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For much of the 1780s, 1790s and early 1800s, the British fleet was involved in actions against the French and Spanish in the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Caribbean. Admirals such as Rodney and Hood established British superiority but it was Horatio Nelson who secured British naval dominance. Successful at the Battle of the Nile in 1798 and Copenhagen in 1801, his most famous encounter occurred off the Spanish coast at Trafalgar in October 1805. It proved to be the decisive naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars, with Nelson defeating the combined Spanish and French fleets without loss of any British ship. Unfortunately, it was not without personal cost - Nelson was killed on his flagship, Victory, during the battle, by a sniper\'s bullet.
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