The size of this flag flown on a spanish ship at the battle of Trafalgar (1805) ....
The Battle of Trafalgar, fought on October 21, 1805, was one of the most decisive naval battles in history. The British Royal Navy, commanded by Admiral Horatio Nelson, defeated the combined French and Spanish fleets off the southwest coast of Spain during the Napoleonic Wars.
Spanish warships of the era often carried enormous hand-sewn battle flags designed to remain visible through cannon smoke and across long distances at sea. Some measured well over 100 feet in length and were made from heavy wool or silk fabrics stitched together in massive sections.
The battle involved 73 ships and more than 50,000 sailors and marines. Britain’s victory ended Napoleon’s hopes of invading the British Isles and secured British naval dominance for much of the 19th century. However, Admiral Nelson was killed during the fighting aboard HMS Victory.
HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship at Trafalgar, still survives today in Portsmouth, England, making it the oldest commissioned warship in the world still in existence.
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