Expert: Mark Smith - 5/1/2007

Question
Hi.  I am a 9th grade student preparing a report on the Battle of Trafalgar for
my English class.  The assignment requires me to contact an expert as part of
my research.  If you can answer any or all of the questions below it would be
greatly appreciated.  Thank you in advance for any assistance you can
provide.  

1)  How might the French and Spanish have won the battle?


2)  Did Nelson's new strategy affect naval warfare?

3)  If the French and Spanish had won, would Napoleon have been able to
conquer Britain?

4)  How did the hatred the Spanish bore for Napoleon affect the outcome?

5)  How did the battle affect the way other nations viewed Britain?  

R.C. Duckworth, Washington State

Answer
Hello RC. Here are the answers to the four remaining questions.
1. The Franco-Spanish fleet made the mistake of sailing in a long straggling line, not in close order, this enabled the British ships to break into the middle of the line and split the fleet in two. Nelson dealt with the northern half whilst his second-in-command attacked the southern half. Therefore the British, who were outnumbered, were able to take on, what was in effect two smaller fleets, at the same time. Had the Franco-Spanish maintained close order Nelson would not have been able to seperate them so.
2. There were very few naval battles after Trafalgar, none of them very large. But in the last of them, the battle of Lissa fought in the Adriatic between a small British squadron and a larger Franco-Venetian force in 1811, the tactics of Trafalgar were adopted. The Franco-Venetians tried to split the British squadron in two, as Nelson had done, but the British kept close order, thus preventing the enemy from penetrating the line.
4. France and Spain were uneasy allies in 1805, but with France very much the dominant partner. They only became enemies in 1807 when Napoleon sent troops into Spain to attack Portugal. The main problems with the fleet at Trafalgar was the poor quality of the Spanish. Their ships were well built, but under-manned and poorly provisioned, the Spanish were also not very good under pressure in the heat of battle.
5. The British victory confirmed what the world already  knew, that the Royal Navy was by far the best in the world, a position it was to hold for over 100 years.
Mark