The Royal Navy's War 1973-1807 (2)

Question 1

What upset Nelson in relation to the Mediterranean in 1798-1801?

Answer 1

• Upset that Admiral Keith was appointed commander in chief of the Mediterranean fleet rather than himself
• He was scandalised by his affair with Emma Hamilton the friend of his wife Sir William Hamilton
• By 1800 he asked Keith for permission to return home which he was granted, the RN made significant success without him caputuring Malta in 1800

Question 2

Who continued to blockade Brest and why was this a hard job?

Answer 2

• Earl of St Vincent head of the channel fleet continued blockading as close as possible
• This was hard as it was hard to provide the British with supplies, there were many shipwrecks on rocks around Brest
• There was no rest for anyone as they had to keep watch out
• St Vincent was made the first lord of the admiralty in 1801 for preventing the French from venturing out

Question 3

What was the threat made to Britain in the Baltic and why was it so influential?

Answer 3

• Tsar Paul of Russia put pressure one Denmark, Sweden and Prussia to join the League of Armed Neutrality against Britain to keep them out the Baltic
• This was problematic as the Baltic is where Britain kept their naval stores of timber, pitch, tar and hemp
• Baltic powers had near 100 warships between them

Question 4

Who commanded the British Baltic fleet and what were the orders given?

Answer 4

• Admiral Sir Hyde Parker was in charge of the Baltic fleet along with Nelson has a second in command
• Nelson was given the task of leading the attack on Copenhagen

Question 5

When did Nelson outline the plan of the Battle of Copenhagen and what was it?

Answer 5

31st March 1801
- First ship would enter the Channel and anchor opposite either a Danish Ship or Floating Battery and open fire
- Once the shore defences were overcome by doing this with more ships bomb vessels would shell the city and its dockyards

Question 6

When did the attack begin and what was the situation? (Battle of Copenhagen)

Answer 6

2nd April the attack began
- By noon all were engaged, the Danes were getting beaten but their floating gun platforms continued to do well

Question 7

What signal did Nelson ignore and why was it important that he did? (Battle of Copenhagen)

Answer 7

• 1:15pm he ignores Parkers signal to discontinue the action
• Nelson said he has a ‘right to be blind sometimes’
• It was good he disobeyed because if he did not the batteries continued to inflict serious damage despite most ships surrendering by 2pm

Question 8

What did Nelson do after ignoring Parkers signal? (Copenhagen)

Answer 8

• He sent a letter to the Crown Prince of Denmark implying that they were beaten causing him to call a truce
• He said he would not save Danish prisoer sotherwise
• Allowed Nelson to get his damaged ships out of range of enemy guns and float his grounded ships

Question 9

What was the result of the Battle of Copenhagen?

Answer 9

• 2 Danish ships were sunk, 1 exploded and 12 were taken
• Nelson replaced Parker as commander of the Baltic fleet
• Tsar Alexander I had no wish to fight a naval war and thus matters were settled

Question 10

What was the Peace of Amiens?

Answer 10

• March 1802, a peace treaty between Britain and France

Question 11

What did St Vincent do after the Peace of Amiens that would be a detriment to the Navy?

Answer 11

• He reformed the dockyards which he thought were nests of corruption
• He tried to save money by cancelling ship building contracts and dismissing workers
• This was a mistake as in May 1803 Napoleon gathered 100,000 men in Boulogne to invade Britain, the RN were short of men, ships and supplies

Question 12

To prevent the French attacking in 1803, how were the admirals arranged?

Answer 12

• Keith commanded the North-Sea Fleet
• Lord Cornwallis commanded the blockade of Brest
• Nelson was in command of the Mediterranean fleet and was given his flagship of HMS Victory

Question 13

What was Nelsons original tactic to bait the French fleet in Toulon, did this work?

Answer 13

• Attempted to use an open blockade to entice the French out into sea
• The French did not come out into sea

Question 14

What worsened the situation for the British in 1804?

Answer 14

• Spain allied with France in December
• This meant they now had 102 battleships against the RN’s 83

Question 15

How did Napoleon think he would try and evade Nelson as he tried to keep an eye on the Toulon Fleet?

Answer 15

• He tasked Vice Admiral Villeneuve to lure Nelson across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and lose him to sail back to Spain
• He would them unite with the French and Spanish at Vigo and Càdiz
• Combined fleets at Reochefort nad Brest to overload the English Channel

Question 16

How did Nelson evade Villneuves plan to displace him from the British?

