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Battle of Trafalgar

Nelson breaks the line — two British columns punch through the Franco-Spanish fleet off the cape, and win the age of sail (21 October 1805).

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Phase by phase

1. Dawn sighting · 05:40
   Pierre-Charles Villeneuve
   Dawn: the fleets sight each other
   At first light on 21 October 1805 the British fleet, about 21 miles WNW of Cape Trafalgar, sights the Combined Fleet to the east. Villeneuve, caught outside Cádiz, orders his 33 ships to wear together and turn back toward the port — a 90-minute manoeuvre in light, fickle wind that leaves the line a ragged crescent roughly 5 miles long, running north–south. Nelson forms his 27 ships into two columns to attack.
   Atlantic Ocean, ~21 miles WNW of Cape Trafalgar · documented · Wikipedia: Battle of Trafalgar (Phase 1 — 5:40am sighting, Villeneuve wears fleet ~8am, ragged crescent ~5 miles long)
2. The approach · 08:00
   Horatio Nelson
   Nelson forms two columns for the perpendicular attackBritain (Nelson)
   Rejecting the conventional parallel line, Nelson drives at the Franco-Spanish line head-on in two columns to break it and force a pell-mell melee that favours superior British gunnery. The weather (windward) column under Nelson in HMS Victory aims at the centre; the lee (leeward) column under Collingwood in HMS Royal Sovereign aims at the rear. In the light wind the columns crawl toward the enemy at barely walking pace, exposed to raking fire they cannot yet return.
   West of the Franco-Spanish line, off Cape Trafalgar · documented · Wikipedia: Battle of Trafalgar (Phase 1 — two parallel columns approaching at right angles; Nelson's windward column at van/centre, Collingwood's leeward at rear)
3. The signal · 11:45
   Horatio Nelson
   "England expects that every man will do his duty"Britain (Nelson)
   As the columns close the last mile, Nelson has his most famous signal hoisted from HMS Victory. Signal officer John Pasco substitutes 'expects' for 'confides' because 'expects' already exists in the signal book and needs no spelling out flag by flag. Minutes later the leading ships come under fire and the battle begins.
   Head of Nelson's weather column · documented · Wikipedia: Battle of Trafalgar (Phase 1 — 11:45am signal, Pasco substitutes 'expects' for 'confides')
4. Lee column breaks the line · 12:00
   Cuthbert Collingwood
   Royal Sovereign breaks the rear astern of Santa AnaBritain (Nelson)
   Collingwood's freshly cleaned HMS Royal Sovereign outsails the rest of the lee column and is first into action, cutting the Franco-Spanish line just astern of Admiral Álava's flagship, the Spanish first-rate Santa Ana. She fires a double-shotted raking broadside straight through the Santa Ana's unprotected stern. Nelson, watching from Victory, exclaims: "See how that noble fellow Collingwood carries his ship into action!"
   Rear of the Franco-Spanish line, off Cape Trafalgar · documented · Wikipedia: Battle of Trafalgar (Phase 2 — Royal Sovereign breaks line astern of Santa Ana ~noon, double-shotted raking broadside)
5. Lee column melee · 12:20
   Belleisle dismasted holding the rear
   As the rest of Collingwood's column arrives, the second ship, HMS Belleisle, is engaged from all sides by Aigle, Achille, Neptune and Fougueux and is completely dismasted — yet keeps her colours flying for some 45 minutes until supporting British ships close up. The rear of the Franco-Spanish line collapses into a swirling close-range brawl exactly as Nelson intended.
   Rear of the Franco-Spanish line · documented · Wikipedia: Battle of Trafalgar (Phase 2 — Belleisle engaged by Aigle/Achille/Neptune/Fougueux, dismasted, colours flying 45 min)
6. Weather column breaks the line · 12:45
   Horatio Nelson
   Victory rakes Bucentaure and cuts the centreBritain (Nelson)
   After 40 minutes taking fire she cannot return, HMS Victory cuts the line between Villeneuve's flagship Bucentaure and the Redoutable. As she passes she fires a treble-shotted raking broadside through Bucentaure's stern, plus a 68-pounder carronade loaded with 500 musket balls — killing or wounding some 200–400 of the flagship's 800-man crew and wrecking her as a fighting unit. Victory then falls foul of the 74-gun Redoutable.
   Centre of the Franco-Spanish line, near Villeneuve's flagship · documented · Wikipedia: Battle of Trafalgar (Phase 3 — Victory cuts line between Bucentaure and Redoutable ~12:45, treble-shotted raking broadside, carronade with 500 musketballs)
7. Nelson mortally wounded · 13:15
   Jean Jacques Étienne Lucas
   Nelson shot aboard Victory by a Redoutable sniper
   Victory and Captain Lucas's Redoutable lock together, the French preparing to board. A musketeer in the Redoutable's mizzen-top fires down onto Victory's quarterdeck; the ball strikes Nelson in the left shoulder, passes through his spine and lodges below his right shoulder-blade. "They finally succeeded, I am dead," he says, and is carried below. Lucas's boarders are cut down when HMS Temeraire closes and fires point-blank into the Redoutable's exposed deck.
   Victory–Redoutable duel, centre of the melee · documented · Wikipedia: Battle of Trafalgar (Phase 4 — musketeer in Redoutable's mizzentop, ~1:15pm, Temeraire fires into Redoutable); Wikipedia: Jean Jacques Étienne Lucas
8. The general melee · 14:00
   Pierre-Charles Villeneuve
   The Combined Fleet's centre and rear are overwhelmed
   With the line broken in two places, the battle dissolves into the close-quarters melee Nelson wanted. Fresh British ships pile into the shattered centre and rear, doubling on isolated enemy ships. The giant 130-gun Spanish Santísima Trinidad, the largest ship afloat, is surrounded and battered into surrender after three hours. Villeneuve's Bucentaure, dismasted and swamped, strikes her colours; the Combined Fleet's centre ceases to exist as a formation.
   Centre and rear of the former Franco-Spanish line · documented · Wikipedia: Battle of Trafalgar (Phase 5 — allied centre/rear overwhelmed, Santísima Trinidad isolated after three hours, Bucentaure surrenders)
9. Spanish rearguard fight · 14:30
   Federico Gravina
   Gravina's rearguard sells itself dearlyFrance & Spain (Villeneuve)
   At the southern end of the line the Spanish rearguard fights on hard. Captains Churruca (San Juan Nepomuceno) and Alcalá-Galiano (Bahama) order their ships not to surrender and are killed at their posts. Admiral Gravina, commanding the rear from the Príncipe de Asturias, is gravely wounded — he will die of the wound months later — and eventually leads the surviving ships in a fighting withdrawal toward Cádiz.
   Southern (rear) end of the Franco-Spanish line · documented · Wikipedia: Battle of Trafalgar (Phase 5 — Churruca of San Juan Nepomuceno and Alcalá-Galiano of Bahama killed; Gravina wounded, dies of wounds months later)
10. Death of Nelson · 16:30
    Horatio Nelson
    "Thank God I have done my duty" — Nelson dies in victoryBritain (Nelson)
    Below Victory's waterline, surgeon William Beatty can do nothing for the spinal wound. Told the day is won and many enemy ships have struck, Nelson murmurs "Thank God I have done my duty" and dies about three hours after being shot, roughly as the firing dies away. The Combined Fleet has lost some 20 ships; the British have lost none.
    Orlop deck of HMS Victory · documented · Wikipedia: Battle of Trafalgar (Phase 4 — surgeon Beatty, 'Thank God I have done my duty', died ~4:30pm, three hours after being shot; British took 20 vessels and lost none)
11. The van escapes north · 16:30
    Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley
    Dumanoir's van makes off to the northFrance & Spain (Villeneuve)
    The four-ship Franco-Spanish van under Rear-Admiral Dumanoir le Pelley — Formidable, Scipion, Duguay-Trouin, Mont Blanc — never effectively re-engaged to help the collapsing centre. Making a token demonstration, it draws off to the north and slips away, the only intact squadron to escape the battle. (Two weeks later it is run down and captured entire at Cape Ortegal.)
    Van (northern end) of the line, drawing off northward · documented · Wikipedia: Battle of Trafalgar (Phase 6 — Dumanoir's van Formidable/Scipion/Duguay-Trouin/Mont Blanc makes futile demonstration and sails away north; later taken at Cape Ortegal 4 Nov 1805)
12. Aftermath and storm · 17:30
    Cuthbert Collingwood
    Survivors run for Cádiz as the gale rises
    As the firing ends, a rising gale scatters the crippled fleets toward the lee shore. Collingwood, now in command, tries to save the prizes but many are wrecked, scuttled or retaken in the storm over the following days. Only about eleven Combined-Fleet ships reach Cádiz, five of them seaworthy. Trafalgar ends the invasion threat to Britain and confirms Royal Navy supremacy for a generation.
    Off Cape Trafalgar, survivors running NE toward Cádiz · documented · Wikipedia: Battle of Trafalgar (Phase 6/7 — gale after battle, ships wrecked/ran aground, only eleven allied ships escape to Cádiz, five seaworthy; Collingwood in command)

