Most know that England defeated France at Trafalgar, though suffering the loss of Admiral Nelson. But did you know the French and Spanish allied fleet in that action hadĀ 45% more firepower than Nelson’s force, with the ability to shoot 28.3 tonnes of cannon balls on a single firing if they fired all the guns?Ā Ā Several of the English ships were crippled without masts or rudders but fought on as massive floating batteries drifting in the sea. Ā InĀ the light winds Nelson’s force was exposed to broadsides for around 30 minutes before they were in a position to fire back. So how did they manage to win?
Find out at the Swallowfield event on Saturday October 20th when I will be showing pictures of the action and telling the story of this amazing and decisive battle.
Tickets from Bob Hamer at dbobhamer@btinternet.comĀ Ā Ā Tel 01189 733422
September 24, 2018
Actually the Royal Navy considerably outgunned the French and Spanish due to the far greater rapidity of British broadsides. Sometimes it was as much as 3 to 1 in our favour, giving us an overall superiority of up to 50% . This was because the RN kept them blockaded for years so they were unable to drill anywhere near as much as they should.