Still Good Enough For Nelson - The Royal Navy & The Legacy of Trafalgar

October 21^st marks Trafalgar Day, the 218^th anniversary of the most influential of all British naval battles. A titanic clash between the outnumbered fleet of the United Kingdom against the French and Spanish Empires in a battle for maritime supremacy that would determine the course of the Napoleonic wars. In a pivotal victory the Royal Navy, led by Admiral Nelson adopted superior tactics to cause immense destruction, capturing or sinking 22 of the enemy vessels and killing over 4,000 sailors for the loss of barely 460 of their own. Sadly, Nelson was killed in the clash, but his vision and leadership ensured that Britain triumphed, opening the door to over a century of global maritime supremacy. It remains one of the most influential naval victories in history and is rightly remembered and celebrated to this day by the Royal Navy.

There is an argument, which the author has sympathy with, that the RN has perhaps idolised Nelson too much. That while he did much good, the adoration of him comes at the cost of forgetting countless other leaders and battles which have relevance to this day. This is not to denigrate or play down the impact of Trafalgar, but to ask whether we should be equally aware of other parts of Royal Navy history too. Understanding the Royal Navy of the late 18^th and early 19^th century can provide us with much to consider and learn from in looking at how to shape the Royal Navy of the early 21^st century.  If you look at the Royal Navy of today and of Nelsons time (and throughout the Napoleonic Wars), a strong case can be made that although the technology is materially different, the missions, function, and capability that the RN offers to the Government of the day are little changed.

Battle of Trafalgar by Clarkston Stansfield

While we tend to fix attention mostly on the major battle of Trafalgar, the RN fulfilled a wide variety of different missions throughout the war. The fleet was responsible for blockading Europe, monitoring French movements, and providing timely intelligence on the activity of enemy fleets. Legions of smaller ships stood off hostile coasts, outside of engagement range, on lonely picket duties to track the foe. The Royal Navy also maintained forces capable of strategic blockades in locations like Gibraltar and the Skagerrak, relying on chokepoints to secure control of the sea.

The UK was a mercantile nation with a heavy reliance on trade, and with the land routes of Europe closed by Napoleon, the Merchant Navy was vital to victory. The Royal Navy played a key role in escorting ships in convoy, ensuring their protection from hostile forces and helping ensure vitally needed trade goods arrived in British ports. This included timber from colonies in North America, vital to building and repairing warships. Similarly British policy to defeat Napoleon relied on supporting continental land powers, and a steady flow of munitions and materiel were sent by sea, escorted by RN warships to Baltic ports to help support nations fighting France.

The Royal Navy maintained forces of small raiding craft to hold the French coast at risk throughout the wars, sending vessels to attack French coastal locations, capturing intelligence and tying down hundreds of French coastal artillery batteries and thousands of men who could have been deployed elsewhere to protect French soil. More widely the UK engaged in strategic raiding and blockade, for example operations in the Adriatic Campaign (1807-14) where a small number of British warships blockaded ports, conducted amphibious operations and engaged in surface combat with different foes. In the same vein the UK found itself targeted by Danish & Norwegian raiders too, who fought the so-called ‘Gunboat War’ from 1807 to 14 against the UK, where many small scale actions between British brigs and small ships against gunboats in the Baltic. This often forgotten campaign saw violent clashes and victories on both sides with the sinking and capture of many RN vessels to protect convoy trade.

The Gunboat War (Artist unknown)

More widely the Royal Navy worked closely with the British Army in a variety of amphibious operations, providing ships to deploy and sustain the Army on campaign. There were a number of impressive amphibious failures, but also some successes too, particularly in the West Indies and Egypt, where working as part of a jointly integrated force, the Royal Navy provided fire support (and even operated Congreve land attack rockets for shore bombardment) as the British Army fought the French ashore. In the Peninsular War the RN was vital for ensuring the supply of Wellingtons forces and, where necessary evacuating them, such as during the retreat from Corunna.

At home the RN was responsible for working with industry to develop effective means of refitting ships, introducing new technology and trying to build new ships ever more quickly. There was a constant theme of working with shipyards to get more ships ready for sea, while trying to ensure that standards were met and maintained. The outstanding book ‘Britain Against Napoleon: The Organization of Victory, 1793-1815’ (Roger Knight) provides a good analysis of the importance of the defence industry in ensuring the success of the Royal Navy at sea during this period.

Throughout the war the one constant was that the Royal Navy was a genuinely global force, operating across the globe in support of operations. The Napoleonic Wars were arguably a world war by a different name, with actions occurring in practically every continent. The superb book ‘The Napoleonic Wars’ (Alexander Mikaberidze) covers this in huge detail, with one of the most surprising discoveries being a serious plan worked up by the British Army to deploy two forces, using Royal Navy warships, to simultaneously sail to the West Indies and to the Indian Ocean, capturing the Philippines from the Spanish Empire on the way, then sailing across the Pacific to meet the other force and capture Spanish Mexico. A good example of using jointery to take over the world…

Brought together it is clear that the Royal Navy involvement in the Napoleonic Wars was far more complex, global and far-reaching than is often remembered. There is much more to the conduct of the war than Trafalgar, and it is important to remember this for without the efforts of many sailors in far off locations, victory would not have occurred.

