The Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 was, perhaps, the most important British naval victory of the Napoleonic Wars. Before the battle, the people of England lived under constant threat of invasion by Napoleon's troops, but after the decisive victory of the British fleet under Admiral Nelson, French naval forces were never again strong enough to invade. As the battle loomed, however, such a victory may not have seemed such a foregone conclusion to the British. Their fleet was outnumbered and outgunned by the combined French and Spanish fleet; indeed, one Spanish ship, the Santisima Trinidad, was the most heavily armed ship in the world at the time. Furthermore, Nelson took a risk by employing an unorthodox battle plan. By approaching the opposing line of battle head-on, the British ships would be open to enemy broadsides without being able to return fire. The risk paid off, and the British were victorious, capturing or de-stroying twenty-two enemy ships without losing a single ship of their own. There was one significant loss for the British, though. During the battle, a French marksman shot Admiral Nelson, who died three hours later; upon learning this, King George III is said to have exclaimed, "We have lost more than we have gained."
Consider all that apply
Which of the following statements would the author of the passage likely agree with?
I. Acting contrary to conventional military wisdom may contribute to a victory in battle.
II. The loss of Admiral Nelson outweighed any strategic benefits gained by the British victory.
III. The British would have lost the Battle of Trafalgar had Admiral Nelson used more conventional tactics.
The author mentions the
Santisima Trinidad in order to
A. suggest that it was the main target of Admiral Nelson's plan of attack
B. give an example of a common ship design of the era
C. show why the Spanish felt confident that they would be victorious
D. explain why Admiral Nelson thought that the British fleet would lose the battle
E. point out one difficulty the British fleet would need to overcome to win the battle