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| HMS Temeraire (1798) Naval Art Prints, Paintings and Drawings |
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The Brave Redoutable by Ivan Berryman. Already ravaged by incoming shot from the combined French and Spanish fleets as she approached the enemy line, HMS Victory found herself under intense attack from the French 3rd Rate 74-gun Redoutable. The two ships became entangled, grappling irons went across and the most terrible artillery battle commenced. Admiral Lord Nelson was fatally wounded by a shot from the Redoutables mizzen top before it was brought crashing down. Now the British three-decker, the 98-gun Temeraire appeared outboard of the Redoutable and began pouring further shot into her, the little French ship dwarfed by two mighty British vessels. But still she fought on, refusing to strike her colours. Of all the ships at Trafalgar, Redoutable sustained the highest casualties with 478 killed and 81 wounded. Depicted from left to right are HMS Temeraire, Redoutable and HMS Victory. |
Captain Harveys HMS Temeraire tries to pass HMS Victory at the beginning of the Battle of Trafalgar by Ivan Berryman. 21st October 1805. As Admiral Nelsons flagship leads the British fleet towards the Franco-Spanish line, Captain Harveys Temeraire tries to pass the Victory in order to be the first to break the enemy column. Harvey was discouraged with a customry rebuke from Nelson and duly fell into line behind the flagship. The enemy can be seen spread along the horizon whilst, to the right in the distance, the leading ships of Admiral Collingwoods fleet can be seen spearheading a separate assault to the south. In the light airs preceding the battle, much sail was needed to drive the British ships towards the enemy line. HMS Victory, nearest, has royals and stunsails set and is making good way, her furniture boats strung behind in readiness for battle. On her poop deck, officers prepare to run up a signal. |
Trafalgar by Ivan Berryman. (PC) By 2.00pm on 21st October 1805, the Battle of Trafalgar was all but won, the combined French and Spanish fleets had suffered terrible losses, but not without great cost to the British. Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson lay dying in the cockpit of his flagship, Victory, having been struck down by a single musket round fired from the fighting top of the French Redoutable's mizzen mast as Nelson walked on deck with Captain Hardy. In this scene, the battered remains of Victory can be seen beneath the figurehead of the Spanish 74 Principe de Asturias which dominates the foreground. Beside her, the hulk of the Redoutable sags in the water as Temeraire breaks free. In the centre, the British 74 Leviathan is engaging the French 80-gun Neptune, whilst the San Augustin can be seen firing at the extreme right of the picture. |
The Good Old Temeraire by Ivan Berryman. (PC) The hero of Trafalgar, HMS Temeraire, is depicted here at sea as she was originally constructed, with her simple scroll figurehead, and the yellow hull that was typical of the period. She has her studding sails set on the mainmast to help make all speed as she punches through the heavy swell of the English Channel. For Trafalgar, Temeraire was repainted with the 'Nelson Chequer' pattern that can be seen on HMS Victory today, this magnificent ship coming to the latter's rescue whilst fighting on with a prize lashed to each of her sides. Post Trafalgar, her crew raised enough money from their prizes to have a new figurehead carved which she carried proudly even to the scrap yard at Rotherhithe in 1838, where she was broken up. |
Nelsons Victory at Trafalgar by Anthony Saunders Undoubtedly the most famous and decisive battle in the history of naval warfare. The battle of Trafalgar was fought on a calm, almost windless day, on 21st October 1805. Nelsons revolutionary battle plan was to cut apart the larger Franco-Spanish fleet of Vice-Admiral Villeneuve by sailing in two single column divisions directly at right angles into the combined fleet and thus rendering almost half of the leading ships useless until they could turn and join the fight, which in such calm conditions could take hours. The battle raged for five hours in which time not one British ship was lost, however, Nelson would tragically lose his life at the very moment of his triumph, a triumph which rendered the British Navy unchallenged in supremacy for over a century. Here, Nelsons flagship, HMS Victory, followed by HMS Temeraire is seen breaking the Franco-Spanish line and commencing her murderous hail of gun fire into the stern of Villeneuves flagship, Bucentaure. Meanwhile the Victory herself is being fired upon by the French Neptune. Redoutable can be seen at the far right. |
