Thread by @RMGreenwich

Cannons at the ready! It's #TrafalgarDay and that means it's time for us to live (as it were) tweet the Battle of Trafalgar (almost) as it happened in 1805💥rmg.co.uk/discover/explo… #TrafalgarDay

#TrafalgarDay Nelson’s fleet is in commanding position to attack. At dawn, they’re 34km north-west of Cape Trafalgar, with the French and Spanish fleet between them.

#TrafalgarDay Nelson signals ‘prepare for battle’ at 6.40am. The fleet is in two parallel columns, the first led by ‘Victory’, the second by Collingwood’s ‘Royal Sovereign’.

🚩[image: signals used by Nelson during the Battle]

#TrafalgarDay

Numbers:
British fleet
27 ships of the line ⚓
6 others
18,000 men

Franco-Spanish fleet
33 ships of the line ⚓
11 others
33,000 men

#TrafalgarDay Captain Blackwood of frigate ‘Euryalus’ notices the enemy ships turning and heading north to Cadiz...

#TrafalgarDay British ships are cleared for action, heading to intercept the enemy, approaching from the west at nearly right angles📐

#TrafalgarDay Wind is light and Nelson’s fleet progresses at a slow 1.5–2 knots, with the Royal Marine Band playing 🥁

#TrafalgarDay Nelson pens a pre-battle prayer in his diary: ‘May the Great God, whom I worship…’ 📖

#TrafalgarDay Men of the British fleet are given dinner and grog 🥣

#TrafalgarDay Nelson's whole fleet is now visible to Villeneuve. The Franco-Spanish line is nearly 5 miles long. Villeneuve tries to form a closer line.

#TrafalgarDay Nelson hoists his famous signal: ‘England expects that every man will do his duty’

#TrafalgarDay Nelson leads column into feint toward Franco-Spanish van. Later he will turn toward the more central point of attack.

#TrafalgarDay Villeneuve signals ‘engage the enemy’. ‘Fougueux’ fires first shot at ‘Royal Sovereign’💥

#TrafalgarDay Collingwood’s ‘Royal Sovereign’ is first to reach enemy line; it fires broadside at Spanish ‘Santa Ana’, causing heavy casualties.

#TrafalgarDay British ‘Mars’ under fire from ‘Pluton’ and ‘Fougueux’. British ‘Tonnant’ breaks through enemy line.

#TrafalgarDay Nelson orders signal to fleet ‘Engage the enemy more closely’. Close action follows.

#TrafalgarDay ‘Belleisle’ enters fray close to ‘Royal Sovereign’; fires at the ‘Fougueux’. She's soon under heavy fire and dismasted.

#TrafalgarDay ‘Victory’ starts to close in on enemy line; Captain Cooke of ‘Bellerophon’ gives order to open fire.

#TrafalgarDay 'Victory' is also under heavy fire: she loses mizzen topmast and her wheel is shot away. She has to be steered from her tiller below decks.

#TrafalgarDay ‘Bellerophon’ breaks through the enemy line and collides with ‘L’Aigle’. French snipers kill Captain Cooke.

#TrafalgarDay ‘Victory’ cuts enemy line and fires a devastating broadside at Villeneuve’s flagship ‘Bucentaure’.

#TrafalgarDay ‘Victory’ is locked together with French ‘Redoutable’ in a bitter fight ⚔

#TrafalgarDay Nelson is hit! Shot from ‘Redoutable’ hits Nelson’s left shoulder, pierces his lung and lodges in his spine.

#TrafalgarDay Breaking news: Nelson's last words to Captain Hardy - ‘Kiss me, Hardy!’

#TrafalgarDay According to reports, Nelson has asked Hardy to 'take care of my dear Lady Hamilton, Hardy; take care of poor Lady Hamilton'.

#TrafalgarDay Spanish ‘San Juan Nepomuceno’ and French ‘L'Aigle’ surrender.

#TrafalgarDay Spanish ‘Santisima Trinidad’ surrenders. By this point 14 of the allied fleet have surrendered.

#TrafalgarDay Spanish ‘San Idelfonso’ (fighting ‘Defence’) surrenders.

The Battle of Trafalgar is drawing to a close.

#TrafalgarDay Nelson dies. His last coherent words: ‘Thank God, I have done my duty’.

#TrafalgarDay French Rear-Admiral Dumanoir’s division escapes with 4 ships.

#TrafalgarDay Firing ceases at Trafalgar.

#TrafalgarDay The end of the Battle of Trafalgar is marked by a massive explosion as the French ‘Achille’ blows up when fire reaches the magazine💥

#TrafalgarDay According to reports from the scene, the cost of British victory is high: about 1,690 British casualties and around 6,000 French and Spanish casualties.

We hope you've enjoyed our run through of the momentous battle this #TrafalgarDay. Take a look at some of the letters sent by ordinary sailors before and after the battle in this #CairdLibrary blog: bit.ly/TrafalgarLette…

And of course you can see objects like this Union Jack, believed to have been flown at Trafalgar, and Nelson's Trafalgar coat, in our Nelson, Navy, Nation gallery #TrafalgarDay: bit.ly/NelsonNavyNati…