50 Fun Facts About Battle of Trafalgar

Cape Trafalgar, which gave the 1805 battle its name, lies just outside the entrance to which strait?

Strait of Gibraltar: the Franco-Spanish fleet was making for it, under orders to carry troops into the Mediterranean, when Nelson brought it to battle off the cape.

By the time of Trafalgar, Nelson had already lost which limb in battle?

His right arm, shattered by a musket ball at Tenerife in 1797 and amputated that night. Within half an hour he was issuing orders to his captains again.

Napoleon's invasion army, camped on the Channel coast, marched east in 1805 under which famous name?

La Grande Armée had trained for two years to invade England. By the day of Trafalgar it was deep in Germany, where an Austrian army had surrendered to it the day before.

Who commanded the combined Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar?

Pierre-Charles Villeneuve had already wrecked Napoleon's invasion plan that summer: ordered north to the Channel, he turned south instead and took refuge in port.

From which port did the combined fleet put to sea before the Battle of Trafalgar?

Cádiz became a trap: the survivors who struggled back in were blockaded there until 1808, when Spain changed sides and seized the French ships.

Which name was carried by a ship in all three navies at Trafalgar, British, French and Spanish?

Neptune: HMS Neptune, the French Neptune and the Spanish Neptuno all fought. There were two Swiftsures as well, the French one a prize taken from the British in 1801.

Which Spanish ship was the largest warship in either fleet at Trafalgar?

Santísima Trinidad was built with three gun decks and later given a fourth. She was captured, but was so badly damaged that the British sank her in the gale that followed.

What was Nelson's coffin made from?

The mast of an enemy flagship: it came from L'Orient, a French ship blown up in one of his earlier victories. One of his captains had the coffin made for him as a wry gift.

In what formation did Nelson attack at Trafalgar?

Two columns, sailing head-on: the leading ships had to take enemy broadsides with no way of firing back, but it cut the line into pieces and brought on the melee he wanted.

Trafalgar cost the enemy over half its ships, but Nelson's fleet what?

No ships at all: several British ships were so badly damaged that they had to be taken in tow, but every one of them stayed afloat and in British hands.

What was Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar?

HMS Victory sailed at the enemy under fire she could not return, and some fifty of her crew had been killed or wounded before she fired a single gun.

Who killed Nelson at Trafalgar?

A French musketeer, firing down from the rigging of the ship locked alongside, hit him in the shoulder. "They have done for me at last," Nelson said, adding that his backbone was shot through.

What was the French flagship at Trafalgar?

Bucentaure surrendered with the French admiral aboard. Her crew then won her back from the small British prize crew in the storm, only to wreck her on rocks as they ran for port.

In which London church was Nelson laid to rest after his state funeral?

St Paul's Cathedral was his own choice. He had heard as a boy that Westminster Abbey was built on a bog, and thought it would one day sink back into the swamp.

Nelson's famous signal read "England expects that every man will" what?

do his duty: the message took twelve flag hoists, and "duty" was the one word missing from the code book, so it had to be spelt out letter by letter.

In Nelson's famous signal at Trafalgar, which word did he first want where "expects" now stands?

Confides, in the old sense of "is confident": his signal officer pointed out that "expects" was a single hoist in the code book, while the other word would have to be spelt out.

He is remembered as Admiral Nelson, but what rank did he actually hold at Trafalgar?

Vice-admiral: Britain's most famous sailor died at 47 without ever reaching the rank of full admiral.

Where were Napoleon's two main battle fleets based in 1805?

Brest and Toulon face different seas, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and a British blockade of both kept Napoleon's two fleets from joining up.

The French admiral at Trafalgar had escaped from which 1798 defeat at Nelson's hands?

Battle of the Nile: he commanded the French rear there, and his was one of only two ships of the line to get away while the rest of the fleet was destroyed where it lay moored.

In Napoleon's 1805 invasion plan, where were his fleets to meet before doubling back to the Channel?

The Caribbean: the idea was to draw the Royal Navy across the Atlantic, then race home and seize the Channel in its absence. Nelson chased the French there and back.

Around which Channel port did Napoleon mass his army and barges for the invasion of Britain?

Boulogne: the army waited there for a fleet that never came. Two months before Trafalgar was even fought, Napoleon gave up and marched it off to fight Austria.

Who captained Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar?

Thomas Masterman Hardy was pacing the deck beside Nelson when a shot flew between them and tore the buckle from his shoe. "This is too warm work to last long," Nelson told him.

Where aboard his flagship was the wounded Nelson carried to die?

The cockpit was the dim space below the waterline where the surgeons worked. On the way down Nelson covered his face with a handkerchief so the crew would not see who had fallen.

Who was Nelson's second-in-command at Trafalgar?

Cuthbert Collingwood took over the fleet when Nelson fell, and never saw home again: he stayed with the fleet for years afterwards and died just as he finally sailed for England.

What was the flagship of Nelson's second-in-command at Trafalgar?

Royal Sovereign had just had her hull scraped clean, so she outran every other British ship and was the first to break through the enemy line.

In what colours were Nelson's ships painted at Trafalgar?

Yellow and black: bands of yellow ran along each gun deck with the port lids painted black, and after the battle most of the navy copied the pattern as the Nelson Chequer.

