What role did Nelson Play in shaping Britain’s Naval War with France?

Question 1

What did the British Navy do?

Answer 1

Guarded the nation against invasion while protecting overseas trade and colonies.

Question 2

What did the American War of Independence (1775-83) reveal?

Answer 2

Shortcomings of the navy

Question 3

What shortcomings of the navy did the American war of independence reveal?

Answer 3

Many ships of the line were old and poorly maintained

Question 4

Who, along with American privateers, enjoyed success against the Royal Navy?

Answer 4

French, Spanish and Holland

Question 5

How many ships of the line did the British navy have in 1792 compared to 1802?

Answer 5

135 to 202

Question 6

How many smaller frigates did the British navy have in 1792 compared to 1802?

Answer 6

133 to 277

Question 7

How many soldiers did the British navy have in 1792 compared to 1802?

Answer 7

16,000 to 135,000

Question 8

What admirals did the navy have?

Answer 8

Samuel Hood
Richard Howe
John Jervis
Horatio Nelson

Question 9

When did Nelson die?

Answer 9

At Trafalgar in 1805 at the moment of his greater victory

Question 10

What made Nelson the most successful naval commander of his generation?

Answer 10

His leadership, personal bravery and bold grasp of naval tactics

Question 11

When did Nelson join the Navy?

Answer 11

at 12, with his uncle being his first ships captain

Question 12

What happened in Nelson’s life in 1779?

Answer 12

After starting officer training as a midshipman, he got his first command

Question 13

During the American War of Independence, where did Nelson command?

Answer 13

in the Caribbean

Question 14

What was Nelson in command of when recalled to sea in 1793?

Answer 14

The 64-gun HMS Agamemnon in the Mediterranean

Question 15

What were the problems with the Navy in 1793?

Answer 15

Logistics were strained, administration and supply, poor dockyards and shortages of timber due to ships being at sea for months on end

Question 16

What did discontent among fleet sailors lead to?

Answer 16

Mutinies at Spithead (Portsmouth) and Nore (Thames)

Question 17

Spithead Mutinies

Answer 17

In 1797, Portsmouth, about conditions

Question 18

Nore mutiny

Answer 18

In 1797, in Thames, political as ringleaders demanded peace with france

Question 19

What was used to force civilians to serve in the fleet due to experienced seamen being hard to find?

Answer 19

Press gangs

Question 20

When did Nelson lose sight in his right eye and how?

Answer 20

in 1794 after being wounded by an exploding cannon shell during a battle with the French off Corsica

Question 21

What did Nelson believe in as a commander?

Answer 21

Gunnery and boldness

Question 22

How did Nelson train his naval forces?

Answer 22

For gun crews to fire faster and his boarding parties of armed sailors and marines to follow their officers into hand to hand fights on enemy vessels.

Question 23

What did Nelson become famous for in 1797?

Answer 23

His part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent off Portugal

Question 24

What did Nelson do in the Battle of Cape St Vincent?

Answer 24

Took his 74-gun ship HMS Captain out of line into close-quarters combat leading his men in battle on the enemy deck. Captured two Spanish warships

Question 25

What happened to Nelson in 1797?

Answer 25

his right arm was short though when fighting ashore in an attack on a Spanish fort in the Canary islands and later had to be amputated

Question 26

What threatened British power in the Mediterranean and India?

Answer 26

A French presence in Egypt

Question 27

What happened after Nelson found the French fleet in Egypt at anchor in Aboukir Bay? (Battle of the Nile)

Answer 27

Launched a daring attack in fading daylight, French anchored in a line but Nelson slipped hall his forces between French shops and the coast.

Question 28

How did Nelson win the Battle of the Nile?

Answer 28

of the 17 French ships engages, he captured or destroyed 13, leaving most of Napoleons army stranded in Egypt.

Question 29

Where was Nelson in 1801?

Answer 29

In Action in the Baltic, leading British ships in an attack on the Danish city of Copenhagen.

Question 30

What was feared to swing the balance against Britain in 1801?

Answer 30

Denmark considering joining an alliance with France with Sweden, Russia and Prussia.

Question 31

What famous incident happened at the attack on Danish fleet in Copenhagen?

Answer 31

Nelson put a telescope to his sightless eye when signalled by commanding officer Hyde Parker to halt the attack, Nelson explained he couldn’t see the signal and it ended in a truce

Question 32

Why did the Peace of Amiens not last (1802-1803)?

Answer 32

The French refused to agree a trade deal with Britain and remained belligerent occupying Naples in Italy

Question 33

Why had peace talks started before the Copenhagen raid?

