Презентация к уроку "Battle of Trafalgar"

Battle of Trafalgar

Lord Viscount Horatio Nelson

Nelson’s Coat of Arms

Admiral Villeneuve

Albina Porotnikova

The Battle of Trafalgar

Call to Arms!

THAT

EVERY

MAN

WILL

EXPECTS

ENGLAND

HIS

DO

U

Y

D

T

The Battle of Trafalgar

Other Signals

ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY

TELEGRAPH FLAG

Note: This signal was not hoisted until after Nelsons Signal was taken down.

(Hoisted with the earlier signal)

The Battle of Trafalgar

Nelsons Legacy

Britannia Rules the Waves!

The Battle of Trafalgar

Nelsons Legacy

Memorials to Lord Nelson

The Battle of Trafalgar

Nelsons True Legacy!

More Memorials to Lord Nelson

The Battle of Trafalgar

Historical Overview

• Nearly 200 years after it was fought, the battle of Trafalgar is still regarded as one of history’s most decisive naval battles.

• In the early summer of 1805 Napoleon Bonaparte decided to invade England.

• The British knew that the only way to stop Napoleon’s plan was by defeating the French in a naval battle.

• The French had teamed up with the Spanish fleet to increase their chances of defeating the British.

The Battle of Trafalgar

Historical Overview

• Admiral Nelson, on board HMS Victory was in command of the British fleet.

• His French counterpart Vice Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve, commanded the Franco-Spanish fleet.

• The British had blockaded the French and Spanish ports effectively immobilizing the French and Spanish fleets

• Napoleon knew that to invade England meant controlling the seas and gave orders for the fleets in Brest, Toulon and Ferrol to break out

• After an aborted attempt Villeneuve managed to evade Nelson and sailed for the West Indies

The Battle of Trafalgar

The British Blockade

French

British

Bolougne

ATLANTIC OCEAN

Brest

Rochefort

Toulon

Ferrol

Cadiz

British Blockading Fleet

The Battle of Trafalgar

The Chase

ATLANTIC OCEAN

Villeneuve escapes Toulon 30th March

EUROPE

NORTH AMERICA

Villeneuve Departs Cadiz 9 th April for the West Indies

Toulon

Ferrol

Azores

Cadiz

Trafalgar

Nelson Departs Cadiz on 10 th May in pursuit of Villeneuve

Bermuda

Nelson sets off in pursuit - mistakenly towards Egypt.

Canary Islands

Villeneuve Arrives Martinique 16 th May - Departs 10 th June

Nelson Arrives Martinique 4 th June - Departs 13 th June

AFRICA

Cape Verde

The battle itself was the culmination of a long campaign. After the Treaty of Amiens Europe was at peace for 14 months. Many ships in the Royal Navy were paid off and the British returned to their peace time activities. But across the Channel in France Napoleon was planning the next stage of his domination of Europe. He realised that if war broke out again then the Royal Navy would blockade French and continental ports as they had done before and French overseas trade would be crippled. So he planned to invade England and free the seas for French trade. He ordered the building of a fleet of invasion barges and the Grand Army was moved to the Pas de Calais area.

But to get the army across safely the French fleet would need to control the English Channel. To this end he tried to engineer a meeting of his fleets so they could control the sealanes, and protect his invasion barges. He gave orders for the fleets in Toulon, Brest and Ferrol to break out of their blockaded ports. After an aborted attempt Admiral Villeneuve eventually managed to evade Nelson, blockading him in Toulon, and sailed for the West Indies on March 30th. According to Napoleons plan to meet up with Ganteaume ( who was blockaded in Brest ) , and then to sail back to Europe and with the Rochefort, Ferrol and Brest Squadrons 'procure our superiority before Boulogne for some days' . When Nelson was told that the French fleet had sailed he assumed they were heading for Egypt, so he sent his ships off to the South East. When he discovered his mistake he set off in pursuit of Villeneuve. Villeneuve picked up Admiral Gravina and the Spanish fleet from Cadiz, and sailed for Martinique.

Nelson discovered that Villeneuve had sailed out of the Med and resumed the chase on the 10th May across the Atlantic to the West Indies. Eventually following the French and Spanish fleet back again to Europe. Villeneuve waited for Ganteaume to join him. But Ganteaume failed to break the British blockade, so Villeneuve sailed back for Ferrol.

He encountered Calders squadron of 15 battleships off Cape Finisterre on 22nd of July. They fought an abortive action in poor visabilty. Calder captured two French ships, and several of the British ships were damaged. Calder failed to press home the action, for which he was severely criticized. (After Calder joined up with Nelsons fleet he was allowed to sail back to England on the Prince of Wales in an attempt to clear his name at a court martial. The Prince of Wales was a powerful 98 gun ship, and Nelson could ill afford to lose it.)