Nelson told his captains before Trafalgar that no one could do very wrong if he did what?

Closed with an enemy ship: his written orders said that if signals could not be seen in the smoke, no captain could do very wrong who laid his ship alongside an enemy's.

What news finally drove the French admiral out of port before Trafalgar?

His replacement was on the way: Napoleon had lost patience and sent another admiral to take over. Rather than be disgraced before the fleet, he sailed before the man could arrive.

Nelson's flagship from Trafalgar still survives as a museum ship in which English naval city?

Portsmouth: by 1922 she was in such poor condition afloat in the harbour that she was moved into dry dock there, and a public appeal paid for her restoration.

What did Nelson wear on his coat at Trafalgar that his officers feared made him conspicuous?

Four stars of knighthood were worn on his left breast. The surgeon wanted him asked to cover them with a handkerchief, but his staff said it would be useless to ask.

In a famous story, how did Nelson's second-in-command react as the "England expects" signal went up?

Grumbled that it was needless: "I wish Nelson would make no more signals," he is said to have remarked. Once he learned what it said, the story goes, he was delighted.

Which hero of historical fiction fights in the Battle of Trafalgar on his voyage home from India?

Richard Sharpe is sailing home from India in Sharpe's Trafalgar when his ship is swept into the battle. Hornblower, fiction's great sailor, only gets to organise Nelson's funeral.

From which French ship was the shot that killed Nelson at Trafalgar fired?

Redoutable's captain had specially drilled his crew in musketry and grenade-throwing, and their fire swept the decks of the British flagship lying alongside.

Which veteran ship of Trafalgar did Turner famously paint being towed away to be broken up?

Temeraire had made her name at Trafalgar by coming to the rescue of Nelson's hard-pressed flagship. Turner showed her in 1838, pulled to the breaker's yard by a steam tug.

Whom did the dying Nelson ask his captain, again and again, to take care of?

His mistress, Emma Hamilton. The honours went to his brother, who was made an earl within weeks, while she sank into debt and died in Calais after fleeing her creditors.

What was the dying Nelson's famous last request of his flag captain?

To kiss him: the captain knelt and kissed his cheek. "Now I am satisfied," said Nelson, who died about three hours after he was shot.

What last order did the dying Nelson give for his fleet at Trafalgar?

To anchor: he had foreseen a gale, and when told his deputy might now take charge he cried, "Not while I live!" The gale came the next day and wrecked many of the captured ships.

A French ship that fought at Trafalgar survived as HMS Implacable until 1949, when she met what end?

Scuttled by the Royal Navy: judged too costly to restore, she went down flying French and British flags side by side. The outcry helped to save the Cutty Sark.

Trafalgar Square was originally going to be named after which king?

William IV had just come to the throne when the square was planned. Around 1835 an architect suggested honouring the battle instead, and Nelson's Column followed in the 1840s.

How was Nelson's body preserved for the journey back to England after Trafalgar?

In a barrel of brandy, with a sentry posted over it. The surgeon drew the spirit off and refilled the cask on the way, later topping it up with stronger spirits of wine.

The French admiral beaten at Trafalgar was found at an inn in 1806 with six stab wounds; what was the official verdict?

Suicide: he had left a farewell letter to his wife, after Napoleon's navy ignored his requests to return to service.

Which battle, won by Napoleon on land six weeks after Trafalgar, shattered the coalition ranged against him?

Austerlitz knocked Austria out of the war and brought down the Holy Roman Empire. Trafalgar had made Britain safe from invasion, but it did nothing to stop Napoleon on land.

The naval supremacy Britain won at Trafalgar was next seriously tested in which First World War battle?

Jutland came 111 years later, in 1916, and disappointed a navy raised on Nelson: the second Trafalgar it hoped for ended with the German fleet battered but intact.

The four bronze reliefs at the foot of Nelson's Column in London were cast from what?

Captured enemy guns: cannon taken in his battles were melted down to make the four panels, which show three of his earlier victories and his death at Trafalgar.

In which city was Nelson's Pillar blown up in 1966?

Dublin's pillar had stood in the city's main street since 1809. A republican bomb brought down its top half in March 1966, and the Spire of Dublin now rises on the spot.

Nelson's Monument in which city is shaped like an upturned telescope?

Edinburgh's monument stands on Calton Hill, and the time ball on top was added as a signal to ships in the port of Leith. The castle's One O'Clock Gun was later set up to back it up in fog.

Which Victorian painter designed the four bronze lions that guard Nelson's Column?

Edwin Landseer was famous for painting dogs and stags, not for sculpture, and London waited years for his lions, which arrived in the 1860s.

Which Last Night of the Proms favourite was written for the 1905 centenary of Trafalgar?

Fantasia on British Sea Songs was first played on the centenary itself, 21 October 1905. Its nine sections follow a sailor through the battle, from the call to arms to the return home.

Which little schooner carried home the first news of Trafalgar and of Nelson's death?

HMS Pickle battled through bad weather to reach Falmouth, and her commander then raced to London by post-chaise along a route now marked as the Trafalgar Way.

Which toast is drunk at Royal Navy dinners held each year on the anniversary of Trafalgar?

The Immortal Memory is drunk to Nelson at the end of the speech at every Trafalgar Night dinner. The others are real naval toasts, each traditionally tied to a day of the week.