THE LIFE OF ADMIRAL LORD NELSON AND HIS DEATH AT THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR

Table of contents• Nelson’s signal • Nelson as a boy• Nelson’s career in the navy• The Battle of Trafalgar• Tactics • Nelson’s Death • HMS Victory• Life on board HMS Victory

By James Colson Lake 6S

Admiral Lord Nelson This man was a very courageous man and was also very strict and even sometimes ruthless to the sailors aboard his ship. This made the men very ordered and on strict rules. If they took a single wrong step they would be flogged usually with a cat of nine tails. Nelson always wanted to do the right thing for his country and was a very driven man. He had always wanted to be a sailor and this was one of his lifelong destinies.

Nelson as a boyHoratio Nelson was born on the 29th of December 1758 in a house called the Shooting Box in a village named Burnham Thorpe in Norfolk. Burnham Thorpe is a larger village of Burnham market on the North Norfolk Coast. Nelson’s father, Edmund Nelson was the local parish priest, and his mother was called Catherine. Horatio was the sixth of their 11 children. The church of All Saints, Burnham Thorpe, has much Nelson memorabilia. There is even a cross in the church that is made out of wood from HMS Victory.When he was nine his mother very tragically died. This was devastating for Nelson and it affected the rest of his life.

Nelson’s career in the navyIn March 1771, at the age 12, Nelson joined the Royal Navy. This was truly amazing for a boy of his age. He became a lieutenant in 1777. some two years later nelson was promoted to commander and was given independent command of the HMS Badger. Nelson also for 13 years as a frigate captain and this gave him much experience. Sadly Nelson’s career almost end because he became involved in a nasty argument but luckily it did not. In 1794, Hood put Nelson in command of Naval forces ashore during the capture of the island of Corsica. He ended his career as the leader of the British fleet at The Battle Of Trafalgar.

The Battle of Trafalgar On the 19th October 1805 the French and Spanish fleets left Cadiz together and headed south. Nelson shadowed this combined fleet until it was well away from the harbour and then on the morning of the 21st October1805 battle commenced by the British attacking the Franco- Spanish fleet . Nelson was given command of this fleet when war broke out with France. Unfortunately Napoleon’s plan was not successful and they did not invaded England. Nelson used a very useful tactic in order to defeat the French fleet this was called the Nelson Touch.

Tactics At Trafalgar, Nelson rejected the traditional approach. Instead he chose to attack at right angles, aiming to break the French line in two places. This was an extremely dangerous move as it left his ships unable to fire back as they approached the French line. However, once they had broken the line the British ships were able to rake the French ships with gun fire – astern or to the fore – causing devastating damage without the French being ale to fire back.

Nelson’s signal Admiral Lord Nelson devised a signal which was used during the Battle of Trafalgar at 11.48 hours. It was a signal constructed out of a series of flags which spelt out the famous message to all of the ships in the British fleet: “England expects every man to do his duty.”

Nelson’s Death It was 13.00 hrs. At the moment when the British were close to securing victory over the French and Spanish, HMS Victory drew close to a smaller French battleship, the Redoutable, and from her rigging a bullet was fired which struck Nelson at around 13.15 hrs while he was with Captain Thomas Hardy on the quarterdeck. Fatally wounded, Nelson was carried down to the cockpit below Victory’s waterline. At 16.30 hrs he died soon after learning that he the fleet under his command had secured a decisive victory. His patriotism was evident until the end. His last words were “Thank God I have done my duty.”

HMS Victory The ship which Nelson commanded at the Battle of Trafalgar was named HMS Victory. HMS Victory was launched at Chatham Dockyard on 7th May 1765 with a keel made of elm and oak. The ship was finished in Portsmouth Dockyard and was commissioned in 1778. She was the seventh ship to bear the name “Victory.”Sir Thomas Slade designed HMS Victory and he looked carefully at the designs of the previous ships to bear the same name.The ship was heavily armed for its day containing a vast number of cannons (its main defence system.)

Life on board HMS Victory

He faced death from battle, accidents, disease and his floating home was damp, dark and crowded. The ship’s company lived on the middle and lower gun decks with few possessions. Hammocks were slung in netting overhead. Each man had about 40 inches to sleep on. The hammocks were washed regularly.Although a sailor risked death from enemy fire or falling from the rigging, for each seaman who died this way as many as forty died of disease.It was almost impossible for men to wash properly. They washed their clothes in urine and rinsed them in sea water.

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