Rule Britannia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Trafalgar

This month - October 2005 - Is the 200 year anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. My dad is very interested in military history and belongs to the KZN branch of the South African Military History Society. The Society consists of a group of passionate individuals who meet on a monthly bassis to share presentations about topics of interest.

This month the meeting was dedicated to naval history, with the DDH talk on the development of the Dreadnoughts, and the main talk on the Battle of Trafalagar (by ex-naval officer, Brian Hoffman). I attended with my dad, and thoroughly enjoyed the talks.

Despite his effeminite looks, it seems that Nelson was a rather viscious chap... According to the presenter he seems single-minded, with effective but violent tactics for decimating an opposing fleet. For example, when cutting under the stern of an enemy ship, a cannister full of metal shot would be fired into the cabins, or onto the deck, (effectively clearing any boarding parties).

Analysis of the manoeuvres used and the background to the battle and reasons why the Combined Fleet were defeated, were extremely interesting, but the thought of ships spending hours firing cannons and other guns at each other, seems pointless and terribly sad. Such is war however....