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 HMS Victory Sailing Ship Model

The Battle of Trafalgar was the final and decisive blow in a long campaign by Britain to thwart a major threat of invasion by France. Nelson had driven his two columns of ships through the enemy at right angles , dividing the French and Spanish fleets into three groups. Thus divided, they had then been compelled to fight three separate battled at the same time, deprived of mutual support. Every one of the thirty-three British ships returned from the battle, out of the forty enemy vessels during the battle, nineteen were taken as prizes, of which only four were saved. Trafalgar broke France as a maritime power and freed England from the threat of invasion and in doing so it also established Britain as the dominant world sea power eventually leading  to the collapse of the French Empire and the downfall of Napoleon in 1815. 

Trafalgar was considered to be the most decisive naval battle, both tactically and strategically in history. The largest single artifact that remains from the Battle of Trafalgar is HMS Victory's Fore Topsail, which measures 54 feet high by 54 feet wide at the top and 80 feet wide at its base, the sail covers an area of around 3,620 square feet. The topsail is pot marked by over 80 shot holes and tears in the canvas sustained both in the battle and afterwards by 19th century souvenir hunters. This unique and historic Topsail which is the only sail in existence from the battle, was preliminary exhibition in No 4 Boathouse in the Royal Naval Dockyard during the International Festival of the Sea in 1998 before being removed for further restoration. The first time the sail has been hoisted since the Battle of Trafalgar.