Answer 33

Because of Britains fear that the League of Armed Neutrality might be a danger to British maritime trade and the navy’s freedom to stop and search neutral ships on the high seas

Question 34

League of Armed Neutrality

Answer 34

Denmark, Sweden, Russia

Question 35

Why did the League of Armed Neutrality dissolve?

Answer 35

The Copenhagen attack

Question 36

Why did the Peace of Amiens not last?

Answer 36

French refused to agree a trade deal with Britain and remained belligerent, occupying Naples in Italy

Question 37

After the Peace of Amiens, when did Britain declare war?

Answer 37

18th May 1803

Question 38

What were the British doing that meant no French invasion across the Channel could succeed?

Answer 38

the British navy patrolled the Channel and blockaded French ports in the Atlantic and Mediterranean

Question 39

When and how did Spain join the war?

Answer 39

1804 as Frances ally

Question 40

Who was the new French naval commander?

Answer 40

Villeneuve

Question 41

What was done to Nelson’s flagship HMS victory?

Answer 41

Coppering (1780s innovation)

Question 42

Coppering

Answer 42

covering a ships wooden hull with copper sheets. Made warships faster and able to stay at sea longer

Question 43

What was Nelson’s favourite ploy?

Answer 43

Breaking the enemy’s line so his ships could fire in turn sending broadsides to rake enemy ships from bow to rear

Question 44

What did ammunition for the muzzle-loading guns include?

Answer 44

solid iron balls, chain shot and heated shot

Question 45

How did muzzle-loading guns fire?

Answer 45

at close range often point blank with ships touching

Question 46

What did British soldiers admire about the French?

Answer 46

Their shipbuilding and often captured French ships, repaired them, and reflag them as British

Question 47

How was naval strategy managed?

Answer 47

often a guessing game.

Question 48

What, in the Navy, watched the enemy?

Answer 48

Fast frigates and cruisers, reporting movements

Question 49

What made sailing ships movements unpredictable?

Answer 49

Their reliance on the wind

Question 50

When was Admiral Villeneuve’s fleet put to sea from Toulon?

Answer 50

January 1805

Question 51

Why did the French ships from Toulon soon return to port?

Answer 51

Deterred by rough seas and fear of Nelson

Question 52

What was Nelson ordered to do in April 1805 whilst still patrolling the Mediterranean?

Answer 52

To provide naval escort for General James Craig’s army expedition

Question 53

Why did General James Craig’s army need to be escorted by Nelson?

Answer 53

They were secretly en route to Gibraltar and Malta

Question 54

After Napoleon urged Villeneuve to be bolder, what did the French fleet do?

Answer 54

Finally broke out of the Mediterranean and escaped west across the Atlantic to the West Indies

Question 55

Why was the British government alarmed by the French fleet breaking out of the Mediterranean at the end of March 1805?

Answer 55

Feared a french attack on the valuable sugar trade

Question 56

How did the combined French and Spanish fleets reach port in Cadiz?

Answer 56

They survived a skirmish with the British under Admiral Calder

Question 57

In October 1805, how many ships of the line did Nelson have in comparison to France and Spain on the way to Italy?

Answer 57

27 ships of the line against the enemy’s 33

Question 58

Why were the French and Spanish sailing to Italy in October 1805?

Answer 58

Napoleon had ordered them to support his campaign against Austria

Question 59

When did Nelson catch up with Villeneuve?

Answer 59

Off Cape Trafalgar in southern Spain on 21st October

Question 60

Who led to two columns of British ships at the Battle of Trafalgar?

Answer 60

Nelson and Vice-Admiral Collingwood

Question 61

How did the Battle of Trafalgar start?

Answer 61

They broke through the Franco-Spanish line and fighting at close quarters started. Nelson’s *HMS Victory* ran alongside the French *Redoubtable* and from both ships guns fired at point blank range.

Question 62

How did the Battle of Trafalgar progress?

Answer 62

*HMS Temeraire* joined in firing the other side of the French ship, losing 490 of 643 men, and Nelson remaining on deck on admirals uniform

Question 63

How did the Battle of Trafalgar end/ how did Nelson die?

Answer 63

He was shot by a French sniper positioned atop the mast of *Redoubtable*, the bullet pierced his lung and lodged in his spine. He was told of his victory before he died at 4:30pm

Question 64

What happened to Villeneuve after the Battle of Trafalgar?

Answer 64

He had been captured and his fleet was under Spanish command and returned to Cadiz.

Question 65

What did the turnout of the Battle of Trafalgar mean for the French?

Answer 65

They had lost hopes of challenging Britains sea supremacy and abandoned any thought of invasion.