The Battle of Trafalgar by Robert Taylor. Robert Taylors magnificent painting shows Victory breaking through the enemy line at 1.00pm 21st October 1805. A broadside has crippled Admiral Villeneuves French flagship Bucentaure, seen off Victorys port side, while Nelsons gunners fire a second broadside into the Santisima Trinidad. Just astern, the Temeraire manoeuvres to trap the Redoubtable between herself and Victory, and thus seal her fate. |
Breaking the Line by Ivan Berryman. Just seconds from opening fire with a broadside that will devastate her opponent, HMS Victory prepares to pass the stern of the French flagship Bucentaure, closely followed by the three-deckers HMS Temeraire and HMS Neptune. With guns unable to bear on the enemy fleet during the slow approach the British ships had endured terrible punishment with Victorys sails holed, her wheel smashed and her mizzen top shot away. |
HMS Victory by Randall Wilson. As Admiral Nelsons flagship leads the British fleet toward the Franco-Spanish line, Captain Harveys Temeraire tries to pass Victory in order to be the first to break the enemy column. |
HMS Temeraire Departing Plymouth by Ivan Berryman. One of the most iconic ships ever to serve in the Royal Navy, The three-decked second rate HMS Temeraire was built at Chatham in 1798 and spent many years blockading the French port of Brest before her finest hour at Trafalgar on 21st October 1805 when she came to the rescue of HMS Victory before capturing two prizes, the Redoutable and Fougueux, spending much of the battle with her captives lashed to her sides. After spending her final years first as a prison hulk, then as a guard ship in the Medway, she was finally sold for scrap in 1838, her last journey being the subject of JMW Turner's most famous painting. In this view, Temeraire is shown leaving Plymouth in her pre-Trafalgar state before receiving her 'crowned head' figurehead. |
The Temeraire's Last Journey by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Few ships have been immortalised in art more than HMS Temeraire, a 98-gun veteran of the Battle of Trafalgar and iconic subject of JMW Turner's memorable painting. Although one of the finest paintings ever produced, it is known that Turner's version of this magnificent old ship's voyage to the breaker's yard is pure whimsy, composed to inspire pride and sentiment in equal parts. This painting is, perhaps, a more truthful rendering of the same scene. Here, the mighty Temeraire is reduced to a floating hulk, stripped of her masts, bowsprit and rigging, her bitumen-coated hull gutted of anything useful. It is 7.30am on 5th September 1838. As the tide is judged to be just right, the steam tugs Sampson and Newcastle, piloted by William Scott and a crew of 25, take up the strain of the Temeraire's 2,121 tons to begin the slow journey from Sheerness to Rotherhithe, where she will be slowly taken to pieces at the yard of John Beatson. Whilst HMS Victory stands today in all her magnificence at Portsmouth, barely a trace of the ship that came to her rescue at Trafalgar exists. |
Prelude to Trafalgar by Ivan Berryman. 21st October 1805. As Admiral Nelsons flagship leads the British fleet towards the Franco-Spanish line, Captain Harveys Temeraire tries to pass the Victory in order to be the first to break the enemy column. Harvey was discouraged with a customry rebuke from Nelson and duly fell into line behind the flagship. The enemy can be seen spread along the horizon whilst, to the right in the distance, the leading ships of Admiral Collingwoods fleet can be seen spearheading a separate assault to the south. In the light airs preceding the battle, much sail was needed to drive the British ships towards the enemy line. HMS Victory, nearest, has royals and stunsails set and is making good way, her furniture boats strung behind in readiness for battle. On her poop deck, officers prepare to run up a signal. |
HMS Temeraire by Geoff Hunt. Second-rate 98-gun ship. One of the most famous names in the Royal Navy, associated with both the epic action alongside H.M.S. Victory at Trafalgar and with Turners famous painting, Temeraire was launched at Chatham in 1798. In contrast to her later career, her first day under sail, seen here, was calm and peaceful. |
Victory Races Temeraire for the Enemy Line, Trafalgar 21st October 1805 by Geoff Hunt. The morning of 21st October 1805 dawned clear, under a hazy sky, with a breeze from the west-north-west so light that the sea was scarcely ruffled. At ten to six on this beautiful autumn morning, Nelsons ships sighted the French and Spanish fleet against the dawn sky. The British ships, in line ahead, were sailing slowly north and rolling in a long Atlantic swell. There were 17,000 men in the British fleet and the vast majority were relieved, if apprehensive, that their long years of waiting were about to come to an end. With Nelson in command there was never the slightest doubt of victory, only of how extensive the victory might be. As soon