The Battle of Trafalgar, naval engagement shown in naval art prints, published by Cranston Fine Arts. 

At dawn on the 21st, the 33 ships of the combined fleets of France and Spain were sighted by the British fleet along the horizon heading in a ragged column in the general direction of Gibraltar, having left Cadiz harbour the previous day.  Having abandoned an invasion of England that summer, Napoleon's strategy was to have his fleet sail to Naples to land troops to guard his southern flank while he attacked Austria.  The English fleet, under the command of Admiral Nelson, had been stalking the enemy fleet for some time and were now in position to bring it to battle.  Sailing in his flagship, HMS Victory, Nelson's strategy was to attack the middle and rear of the enemy fleet, piercing their line and enveloping them with superior numbers and gunpowder - the "pell-mell battle" his revolutionary doctrine called upon to achieve total victory.  Nelson, dividing his force of 27 ships into two columns, led the attack on the enemy's center while the other division, commanded by Admiral Collingwood, flying his flag in HMS Royal Sovereign, concentrated their attack on the rear.  The column's approach - perpendicular to the Combined Fleet's line of battle- left them exposed to sustained enemy fire for some time before being able to bring their own broadsides to bear.  Soon after 12 noon, ranging fire from the combined fleet began to find its mark, and more concentrated salvos were beginning to take their toll on the British columns, leaving the lead ships with pockmarked sails and masts, shredded rigging, and mounting casualties.  Despite this withering fire, the British fleet pressed on, Nelson secure in the knowledge that the superior seamanship and gunnery of the Royal Navy would be decisive.  The first of the British columns to break the enemy line was Collingwood's - Royal Sovereign opening fire with a devastating broadside into the Spanish Santa Ana.  She was followed by other ships in her division, most notably the Belleisle and Mars.  Shortly after 1pm, Victory broke through the Franco-Spanish line, smashing the French flagship Bucentaure - under the command of Admiral Pierre Villeneuve - at point blank range with her port 68 pounder carronade followed by her treble shotted broadside guns.  Victory soon collided with the French ship Redoutable, commanded by the fiery captain Lucas, the best trained ship in the combined fleet.  The ships were soon locked together in a fight to the death.  It was at this moment of heavy fighting that Nelson was mortally wounded, shot from a sniper high up in Redoutable's mizentop.  The battle had now developed into a general melee, white smoke obscuring the ships with flashes of yellow flame cutting through the din of roaring cannon, crackling musketry and shrieks of the wounded, adding to a most hellish spectacle.  As the action wore on, the superiority of the Royal Navy in shiphandling and rate of fire were winning the day as more and more ships of the French and Spanish fleet struck their colours.  By 4:30pm the gunfire had subsided, with the British winning the most decisive victory in the age of fighting sail with 18 of the combined fleet's vessels in it's possession.  Not a single British ship was lost.  The victory was not without its tragedies; Nelson, upon hearing of a great victory, died of his wounds.  For Britain, victory at Trafalgar ensured her security from invasion and dominance of the seas for the next century.