Existing comment:
Wind and Wave -- Between the Rocks and a Hard Place:
Tactics and circumstances were only some of the issues that had impact on the "picture of the battle." The battle cannot be fully comprehended without understanding the weather and surrounding geography, neither of which were able to property represent here.
The British approached from the west, with a light breeze coming from the northwest to west-northwest. The Victory only logged one knot (one nautical mile per hour) in the final hours of the approach. The French/Spanish fleet had the wind just forward of the beam, probably the worst point of sale they could have chosen, and most likely were making less than a quarter knot. However, they really didn't have a choice. They were only twelve miles west and windward of Cape Trafalgar. Steering any further to the right would have been dangerous. Although the wind was light, a storm was on the way and everyone knew it.
To make matters worse, there was a moderate swell coming from the west, presumably generated from the coming storm. With the light winds, this had minor impact on the British ships but the French/Spanish ships rolled heavily. It played havoc with their long range gunnery and caused problems with their ability to keep station on the other ships. |