as it was light enough for flags to be seen, Lord Nelson hoisted the first of his signals that morning: to prepare for battle, and then, in the words of the naval signal book, to bear up and sail large on the course set by the Admiral. The Victorys bow began to swing into the path of the rising sun and soon every ship in the English fleet was altering course towards the enemy. All sail was set, and as the morning advanced and the sun grew warmer, an air that was almost festive pervaded the fleet. From rime to time, the captains hailed each other with megaphones, and wished each other an enemy ship in tow before the night. Small boats were launched and rowed from ship to ship, for in this light wind the speed of the fleet was easily overtaken by a rowers pace. And down in the gloom of the gundecks men chalked defiant slogans on their guns. The French and Spanish did not sight the British fleet until six oclock, because the light was behind them. When they did, their feelings at the sight were different. The British felt they had caught their enemy, the French and the Spanish felt they had been caught. The British never doubted Nelson would lead them to victory, but a good many of the French and Spanish suspected their own admiral of cowardice, and only hoped at the best to save their own honour in defeat. They were willing to fight, but among those who were well informed, there was not much doubt of what the result would be if a battle began. The only doubt at dawn was whether the breeze would hold so that a battle would begin that day, and end before the night. At nine oclock the enemy fleet were five miles distant. Any sombre thoughts had been dispelled by the air of gaiety. The sun was well up and the sea sparkling. The tension was relieved by the sound of bands on the poops of some of the ships playing Rule Britannia and Britons Strike Home and clearly heard in the ships that had no bands. In such light airs the great ships crept forward, rolling slowly in the Atlantic swell. Every captain made his rounds as the morning wore on, as did Nelson, and food was issued early - it seemed the battle would come at the time of their normal mid-day meal. At eleven oiclock the distance between the two fleets had closed to two miles. The English fleet was divided into two columns, Nelson and Victory leading one and Collingwood in Royal Sovereign the other. At this time it is said that Nelson was prevailed on by his staff to allow another ship ahead of the Victory to take the first shock of the attack. Nelson outwardly agreed to this, and Temeraire, Captain Harvey, was accordingly signalled to overtake. As she came up to do this Nelson himself, by one account, leaned over the quarterdeck rail and hailed her, calling out I will thank you, Captain Harvey, to keep in your proper station, which is astern of the Victory! Strictly true or not - and according to her log Temeraire was at one time within a ships length of the Victory the story provides the framework for this picture. Under very light winds, with a great ground swell running, the two leading ships of the British windward column have about 45 minutes, much of it under fire which they cannot return, before they can cut through the enemy line. Victorys original aiming-point was the great Spanish flagship the Santisima Trinidad, at 140 guns the worlds heaviest-armed warship, visible here between Victory and Temeraire. Aboard Victory the signal hoists are preparing for Nelsons celebrated signal, England expects that every man will do his duty. Away to the right Collingwoods flagship, Royal Sovereign, is leading the leeward column into action, some of the enemy ships already trying shots at her. The long, slow approach to battle gave Trafalgar a unique atmosphere. At dawn, there was the confidence on one side and the lack of it on the other: not many great battles have been fought in which the outnumbered side was perfectly sure it would win and the other was almost sure it would lose. Then, all through the forenoon, everyone waited with very little to do while the British fleet crept towards its enemy, and the French and the Spanish fleet manoeuvred helplessly in the ocean swell. The approach had taken six hours, enough time for every man to feel his secret fears and to steady himself by the thought of who and what he was fighting for. When the great shock of the battle came it must have been a relief. By nightfall a great naval victory had been won, dispelling for ever the possibility of an invasion of the British Isles by Napoleons armies. The victory that afternoon also established a supremacy at sea which was not challenged for a hundred years. The death of Nelson at the height of the battle placed the laurel leaves of immortality on his brow and he remains today Britains most enduring, and sympathetic, national hero. |
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