The Battle of Trafalgar: I. The Beginning of the Action: The 'Victory' Breaking the Line,...

Soon after mid-day on the 25 October 1805, in the thick of battle, the ‘Victory’, centre, its sunlit sails holed, ploughs to the right foreground between two French ships, the ‘Redoutable’, appropriately in shadow to the left, and ‘Bucentaure’. The other ships receding to the rear on either side all belong to the enemy, Spanish or French. This therefore provides an image of the ‘Victory’ apparently surrounded by enemy ships, breaking through alone. This is also a significant moment in the battle as Nelson was fatally wounded by a sniper shooting from the from the mizentop of the ‘Redoutable’ at 1.15pm.