Battle of Trafalgar Essay Example for Free

betrothal of ap saddle ment of Trafalgar EssayThe Battle of Trafalgar was the most signifi earth-closett affair won by the British against the combine forces of the french and Spanish legislates during the Napoleonic Wars. This scrap also had significant impact on the concept of pilotage when it comes to the Naval Doctrine of War. This difference proved that tactical heresy could win battles even though you superpower be out humanned and outgunned by your opponent you can still win battles by deviating from the old Naval Doctrine.This battle was part of a much larger campaign called the Trafalgar campaign which included several(prenominal) antithetical battles that led up to the final battle at Trafalgar. This campaign was a long and complicated serial of fade maneuvers carried out by the combined French and Spanish fleets and the opposing moves of the British Royal dark blue during much of 1805. These were the culmination of French plans to force a passage through the English Channel, and so get a successful invasion of the United Kingdom. The plans were extremely complicated and proved to be impractical.Much of the decimal point was due to the personal intervention of Napoleon, who was a soldier rather than a sailor. This was largely because Napoleon failed to postulate the effects of weather, difficulties in communication, and the intervention of the Royal Navy. Despite limited successes in achieving some elements of the plan the French commanders were unable to follow the main objective through to execution. The campaign, which took place everywhere thousands of miles of ocean, was marked by several nautical engagements, most significantly at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.The naval philosophical system at the time dictated that both sides should line up parallel to to each oneother in a genuine line so that they could engage in battle and bring all their guns to bear against the foeman. One of the reasons for the tra ining of the line of battle was to help the admiral control the fleet. If all the ships were in line, signaling in battle became possible. The line also had defensive properties, let ining either side to disengage by breaking a personal manner in formation. If the attacker chose to continue combat their line would be broken as well.This type of state of war allowed each side to fight a battle and then to disengage at all time to denigrate the losses to their fleet. save with England under threat of invasion by Napoleon and his grand army, British admiral Lord Horatio Nelson requisite to ensure that the British were in control of the seas. In order to do this Nelson needed to fight and win a decisive battle that would clearly establish Britains naval supremacy. However in order to do this he would have to make sure that the combined French and Spanish fleets actually remained in the battle long enough to win a decisive victory.What Nelson planned on doing was instead of lining up parallel to the opposing fleet, Nelson would take his navy and charge at the enemy and deliberately cut the their battle line in two. This type of deviation from normal naval warfare in terms of seafaring was unheard of at the time. Despite the risk to the British fleet, Nelson believed that this was the best way to engage the enemy fleet in the upcoming battle because it had numerous advantages. The primary advantage was that this would allow the British to cut half of the enemy fleet off, surround it, and force a fight to the end.This is contrasted normal engagements where the battle was often inconclusive due to the fact that both fleets would withdraw forrader a clear winner could be seen. The plan had three principal advantages. First, it would allow the British fleet to besotted with the Franco-Spanish fleet as readily as possible, reducing the chance that it would be able to escape without fighting. Second, it would quickly bring on close quarters battle by breaking th e Franco-Spanish line and inducing a series of individual ship-to-ship fights, in which the British were likely to prevail.Nelson knew that the better seamanship, faster gunnery, and higher morale of his crews were swell advantages. Third, it would bring a decisive concentration on the rear of the Franco-Spanish fleet. The ships in the front of the enemy fleet would have to turn fundament to support the rear, and this would take a long time. Additionally, once the Franco-Spanish line had been broken, their ships would be relatively defenseless to powerful broadsides from the British fleet and would take a long time to displace and return fire.The main drawback of this strategy was that slide the British fleet into the combined French and Spanish battle line, the British ships would be fully exposed to the enemy broadsides without the ability to return fire. In order to fall the time the fleet was exposed to this danger Nelson would have to drive the fleet straight into the enem y battle line as fast as he could.This was yet another departure from navigation rules of naval warfare. Nelson was also well aware that French and Spanish gunners were ill-trained, nd would probably be supplemented with soldiers. These untrained men and would have difficulty firing accurately from a moving gun platform. This was in stark similarity to British gunners who were well drilled, and the Royal Marines who were expert marksmen. Another advantage that the British fleet had was that the enemy was sailing across a heavy swell, causing the ships to roll heavily and exacerbating these problems. Nelsons plan was indeed a gamble, but a carefully calculated one. The battle itself started exactly as Nelson wanted it to.The British fleet was able to successfully cut the French and Spanish battle line in half and so forcing a close quarters battle. Despite the huge risk that Nelson was taking his plan stop up working. Nelson scored a huge victory against the combined French and Sp anish fleet. He managed to capture over twenty of the enemy ships and inflicted heavy casualties against while suffering few casualties himself. Unfortunately during the battle Nelson was pierced by a musket ball and died from his wounds before he could see the outcome of the victory.Some argue that his loss outweighed any gains made by the British Navy. Following the battle, the Royal Navy was never again seriously challenged by the French fleet in a large-scale engagement. Napoleon had already aban maked his plans of invasion before the battle and they were never revived. This battle firmly established Britains naval supremacy over France. In terms of navigation, this battle was very significant. The most important thing is that it proved that following standard navigational techniques during an engagement wont always win a battle.The best tactic is to be aleatory so that the enemy has to adapt to what you are doing thus giving you the tactical advantage. This is exactly what Nel son did in the Battle of Trafalgar and it paid off. He proved that sometimes in battle deviating from the norm of battle navigation is the best thing to do, and ever since navies around the world have looked to the strategies employed by Nelson. What is being done today is that naval commanders are being educated about naval history so that they can learn and even employ these types of strategies if they need to in battle.In conclusion, the Battle of Trafalgar was a bit point in which ships would fight naval battles in terms of navigation due to the tactical unorthodoxy employed by Nelson. This battle has had long term effects and even today commanders look back and employ some of the same strategies used. The importance of this battle cannot be underestimated because not only was it the number point in the Napoleonic Wars for the British in terms of establishing naval supremacy at the time, it was a turning point in naval warfare. Navigation would never be the same thanks to one man and one decisive battle.