Trafalgar: In the midst of battle, with H.M.S. Neptune's officers looking across at the dismasted hulk of the Belleisle

H.M.S. Neptune, a 98-gun second rate built at Deptford in 1797, was the third ship in Nelson's weather column at Trafalgar and passed through the enemy line at about 12.45pm. After raking the stern of the French flagship Bucentaure, compounding the damage Victory had inflicted minutes before, Neptune then took on the huge Spanish four-decker Santisima Trinidad and, later still, the French '74' Intripide. H.M.S. Belleisle, another '74', had been hotly engaged by several enemy ships and, by 3.00pm., had been reduced to little more than a hulk when she found herself rescued by the arrival of three British vessels to deflect the enemy fire. Such was the damage sustained by Belleisle however, she could no longer fight on yet, unbowed, her commander Captain Hargood had never contemplated surrender.