The Brave Redoutable
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.
