking the end of the battle.

Trafalgar was a devastating defeat for the combined French and Spanish fleet. The British did not lose a single ship although most were damaged, some severely. Losses amounted to 449 killed and 1214 wounded out of 18000, allowing Britain to keep its experienced and battle hardened human capital intact. Allied losses, on the other hand, amounted to 4408 killed and 2545 wounded. Eighteen ships were captured and one, the Achille, was blown up.

Of the 10 ships that regained Cadiz, the French ships Pluton, Heros, Neptune, Argonaute and Indomptable and the Spanish ships San Francisco de Asis, Montanes, Rayo, San Leandro and the San Justo, all were damaged and only five were seaworthy. When Admiral Rosily arrived to assume his command on the 25th October, instead of finding 18 French ships, there were only five battle-scarred survivors.

The danger was not over for the British as a strong gale was approaching. The storm raged from the 21st October through to the 27th during which the British lost many of their prizes. Only the San Juan Nepomuceno, Swift-Sure, San Ildefonso and Bahama made it back to Gibraltar. The crews of Bucentaure and Algisiris managed to regain control of their ships from the British but only Algisiris managed to regain port, Bucentaure running aground. The rest were lost, either sunk or abandoned.

A few days after the battle, on the 23rd, the French ship Pluton spied Neptuno and the Santa Ana being towed to Gibraltar. Setting sail with Heros, Neptune, San Francisco de Asis and Rayo, they attacked, forcing the British ships to drop their tows. On returning to port, however, Rayo became stranded on the coast to be set on fire by the British while San Francisco de Asis and Neptuno both ran aground.

More was to come. The 2nd of November saw Dumanoir’s four ships meet Commodore Strachan’s squadron of four line ships and four frigates. Engaging on the 4th, Dumanoir dithered in his command while Strachan attacked with vigor, capturing all four French ships.

The combined fleet was, therefore, reduced by a total of 23 ships by the Trafalgar campaign. While not defeating Napoleon; the Victory was towed into Portsmouth on the same day Napoleon crushed the Third Alliance at Austerlitz, his hopes of invading England were crushed beyond repair. In addition to these material losses, the French were crushed psychologically, destroying naval moral for decades. Of the ships that regained Cadiz, none were to see action against the British again. In 1808, when Napoleon invaded Spain, the Spanish seized the five French ships.