Answer 16

• After chasing Villnueve in April 1805 false intelligence sent him south instead of north and he ended up in Barbados 4th June
• He learnt of Villneuves move and he recrossed the Atlantic sending. fast frigate ahead to warn of the danger

Question 17

Who and where did the British intercept Villneuve?

Answer 17

• 22nd July a fleet under Sir Robert Calder in Cape Finisterre
• Calder managed to capture two ships but Villneuve made it into Ferrol, Calder received a lot of backlash from the press and was sent home

Question 18

How did Napoleon’s plans to invade from Boulogne fail?

Answer 18

• Villneuve sailed south to Càdiz
• Nelson and Calder managed to join up with Cornwallis off Brest
• 18th August Nelson returned to Britain
• 23rd August Napoleon left Boulogne

Question 19

What fleet was Nelson given command of at the Battle of Trafalgar and what was his tactic?

Answer 19

• Given command of the fleet off Càdiz
• He kept his ship 50 miles offshore and a line of frigates were used to report enemy movement
• Nelson stressed the importance of getting into battle quickly and not firing until they were yards away from the enemy

Question 20

How did the Battle of Trafalgar kick off, what did Villneuve do? (include stats of his and Nelsons fleet)

Answer 20

• 19th October 1805, he left Càdiz on Napoleon’s orders
• Nelson had 27 battleships, 17,000 men and 2148 guns
• Villneuve had 33 battleships, 30,000 men and 2568 guns

Question 21

When did the two fleets meet at the Battle of Trafalgar and why was VIllneuve already at a disadvantage?

Answer 21

• 21st October
• Villneueve had to create a makeshift line as there was not enough wind to sail back to Càdiz

Question 22

What were the two main British fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar?

Answer 22

• Nelson led HMS Victory
• Collingwood led the Royal Sovereign

Question 23

What signal did Nelson give at 11:40am? This was followed by his favourite signal…

Answer 23

• ‘England expects every man will do his duty?
• Raised his favourite signal ‘Engage the enemy more closely’

Question 24

In the initial advance of the Battle of Trafalgar the British received heavy fire they could not return, why did they survive this?

Answer 24

The enemy had very poor aim

Question 25

Compare the armaments of the RN to that of the British Army?

Answer 25

• All cannons in the Battle of Waterloo combined with the two fleets of Trafalgar, only 7% of the total would be from the land forces
• HMS Victory alone carried armaments equivalent to 67% of the British Army’s artillery at Waterloo

Question 26

How did Collingwood engage the enemy at Trafalgar?

Answer 26

• On the Quarterdeck at 12:10 he gave the order to open fire whilst eating an apple

Question 27

How was HMS Victory coping before they opened fire?

Answer 27

• Was under fire from 5 ships for 40 minutes and lost over 50 men
• Victorys rigging and sails were cut to pieces and the steering mechanism was blasted to bits

Question 28

When did HMS Victory find a gap in Villneuves flagship, Bucentaure?

Answer 28

• 12:35
• The carronade caused devastation on Bucentaures quarterdeck
• Main guns raked the enemy stern with a broadside which put 400 Frenchmen and 20 guns out of action

Question 29

What two ships did Victory encounter after Villneuves flagship

Answer 29

• The Redoubtable and the Neptune
• Nelsons Victory was entangled with Redoubtable and luckily the carronade fire from the Temeraire kept anyone trying to board away

Question 30

When was Nelson shot and where?

Answer 30

• 1:15 Nelson was shot through the soldier by a sharpshooter in the Redoubtable rigging
• The ball punctured his lung and passed through his spine

Question 31

When did the Frenchy Bucentaure surrender?

Answer 31

• 1:45pm
• 99 fit men of a crew of 643 had to surrender

Question 32

When did Captain Hardy visit Nelson and when did he die?

Answer 32

• 2:35pm he visited Nelson and assured him the battle is going well
• 4:30pm Nelson died

Question 33

How many of Villneuve’s ships were taken and how many were lost and kept after Trafalgar?

Answer 33

• Took 18 ships
• 4 lost in storm, 3 scuttled, 1 exploded, 2 burned and the Redoubtable sank
• 4 escaped enemy ships were captured at Cape Ortegal 4th November
• 5 of 11 Ships taken to Càdiz were considered sea worthy

Question 34

How many Britains, French and Spanish died and were wounded?

Answer 34

Britain: 449 died, 1208 wounded
France: 2218 died, 1155 wounded
Spain: 1025 died, 1383 wounded
- 8000 French and Spaniards taken prisoner