Britain lose at Trafalgar

I did not even search, but I am quite sure that has been discussed before, but I´ll humor you ( i did not look at the link, because I suppose it will be a link to another Empire´s game battle, like the Waterloo thread ).

It depends heavily on HOW is been defeated ... if the Franco-Spanish fleet defeats the British with heavy loses its still a British strategic victory, if they defeat with moderate losses you can expect a serious try to invade the islands, with another mayor naval battle ... what happens in that battle is another thing.

Just with a more coordinated command ( a bit ASB, BTW ) the British will loose badly as that admiral that imitated Nelson ... a Swedish one? memory fails and too lazy to look at it ...
 
It depends heavily on HOW is been defeated ... if the Franco-Spanish fleet defeats the British with heavy loses its still a British strategic victory, if they defeat with moderate losses you can expect a serious try to invade the islands, with another mayor naval battle ... what happens in that battle is another thing.
Even given a catastrophic British defeat there's little chance of an immediate French invasion: the army had already marched off to face the Austrians, so Nappy is at least a couple of months from being back at the Channel, let alone getting across.

That, and the poms still had a substantial Channel Fleet (roughly equal to the Combined Fleet IIRC) waiting back home...

So, all in all, worst case is a nasty moral blow to the poms, likely driving them from the Med and easing the blockade on the French coast.
 
The Franco-Spanish fleet still lose a bunch of ships, and then even more when that violent storm erupts. The British fleet goes back to Gibraltar. Lord Nelson loses some of his aura if not also his life. The Corsican still wins at Austerlitz or somewhere nearby. And Manchester United will still be hated by many.
 
Just with a more coordinated command ( a bit ASB, BTW ) the British will loose badly as that admiral that imitated Nelson ... a Swedish one? memory fails and too lazy to look at it ...

Or you know, just put Gravina in charge of the whole operation.

That said, the quality of available crews was really really important, so even if Gravina got to command everything and everyone did what they were told, the outcome could go Nelson's way.
 
It depends heavily on HOW is been defeated ... if the Franco-Spanish fleet defeats the British with heavy loses its still a British strategic victory, if they defeat with moderate losses you can expect a serious try to invade the islands, with another mayor naval battle ... what happens in that battle is another thing.
What if the weather
does fall most heavily over the British, while sparing completely the
Franco-Spanish side, even before the fleets even meet?
Let us suppose that the Britsh fleet that meets the Franco-Spanish
is a mere ghost of the original British fleet (say only about 5% of the
original fleet, 95% having sank) all ships heavily damaged and drifting helplessly.
the Franco-Spanish fleet, on the other side, had the most helpful
weather imaginable carrying them to the "battle"...
What happens then? That is unlikely, but hardly impossible.
 
^ That sort of thing happening would have been very, very unlikely, to the point of many people assuming it to have been divine intervention. But even then, all that means is that the Franco-Spanish fleet would make it to the channel. Cornwallis had the channel fleet at the time, so...Villeneuve is still curbstomped.
 
okay, just so your reason isn't trivial or nonsensical or anything...

More malevolent, I'd say.

More seriously, there is no chance of a Napoleonic invasion in 1805. It's just not possible for the French to overcome the balance at sea, and eve if the tried they'd face coastal defenses and a significant British army on land.
 
More malevolent, I'd say.

More seriously, there is no chance of a Napoleonic invasion in 1805. It's just not possible for the French to overcome the balance at sea, and eve if the tried they'd face coastal defenses and a significant British army on land.
IMPOSSIBLE, you say?! :D
Let us say a certain gift from heavens arrives 103 years early, and lands right in the middle of the channel fleet.
Still impossible?


Earth rotates,as you know, so it is not strange
that what falls out of schedule would not fall where it did OTL
 
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