How Admiral Nelson Established British Naval Supremacy For A Century

When Britannia ruled the waves

Most have heard “Britannia Rule the Waves,” a statement from a time when Great Britain was the uncontested master of the world’s oceans and seas. That supremacy came about in large part thanks to the brilliance and bravery of Admiral Horatio Nelson, who won the Battle of Trafalgar 218 years ago this October 21.

In 1802, after a decade of destructive warfare brought about by the French Revolutionary Wars, France and Great Britain were at peace. But the British feared France’s growing power under its new ruler, Napoleon Bonaparte, and in 1803 declared war once more, hoping to maintain the balance of power in Europe.

The Coronation of Napoleon, Jacques-Louis David and Georges Rouget, 1805-1807. Louvre Museum/Wikimedia.

The war between Britain and France has been compared to an elephant and whale fighting each other. Britain’s superb Royal Navy far outclassed any other fleets in the world, while France’s army under Napoleon was the best fighting force on land. Britain couldn’t challenge France’s hold over Europe–and France could not fight Britain on the waves.

The British fleet at the time was not only larger than those of its European neighbors, it was also crewed by confident and experienced sailors who were able to sail better, reload their guns quicker, and fire more accurately. London used its naval dominance to blockade France’s coasts, hunt down French merchant ships, conquer France’s overseas colonies, and, perhaps most importantly, keep Britain safe from any French invasion.

Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, Lemuel Francis Abbott, 1799. National Maritime Museum/Wikimedia.

Britain had proven to be France’s most stalwart opponent, and, in 1805, Napoleon decided to knock it out of the war once and for all, ordering Admiral Pierre Villeneuve to prepare the way for a French invasion of England. 

Admiral Horatio Nelson, Britain’s most gifted naval leader, was tasked with stopping the French. Nelson, who had given one eye and his right arm in service to his country, and had years of fighting experience in the Revolutionary Wars, was already a living legend. His most famous victory was the Battle of the Nile, in which he surprised Napoleon’s ships in Aboukir Bay, Egypt, thus sinking Napoleon’s hopes of Egyptian conquest. 

Nelson had to face not just France’s ships, but also Spain’s, who had allied with the French due to shared anti-British ambitions and sentiments. He caught up with Villeneuve’s combined Franco-Spanish fleet near Cape Trafalgar off Spain’s southern coast, and the two forces squared off for battle.

The main battleship of the time was called a “ship of the line,” so-named for the usual naval strategy of drawing up ships in parallel lines and mercilessly pounding each other with broadsides until one side was defeated. These were massive hulks, usually carrying between 74 to 100 guns and hundreds of sailors. 

Beginning of the Action, Nicholas Pocock, 1808. Wikimedia/Royal Museums Greenwich.

Nelson, who was known for his saying: “Never mind maneuvers, always go at them,” was a bold and aggressive commander. Aboard his flagship, the HMS Victory, Nelson issued the signal: “England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty,” and the battle began.

Instead of following the reigning orthodoxy of sailing in parallel to the enemy, Nelson split his ships into two columns and sailed straight towards the Franco-Spanish line in a perpendicular, 90-degree angle. This approach was extremely risky: one of the worst things that could happen to a ship in this era was to be “raked stem to stern”--that is, have cannonballs come crashing lengthwise across the surface, sowing destruction with little opportunity for the ship to respond with her own broadsides. But Nelson’s bold gambit paid off. 

The Battle of Trafalgar, Clarkson Frederick Stanfield. Wikimedia.

Though his fleet was badly battered, he counted on the British sailors’ superior seamanship to reach the enemy lines before they were sunk. As His Majesty’s ships crashed into the Franco-Spanish fleet, they divided the enemy line into multiple isolated pockets that were no match for the British sailors’ superior gunnery. Nelson’s own ship, the Victory, successfully fought two French ships, the Redoutable, and Villeneuve’s flagship, the Bucentaure.

After several hours, the British victory was complete. Though Nelson started the battle outnumbered, the British captured 17 ships and sunk one, losing not a single one of their own vessels. But while Nelson won Britain’s most legendary victory at sea, he did so at the cost of his own life. During the battle, a French musketman aboard the Redoutable shot Nelson, inflicting a wound that would prove fatal. Nelson passed away around the early evening, saying: “Thank God I have done my duty.”

The Death of Nelson, Benjamin West, 1806. Walker Art Gallery/Wikimedia.

The rest of the war saw no more major naval battles. Though the Royal Navy still had its hands full blockading the remnants of the French navy, it was the undisputed master of the seas. It also proved the main factor in Napoleon’s downfall; unable to challenge Britain’s rule of the sea, the French emperor imposed a continent-wide embargo against trading with the British–a policy which ultimately led to the disastrous invasions of Spain and Russia in an attempt to enforce that embargo.

Nelson’s victory ensured Britannia would rule the waves not just for the remainder of the Napoleonic Wars, but for a century. No other nation would seriously challenge Britain’s naval dominance until the First World War–and Britain used this supremacy to build one of the largest empires in world history.

Nelson was immortalized in a famous column bearing his statue in Trafalgar Square in London, multiple works of art depicting his greatest victory, and even a brand of rum. But perhaps his greatest memorial is his ship: the HMS Victory is still around today in Portsmouth, where it serves as a museum showcasing Nelson’s life and the Royal Navy of his era.