21/10/2026
Behind Britain’s famous victory at Trafalgar were sailors spanning six decades in age.
On this day in 1805, 27 British warships faced 33 French and Spanish vessels off the coast of Spain. The Battle of Trafalgar would become one of the Royal Navy’s most celebrated victories.
Among those caught up in the action was Thomas Wilcott, just eight years old, serving as a third-class boy aboard HMS Neptune. At the other end of the age spectrum was John Adams, aged 68, serving aboard HMS Royal Sovereign.
An astonishing 60 years separated them, yet both were there amid the thunder of cannon fire and the chaos of one of the Napoleonic Wars’ fiercest naval engagements. Behind the great battles of history are the remarkable stories of the people who lived them.
🎨 Beginning of the action and End of the action by Nicholas Pocock.
