Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement fought by the British Royal Navy against the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies, during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (1796–1815).
Legacy of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
The signing of the Triple Entente in 1904 led to a call for muted celebrations of the centenary of Trafalgar the following year to avoid offending the French. Some navy officers continued to emphasise the importance of Nelson, Jackie Fisher chose 21 October 1904 as the day to take up the office of First Sea Lord, and was fond of citing Nelson when implementing changes to the Navy. He also oversaw the naming of many navy ships after ships that had been at Trafalgar, or other Nelsonian battles, such as , and ; or after events or people in some way connected with him, such as and . In many ways Fisher was preparing for a second Trafalgar. He had even selected a new Nelson to lead the new Nelsonian style navy, John Jellicoe, of whom he wrote Sir John Jellicoe. Phenomenally young and junior. He will be Nelson at Cape St Vincent until he becomes "Boss" at Trafalgar when Armageddon comes along in 1915 or thereabouts - not sooner!