Battle of Trafalgar
A ceremony to mark the 210th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar has taken place on board HMS Victory, which has undergone a paint job to return it to its original colours.
The event to commemorate the battle in which Nelson was killed was held aboard his flagship at Portsmouth Naval Base and was attended by Vice Admiral Jonathan Woodcock, the second sea lord and the ship's admiral in charge.
The ceremony started with the raising of the white ensign of the Royal Navy and the Union Jack followed by a flag sequence showing Nelson's famous message to the fleet that "England expects that every man will do his duty" and culminated with a wreath-laying on the spot Nelson died.
HMS Victory, the oldest commissioned warship in the world, is in the final stages of a major repainting to return it to the colours used at the time of the Battle of Trafalgar.
Nelson was shot by a French sharpshooter's musket ball only an hour into the battle on October 21, 1805, as he paced Victory's quarterdeck.
He fell fatally wounded on a spot which is now marked by a brass plaque and which forms the centrepiece of the Trafalgar Day ceremony.
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Originally Posted by Gunny
