Trafalgar Memorial, Portsmouth

Standing on Clarence Esplanade, near Clarence Pier, stands a ship's anchor on a granite plinth, set there to commemorate Admiral Lord Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. The anchor is said to be one of the original anchors from Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory.

The monument's location is no accident, for it was from Portsmouth that Nelson left England's shores for the last time before his death. The anchor was erected near Spur Redoubt, the location being the closest to Nelson's actual point of embarkation that could sensibly be managed. It was moved to its present spot on Clarence Esplanade in the 1880s.

History

Nelson set sail from Portsmouth on 14 September 1805 on the voyage that would lead to his death at Trafalgar on 21 October of that year. As the inscription on the monument records, the British fleet consisted on 27 warships, against 33 French and Spanish vessels. The British captured or destroyed 19 enemy ships in what remains one of the most comprehensive naval victories in history.

The memorial inscription

The British fleet lost 449 men and suffered 1,246 wounded. Among the dead was Admiral Horatio Nelson. The French and Spanish combined lost 3,243 men and suffered 2,538 wounded. Roughly 7,000 French and Spanish sailors were captured.

Though Trafalgar was a victory for the British, Nelson was killed during the battle, becoming a national hero after his death, and the Trafalgar Memorial is just one of many memorials to Nelson around the UK (the most prominent being Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London).

There seems to be some doubt over whether the anchor that forms the centrepiece of the Trafalgar Memorial actually came from HMS Victory. Newspaper reports from 1852 suggest that the original anchor was lost or recast, but tradition says that the anchor we see today is from the Victory.

Whether the tradition is true or not, the anchor has been repaired so many times that very little of the original material remains, and the anchor we see now is best considered a replica.

England expects every man to do his duty

The rectangular granite base has an inscription on each of its four sides. The inscriptions read as follows:

FRONT FACE
The Battle of Trafalgar
The British fleet consisted
of 27 sail of the line: that of the allies of
France and Spain 33, of these 19 were
taken or destroyed by Lord Nelson.

REAR FACE
Near this memorial on the
14th September 1805 Admiral Lord Nelson
Embarked for the last time, being killed
On the following 21st October at the
Victorious Battle of Trafalgar.

LEFT FACE
England expects
Every man to do his
duty

RIGHT FACE
Ready Aye Ready

The anchor itself is inscribed with the words, 'The Victory's Anchor Oct. 21st 1805'.

Apparently, the original monument also bore this inscription:

This tribute of respect is placed in
humble admiration of the departed hero by Lord
Frederick FitzClarence Lieutenant-Governor of
Portsmouth 1852.

HMS Victory's anchor

The anchor consists of a metal ring connected to a wooden crosspiece that tapers in both directions. The crosspiece is bound with iron bands and fixed to a metal base in a traditional anchor shape, with two large barbed hooks splaying in opposite directions.

The memorial isn't worth making a trip to see on its own, but it forms part of a wonderful array of maritime memorials spread along Clarence Esplanade. A stone's throw to the south-east is a memorial to the HMS Shannon, while further east is the Royal Naval War Memorial, and the Sebastopol Naval Monument.