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).
Maritime history of the United Kingdom
From the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 until the outbreak of the European War in 1914, Britain had an almost uncontested power over the world's oceans, and it was said that "Britannia ruled the waves". During the Napoleonic Wars, there was increasing tension at sea between Britain and the United States, as American traders took advantage of their country's neutrality to trade with the French-controlled parts of Europe as well as with the British Isles. The Anglo-American War of 1812 was characterised by single-ship actions and the disruption of merchant shipping.