Sources

• Wikipedia: Battle of Trafalgar — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Trafalgar
• Wikipedia: Jean Jacques Étienne Lucas (captain of the Redoutable) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Jacques_%C3%89tienne_Lucas
• Wikipedia: French ship Redoutable (1795) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Redoutable_(1795)
• Wikipedia: Pierre-Charles Villeneuve — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre-Charles_Villeneuve
• Wikipedia: Cuthbert Collingwood — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuthbert_Collingwood,_1st_Baron_Collingwood
• Wikipedia: Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Dumanoir_le_Pelley
• Wikidata Q171416 (battle anchor 36°15′N 6°12′W)

On the data

Fidelity is mixed. The overall shape of the battle is exceptionally well documented (ships' logs, Beatty's account of Nelson's death, published orders of battle), so the two-column approach, the two break points (Collingwood's Royal Sovereign astern of Santa Ana ~noon; Victory raking Bucentaure ~12:45), the Victory–Redoutable duel, Nelson's wounding, and the van's escape are 'documented' at column/ship scale. HOWEVER, the exact latitude/longitude of every phase is RECONSTRUCTED: no ship carried GPS, positions drifted in light and variable wind, and contemporary charts place the fleets only approximately relative to Cape Trafalgar. I have anchored every coordinate within ~0.3° of the accepted battle centre (36°15′N, 6°12′W = -6.2,36.25) and arranged them to reflect the documented geometry — Franco-Spanish crescent running roughly N–S heading toward Cádiz, British approaching from the west, centre/rear melee, van drifting north — but the individual [lon,lat] values are illustrative, not surveyed. Times are the commonly cited estimates and vary by a few minutes between sources (e.g. Nelson shot 'c.1:15pm', died 'c.4:30pm'; Redoutable's surrender is given as both 1:55pm and 2:30pm in different sources). Ship-track detail within the melee is approximate; I have not drawn individual tracks for the ~60 ships involved. Fleet counts (27 British ships of the line vs 33 Franco-Spanish) are firm. Wind was light and variable from the WNW/W, which is why the approach was agonisingly slow and the crescent formation ragged.

Hand-authored from the sources below. Spotted a mistake? Email [email protected].