One of the reasons for the development of the line of battle was to help the admiral control the fleet. If all the ships were in line, signaling in battle became possible. The line also had defensive properties, allowing either side to disengage by breaking away in formation. If the attacker chose to continue combat their line would be broken as well. This type of warfare allowed each side to fight a battle and then to disengage at any time to minimize the losses to their fleet. However with England under threat of invasion by Napoleon and his grand army, British Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson needed to ensure that the British were in control of the …show more content…
In order to lessen the time the fleet was exposed to this danger Nelson would have to drive the fleet straight into the enemy battle line as fast as he could. This was yet another departure from navigation rules of naval warfare. Nelson was also well aware that French and Spanish gunners were ill-trained, and would probably be supplemented with soldiers. These untrained men and would have difficulty firing accurately from a moving gun platform. This was in stark comparison to British gunners who were well drilled, and the Royal Marines who were expert marksmen. Another advantage that the British fleet had was that the enemy was sailing across a heavy swell, causing the ships to roll heavily and exacerbating these problems. Nelson's plan was indeed a gamble, but a carefully calculated one. The battle itself started exactly as Nelson wanted it to. The British fleet was able to successfully cut the French and Spanish battle line in half thus forcing a close quarter’s