Horatio Nelson

Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) was the British admiral whose victories in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars made him the Royal Navy's greatest hero. He joined the navy in 1771, suffered lifelong seasickness and won his first command in 1778. In 1794 he partly lost his right-eye sight; at Cape St. Vincent in 1797 he broke from the line to board enemy ships, and lost his right arm at Tenerife later that year.

In 1798 he destroyed the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile. His affair with Emma Hamilton damaged his standing, and in 1801 he beat the Danish fleet at Copenhagen.

At Trafalgar on 21 October he signalled that England expected every man to do his duty and crushed the combined fleet. A French marksman shot him on HMS Victory; he died three hours later, aged 47. He received a state funeral.