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Nelson and His Navy - Spanish Trafalgar
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The original text was printed in the Gazeta de Madrid”.
London, November 26th {1805} In society, at the theatre and places of entertainment, at balls, all the ladies in evening dress wear cypress in their head-dress in memory of Lord Nelson. The loss of Lord Nelson, however, is not the only loss that we have to deplore in the terrible battle which has taken place off Cadiz between our Fleet and that of the Combined Fleet. One may judge of these when one reads the following extract from the despatch that Admiral Collingwood has forwarded to the Admiralty:-
“STATE OF THE BRITISH FLEET AFTER THE BATTLE OF OCTOBER 19.
| Victory | 100 | Entirely dismasted in the act of breaking the line Admiral Nelson wounded; he died seven hours after the battle | ||
| Prince of Wales* | 98 | Sunk in the action | ||
| Britannia | 98 | Sunk in the action | ||
| Dreadnought | 98 | All the hull riddled with cannon shot | ||
| Temeraire | 98 | Dismasted; the masts of the French ship “Aigle” fell on her deck and killed many of the crew. | ||
| Neptune & Prince | 98 | Both sunk; and the masts of the first and the rudder of the second have been found on Conil beach. | ||
| Queen* | 98 | Lost her foremast and mizzen; at Gibraltar much Damaged. | ||
| Donegal* | 80 | Dismasted on the Barbary coast. | ||
| Canopus* | 80 | Dismasted and taken alongside the sheer hulk at Gibraltar. | ||
| Tigre* | 80 | Sunk off the coast near Sta Maria. | ||
| Tonnant* | 80 | Burnt by the fleet five or six leagues N.W of Cadiz. | ||
| Spencer | 74 | Came into Gibraltar in tow of a frigate making signals for assistance. | ||
| Le Spartiate | 74 | Sunk after the action, on the coast near Rota. | ||
| Defence | 74 | Without mainmast; at Gibraltar. | ||
| Swiftsure | 74 | Lost her foretopmast; at Gibraltar. | ||
| Orion | 74 | Dismasted, on the coast of Africa | ||
| Leviathan | 74 | Under sail. And lost her maintopmast. | ||
| Zealous | 74 | Hull damaged; at Gibraltar. | ||
| Conqueror | 74 | Under sail. | ||
| Revenge | 74 | At Gibraltar, the second without a topsail yard | ||
| Achille | 74 | |||
| Minotaur | 74 | Ran ashore on the coast off Conill or San Lucar. | ||
| Colossus | 74 | Idem | ||
| Mars | 74 | Under sail | ||
| Bellerophon | 74 | Under sail | ||
| Polyphemus | 74 | Under sail, without a mizen mast. | ||
| Esparciata | 74 | Sunk after the battle off the coast off Rota. | ||
| Carnatic | 74 | Under sail – with jury-masts | ||
| SHIPS WHICH JOINED THE ENGLISH FLEET AT 5 PM 21ST OCTOBER. | ||||
| The Duke of York# | 90 | Under sail | ||
| Royal Sovereign | 100 | 100 Lost, with £400,000 sterling, on her way to Malta | ||
| Le Leger# | 80 | Towed by an English frigate | ||
| Relampago | 74 | Under sail, under care of a Swedish ship. | ||
|
Aquila* |
74 |
Under sail. |
||
* Not in Battle
# No such ship in Royal Navy.
Extract copied from “The Enemy at Trafalgar” by Edward Fraser [ Hodder & Stoughton] Pub1906.
Contributed by Dan Ezra.
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