Villeneuve, unable to reach Ferrol, sailed for Cadiz, but bad weather forced him to to run into Vigo. From there Napoleon ordered him to sail for the Straits of Dover. Decres, the French chief minister of marine, whose confidence in the invasion project had never been high, wrote the orders, stating that Villeneuve was to sail for the Channel, unless the state of the fleet was such as to mitigate against this, in which case he was to sail to Cadiz.

On August the 13th the Combined Fleet of 29 battleships sailed westwards, Villeneuves' initial intention was unclear. But after picking up intelligence from passing merchantmen and sighting some British ships in the distance Villeneuve decided to head for Cadiz. He arrived there on August 20th.

Nelson arrived off Cadiz to join Collingwoods' fleet on September 28th and ordered his frigates, under Captain Blackwood, to watch Cadiz while he cruised 50 miles offshore with the rest of the fleet, hoping to draw the Combined Fleet out.

During the course of the summer Napoleon, despairing of bringing his fleets together, had abandoned his invasion plans for England and had turned his attention to Austria. The British had sent a small army under General Craig to Sicily to threaten Napoleons southern flank and to support the Russians. To try and guard Italy and his operations in Austria, Napoleon ordered Villeneuve to sail back into the Mediterranean. He had also decided to replace Villeneuve with Admiral Rosily . On September 27th Villeneuve received his orders to sail back into the Med for Naples, to support a landing of 4000 troops there. Troops designed to counter Craigs small force.

Martinique

Villeneuve

SOUTH AMERICA

Nelson

The Battle of Trafalgar

The Final Blockade

Cape St. Vincent

Combined French & Spanish Fleets

• Nelson arrived off Cadiz to join Collingwood
• Nelson’s frigates watched while he cruised off shore in an attempt to draw the Combined Fleet
• In response to a threat from landward Napoleon ordered Villeneuve to sail into the Mediterranean to support operations
• The impending battle was looming

Communication chain of Ships

The Frigates

Cadiz

Main body of Nelson’s Fleet

Cape Trafalgar

Straits of Gibraltar

The Battle of Trafalgar

Battle Plan and Tactics

• Opposing fleets usually sailed into battle in line ahead in two parallel lines.
• Each ship would then take on one of the opposing ships.
• Broadsides would be fired between the combatants.
• The battle was won or lost dependent on the skill of the gunners or when they struck their colors or the opposing fleet just sailed away from the battle.
• These tactics seldom resulted in a decisive victory for either side although casualties were high.
• Nelson broke from tradition and broke his fleet into three groups.

The Battle of Trafalgar

Nelson’s Touch

• Nelson expected to be outnumbered 46 ships to 40
• Nelson summonsed his captains and outlined his plan; they were pleased with the innovative plan
• The plan was to divide the British fleet into three separate lines
• Two major lines of 16 ships each
• An advanced squadron of eight
• The two 16 ship units were to divide the enemy line in half, thus concentrating 32 British versus 23 enemy ships.

• The other 8 British ships were to engage in a separate battle with the other half of the enemy line
• One of the two 16 ship units attacked sections of the enemy line the other would attack the enemy at right angles, break through the lines and cut off retreat
• Dangerous tactics…but they paid off
• These tactics were to change the course of naval warfare as it was known then

The Battle of Trafalgar

A Typical Ship of the Line

Ship of the line were large, square-rigged warship, carrying from 70 to 140 guns on two or more completely armed gun decks. In the great naval wars of the 17th, 18th, and early 19th cent., ships of the line were the largest naval units employed. They passed from use with the advent of the ironclad and the battleship . One of the few remaining examples of a ship of the line is Lord Nelson's flagship, the H.M.S. Victory, which has been preserved at Portsmouth, England.

Above:: Example of a triple deck – Ship of the Line.

The Battle of Trafalgar

A Typical Ship of the Line

The Battle of Trafalgar

A Typical Ship of the Line

HMS VICTORY

REDOUTABLE

HMS VICTORY

Type: 'First rate' ship-of-the-line. The British naval term "first rate" applied to a ship with at least 100 guns.

Crew: 820

LE REDOUTABLE

Type: 'Third rate', with 74 guns. Smaller than the Victory, her name translates as "formidable, tremendous - with an element of fear".

