The Ships of Trafalgar - Peter Goodwin

The British, French and Spanish Fleets, October 1805.

256 pages
Size (h x w) 295x248mm

Heavily illustrated, including a colour section featuring artworks by Geoff Hunt RSMA and other leading artists.

The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805, remains one of the defining moments in naval history. The decisive nature of the engagement, the death of Nelson, and the outpouring of national grief in the aftermath have inspired a wealth of literature on the battle and many narratives have retold this famous action. However, until now no work has attempted to provide an in-depth history of each of the British, French and Spanish vessels that were at the engagement. Dividing the fleets into the relevant classes by their rating, this keystone work then proceeds to provide a service history of each individual vessel, including specifications tables, list of commanders, casualty lists, and refit histories. Each class of vessel is illustrated by original plans drawn specially by the author alongside contemporary and modern images of the ships. Vital contextual information is included, on design and construction, styles, relative merits between the British and Combined fleets, trends and developments in armament and fighting techniques, and a comparison of the pound-for-pound effectiveness of the rival fleets. This book is a complete, standard-setting guide to the essence of the greatest naval battle, the ships at Trafalgar.

About the Author
Peter Goodwin has been the Keeper and Curator of HMS Victory for over 10 years and is placed in an ideal position to write this definitive work. His previous publications include the critically acclaimed The Construction and Fitting of the Sailing Man of War: 1650-1850 and Nelson's Victory: 101 Questions and Answers about HMS Victory. His most recent book, Nelson’s Ships, has been received with wide critical acclaim. He has also published The Naval Cutter Alert 1777, The 20 gun ship Blandford 1719, and The Bomb Vessel Granado 1742 in the Conway ‘Anatomy of the Ship’ series. He has contributed to the journals Model Shipwright and the Mariner’s Mirror and has worked on many ship restoration or replication projects, television documentaries and film work, including serving as an advisor to the acclaimed Hornblower series. He is a keen re-enactor and enjoys sailing in square riggers. He lives and works in Portsmouth.