First published in 1959, this is an enthralling account of the Battle of Trafalgar viewed in perspective of Lord Nelson's personal career, and of the struggle for naval supremacy in the Napoleonic Wars. The Battle of Trafalgar of 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 (1803-1815).Twenty-seven British ships of the line led by Admiral Lord Nelson aboard HMS Victory defeated thirty-three French and Spanish ships of the line under the French Admiral Villeneuve in the Atlantic Ocean off the southwest coast of Spain, just west of Cape Trafalgar, near the town of Los Ca?os de Meca. The Franco-Spanish fleet lost twenty-two ships, without a single British vessel being lost. It was the most decisive naval battle of the war, conclusively ending French plans to invade England.