Crew: 634

The Battle of Trafalgar

Canon Used at Trafalgar

• A typical 32 pounder fired a shot just under 6” in diameter and with a full charge of 10 lb 11oz could make an extreme range of 2000 yds
• A carronade on the other hand was short barreled with limited range.
• Being lighter it was mounted on a higher deck
• Victory’s 2x68 pounder carronades were mounted on the fo’c’sle and unleashed a storm of grapeshot into the French flagship
• Ammunition consisted of roundshot canister grapeshot, bar shot and chain shot, each for a particular purpose

The Battle of Trafalgar

Firepower

• Using 32,24,18,12 pound canons and 68 pound ‘smashers’ capable of firing both shot and grape shot which inflicted serious injuries and considerable damage to ships and men on both sides
• An 18 pound shot at 30 yards would penetrate 4xoak planks 32.5” thick showering splinters up to 30 yards
• A 32 pounder fired with grape shot from 300 yards could penetrate 4” of oak
• Muskets with a range of 200yds were used by both opposing forces mainly by the Marines which inflicted heavy casualties from sharp shooters strategically positioned in the rigging
• Cutlass, tomahawks pikes, and pistols (range 30 yds) were the main weapon used by boarding parties
• Prepare to repel boarders meant fierce and heavy hand-to-hand fighting which often resulted in horrendous wounds more often than not resulting in a slow agonizing death

The Battle of Trafalgar

The Commanders

Above: Lord Nelson

Above: Admiral Collingwood

Above: Admiral Pierre Villeneuve

The Battle of Trafalgar

Prelude to Battle

• The Spanish fleet was demoralized at being blockaded for such a long period – inactivity had taken its toll
• The Combined fleet sailed with 1700 sick men on board
• The Spanish ships were manned mostly by soldiers and beggars pressed ganged from the slums of Cadiz
• Spanish gunners had never fired from a rolling ship
• Spanish Captains resented being under the command of a French Admiral
• Villeneuve did not have the confidence of Napoleon and was to be replaced by Rosily
• The British Jack Tars were seasoned campaigners
• They were aggressive fighting men by instinct
• Ruled by strict discipline from autocratic Captains they were magnificent sailors and excellent gunners
• Out numbered and out gunned they were spoiling for a fight. This signal gave them the resolve
• “ The French and Spanish are out at last, they outnumber us in ships and guns and men: we are on the eve of the greatest sea fight in history."

The Battle of Trafalgar

The Opposing Fleets

1200hrs – 21 st October, 1805

ATLANTIC OCEAN

C. Trafalgar

French & Spanish Line

Collingwood's Column

Nelson's Column

The Two Columns

The Battle of Trafalgar

The Opposing Fleets

1200hrs – 21 st October, 1805

The Battle of Trafalgar

The Commencement of Battle

The Battle of Trafalgar

The Battle

• There was an impending sense of doom as Nelson believed he would not survive the battle
• He wrote his Will in anticipation of his death
• As the Combined Fleet sailed slowly in light winds and although Villeneuve guessed what form Nelsons attack would take he failed to specify any defensive tactics to his captains
• The Combined Fleet had the Neptuno in the rear and the San Juan de Nepomuceno in the van
• Villeneuve on the Bucentaure was signaled by the Hermione that the British fleet was in sight and instead of continuing to Gibraltar decided to return to Cadiz
• The Combined Fleet had to reform the line of battle in the opposite direction
• The first shot was fired at noon by the Fougueux at the Royal Sovereign who then returned fire 15 minutes later raking the Santa Anna from stem to stern inflicting heavy casualties
• Nelson in freshly laundered uniform with ribbons and medals then ordered the famous message
• ENGLAND EXPECTS THAT EVERY MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY

The Battle of Trafalgar

The Final Blow

• The battle see sawed all day with individual skirmishes taking place
• The dying wind and with masts shot away engagement was determined by who drifted by
• Much bravery was noted on that day
• The Intrepide was singled out by the British captains for her bravery in the face of overwhelming odds

• Finally the British ships gained the upper hand with the Combined fleet either striking their colors or sailing away
• Meanwhile the surgeons were doing their best for Nelson
• Captain Hardy reported to Nelson that the battle was won
• Those immortal words were spoken by Nelson “Thank God I have done my duty”
• He succumbed to his wounds and died at 1630

The Battle of Trafalgar

Fatalities and Casualties

The speed at which the Royal Navy gun crews loaded and fired was much higher than the Combined fleet a factor in higher casualty figures for the enemy

The Battle of Trafalgar

Fatalities and Casualties

• The British lost 449 men killed with 1249 wounded some of whom subsequently died; this translated to just over 25% or 3 wounded for every one killed
• The Combined Fleet lost 4408 men killed and 2545 wounded or 55%;for every four wounded 5 were killed
• For those days it was a very high kill rate

The Battle of Trafalgar

The Victor of Trafalgar

• Nelson lost his life in Trafalgar but he won a tremendous victory for England.
• It is one of history’s turning points which led to British domination of the seas for arguably over 150 years.
• The HMS Victory remains a commissioned RN vessel to this day.
• Trafalgar Day is celebrated each year with great pomp and ceremony

The Battle of Trafalgar

Battle of Trafalgar

Thank you for your attention!

The Battle of Trafalgar