Mo… During the battle, the ships engaged carried varying amounts of sail - depending on their position and intent. For quick pointersTuesday to Saturday You don’t need to complete every field to find a record. Oct 28, 2014 - 12 in Bellerophon class dreadnought HMS Temeraire anchored at Spithead in 1909: the name has remained in Royal Navy use since distinguished service by the original previously captured French ship at Trafalgar in 1805. [16], As the battle started Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory broke the line ahead of Neptune, passing by and raking Bucentaure. Shortly afterwards, the French ship Achille caught fire and exploded before 11 French and Spanish warships under Gravina fled to Cadiz, leaving the rest to their fate. List of Vessels at the Battle of Trafalgar. [15] Victory and Royal Sovereign did indeed take a pounding as they closed with the French and for a terrifying few minutes they found themselves isolated as they ploughed into the enemy lines. Victory suffered terribly and Nelson was mortally wounded. However, within minutes giant British battleships were arriving one after the other and the enemy was terribly outgunned and their crews slaughtered. From them he discovered that Nelson was in hot pursuit, and had arrived at Barbados. Although involvement in the battle had been minimal, deaths, injuries and sickness are recorded in these documents, including the names of those who were killed at Trafalgar. Rif Winfield and Stephen S. Roberts (2015). Unbeknownst to Villeneuve, Ganteaume was still being blockaded in Brest. During the battle Neptune fired on Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory, and duelled with several British ships including HMS Royal Sovereign, HMS Temeraire and HMS Belleisle. [15] Neptune put to sea in company with two French ships, the 80-gun Indomptable and the 74-gun Pluton, and two Spanish ships, the 100-gun Rayo and the 74-gun San Francisco de Asis. Her brief career with the French included several major battles, though she spent the last 12 years of her life under the Spanish flag. The French ships were then seized by the Spanish forcesand put into service against France. The records reveal that there were a number of nationalities aboard the French ships at their time of capture. This would be significant in the coming battle as the position astern of the flagship would be the focus of British attention, and should have been occupied by a powerful ship like the Neptune. [15] Rosily attempted to negotiate to keep his fleet, but on this being rejected, was forced to surrender it to the Spanish on 14 July. One reason for the development of the line of battle system was to facilitate control of the fleet: if all the ships were in line, signalling in battle became possible. Neptune was built at Toulon and launched in 1803. Also with the ships of the line were the smaller French ships that had been present at the battle but had not taken part, the frigates Cornélie , Thémis , Hortense , Rhin and Hermione , and the brigs Furet and Argus . As the British began to overwhelm the combined fleet, the relatively undamaged Neptune joined several ships in a retreat to Cadiz. The Admiralty was notified and a reinforced fleet under Vice-Admiral Robert Calder was sent to intercept the Franco-Spanish fleet as it arrived in European waters. At the time Royal Navy sailors received bonuses for capturing enemy vessels. [1], Neptune entered the battle about 25 minutes after the start of the action, having by then drifted to leeward and fallen astern of Redoutable. He was promoted to Rear-Admiral on 9 November 1805 and each of the captains involved in the action was presented with a gold medal. The records can include French Revolutionary Calendar dates. Neptune put to sea in company with two French ships, the 80-gun Indomptable and the 74-gun Pluton, and two Spanish ships, the 100-gun Rayo and the 74-gun San Francisco de Asis. These are muster rolls of ships which were led by Captain (later Vice-Admiral) Richard Strachan, and sent to The two patrolling frigates, HMS Seahorse and HMS Active, had rushed to report the news to Nelson, anchored at La Maddalena, and in so doing, left the French unobserved. She sortied again two days later in an attempt to recover some of the prizes, but the fleet lost more ships than they regained, and Neptune had to be towed back to harbour. [15] Maistral then ordered Neptune's jib run up, to move her out of Victory's range. [2][15], Having come through the battle relatively unscathed, Neptune was able to join the sortie made by Captain Julien Cosmao on 23 October, in an attempt to retake some of the captured prizes. Accompanying the fleet were six frigates and two brigs. Nelson’s unusual tactics saw 22 French and Spanish ships captured or destroyed, while the British did not lose any. Throughout the battle, the British suffered 449 killed and 1,214 wounded with no ships lost, while France and Spain suffered 4,408 killed, 2,545 wounded and 18 warships sunk or captured. The Spanish took Neptune into their service, renaming her Neptuno as a replacement for the Neptuno lost at Trafalgar, and she served with them until being broken up in 1820. You can also download the helmsman’s log in full (in French) or read a transcript of key entries (in French) or an English translation below. An example from the Mont-Blanc muster roll is shown on the right. Neptuno served with the Spanish for a further 12 years, being broken up in 1820. , fleets had usually engaged in a retreat to Cadiz [ 4 ] [ 12 ] the garrison... Joined the fleet got underway on 11 June 9 November 1805 and each of the 33 ships of Villeneuve fleet... 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