Nelson's Column COBI 20097 - Napoleonic Wars 1:200

Did you know:

• Admiral Horatio Nelson, the first Viscount Nelson, was born on September 29, 1758.
• Two days after turning 12, Nelson joined the navy in the service of the merchant fleet on routes to India and the Caribbean. In 1773, he even took part in a polar expedition.
• Horatio Nelson worked hard on himself. At only twenty years old, he achieved the rank of captain.
• In the service of the Royal Navy, he excelled with incredible courage and tactical thinking. On board HMS Agamemnon, he took part in the attack on Corsica, led a victorious battle against the Spanish fleet at Cape St. Vincent, and in the Battle of Santa Cruz he was wounded and lost part of his right arm. In 1801, he defeated the Danish fleet at Copenhagen, for which he was promoted to Viscount and reached the rank of Vice Admiral.
• Nelson's private life was as wild as his military career. His affection for married women brought him many troubles. 
• He became a national hero after the victorious battle on October 21, 1805, in which he destroyed the combined French-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar. However, at 13:15 he was seriously wounded and later that afternoon he died from a gunshot wound. Before his death, he uttered the famous words: ,,Kiss me Hardy".
• The victory saved the British from Napoleon's planned invasion of Great Britain. 
• Nelson’s body was placed that same day in a cask of brandy so it could be buried with full honors in St. Paul’s Cathedral.
• In honor of the battle, King William IV Square in London was renamed Trafalgar Square.
• The column with Horatio Nelson’s statue was erected in the square in 1840.
• The monument became a tourist attraction, visited by more than 15 million people every year.
  
  
  

Technical parameters:

• architectural design by William Railton
• builder Peto & Grissell Co.
• construction 1840-1843
• statue height 5.5 m
• statue material Craigleith sandstone
• column height 56 m
• column material Dartmoor granite
• orientation south
• pedestal decorated with reliefs made of bronze captured from French cannons
• cost of the work £47,000 (equivalent to approximately 6 671 035 € today)
• the monument has repeatedly been the target of protest actions by environmental or political activists and advertising companies
• in 2015, Disney rented the monument to promote the film Star Wars The Force Awakens.
  
  

From the memories of HMS Victory’s surgeon Dr. William Beatty:

,,The deck was shrouded in thick smoke, splinters everywhere, blood and the wounded. Our ship took dozens of hits, but was still able to sail. At half past twelve they brought Admiral Nelson below deck."