Nemesis
Arguably the most iconic moment in British naval history, HMS Victory is depicted just moments from firing her devastating opening salvo into the stern galleries of the French flagship Bucentaure at Trafalgar as Nelson's flagship enters the fray at approximately 12.30pm on October 21st 1805. Beyond Victory, in the extreme distance through the gun smoke, Collingwood's Royal Sovereignis engaging the Santa Ana. To the left of the painting, the French Neptune and Spanish San Justo can be seen with Redoutable immediately beyond Victory, trying vainly to close the gap. Victory, already shot to pieces, is about to wreak her terrible revenge on the Bucentaure in the foreground where Vice-Admiral Villeneuve can be seen on the poop deck - wearing the green corduroy pantaloons. Nelson was surely the nemesis of Villeneuve, who had been summarily humiliated some seven years earlier at the Battle of the Nile and Nelson's tactics would again win the day for His Majesty's navy, albeit at the tragic cost of Nelson himself.