Battle of Aboukir Bay

When we look at what the Royal Navy of the Napoleonic Wars did, it is very telling how despite the passage of time, little has changed. Look at the modern Royal Navy of 2023 and compare its missions to the fleet at the time of Nelson. Like him we have a heavy striking force in the form of the Carrier Strike Group, able to deploy significant force to defeat the enemy, on, above or below the sea or far inshore. In 2023 the RN makes Trafalgar Day with both of its carriers in areas of key importance during the 19^th century. HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH is in Sweden, a vital defence ally soon to join NATO, while HMS PRINCE OF WALES is operating a joint trials team, testing the F35 to conduct new means of operating which will improve its capabilities off the coast of the USA. Using Norfolk Naval Base as a temporary base port, she is ranging across waters that the RN once protected and patrolled against the French threat.

The fleet continues to operate in ways that forbears would recognise. The use of the Littoral Strike Group to proceed from Gibraltar to the coast of Israel with Royal Marine troops embarked reminds us that the UK has a long strategic history in this region. These ships will be acting as the RN did during the 19^th century, monitoring and standing ready to assist if required. More widely the Royal Navy is being used to support operations against modern tyrants. It has played a proud role in supporting the forces of Ukraine in their fight against Putins Russia, providing training, equipment and assistance. With small ships donated to help operate in coastal waters, and Royal Marines providing training in strategic raiding, that the Ukrainians have carried out to great effect in Crimea, the modern Royal Navy is passing the lessons of the past onto the allies of the future and helping them in their fight for freedom.

It remains a globally focused fleet, with ships based and permanently operating on every continent and ocean. The small ships like HMS TAMAR, marking Trafalgar Day in Sidney Australia or the escorts like HMS DAUNTLESS in the West Indies mark the theme of a globally deployed navy operating in waters that have been our strategic area of interest for centuries. The technology has changed but the missions have not, conducting diplomatic visits, training, support to host nations and where necessary being ready to conduct operations from disaster relief to combat. The fleet remains ready to operate where the Government requires it to serve.

It is also a joint force, retaining close links to the Army and also with the RAF. The legacy of amphibious operations continues to this day, with the provision of supply ships like the ‘POINT’ class roro ferries delivering vital logistical support to the Army in Europe, ensuring vehicles and equipment can be delivered to the troops on land. Likewise the RAF plays an integrated role at sea with the F35 and the P8 is used in support of maritime operations in locations like Cyprus or the A400M in the Falklands. It is reasonable to say that where the RN is deployed, the other services are not far away. It is also telling that the same shore locations continue to be of critical importance, with choke points like Gibraltar continuing to be central to British strategic thinking, while the Baltic, a key operating area during the Napoleonic wars remains central to major British naval deployments, with the Carrier Strike Group visiting the area this week.

The Adriatic Campaign (Artist details)

Finally the reliance on effective partnerships with industry has not changed either – the Royal Navy can only succeed by working with the best that the UK can build. The images this week of the new section of HMS DREADNOUGHT being moved in Barrow, probably not far off the size of many small RN vessels during the time of the Napoleonic Wars reminds us that the UK defence industry is vital to our national military success. Thankfully ships these days can be built quickly – the Danish Navy, having been destroyed by the Royal Navy in 1807 planted a new forest to ensure future ships could be built, and in 2007 the Danish forestry service was able to email the Danish MOD to advise them that their forest was ready for use!

Perhaps the most important part to reflect on is that the global focus and roles of the Royal Navy are timeless. We reflect today on the common threads linking the RN of today to the one of 218 years ago. But were Nelson to do likewise in 1805 and look back 218 years, his focus would be in the year 1587, a year prior to the Spanish Armada. In the same rough time frame the RN used ships to defend the nation, engage in global operations and then work with the Army to launch a counter attack (the so-called English Armada) in 1589. While the technology was different, the strategic drivers were similar, as was the global outlook of England. It is fair to say that much as we can see links to Nelsons Navy, in turn Nelson would easily have been able to see links to Drakes navy.

In a week which has seen the deployment of British ships on global operations, and the US Navy operating in action to shoot down missiles fired at Israel, we are reminded again of the critical importance of seapower in a digital age. This can only be delivered by people, and the one certainty is that were Nelson to serve today, he would find the modern sailor every bit the equal of their predecessors. As we reflect on the Immortal Memory, we can be certain that the modern women and men of the Royal Navy are, without doubt, ‘good enough for Nelson’.