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200th Anniversary of the Battle of TrafalgarPrint Page 
An English Oak tree commemorates the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. The tree was sponsored by the Navy League.
The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement fought by the Royal Navy against the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies, during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815).
The battle was the most decisive naval victory of the war. Twenty-seven British ships of the line led by Admiral Lord Nelson aboard HMS Victory defeated thirty-three French and Spanish ships of the line under French Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve off the southwest coast of Spain, just west of Cape Trafalgar. The Franco-Spanish fleet lost twenty-two ships, without a single British vessel being lost.
Location
| Address: | Parkes Way, Commonwealth Park, Parkes, 2600 |
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| State: | ACT |
| Area: | Foreign |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -35.29058 Long: 149.137946 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Tree |
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| Monument Theme: | Conflict |
| Sub-Theme: | Imperial |
| Actual Event Start Date: | 21-October-1805 |
| Actual Event End Date: | 21-October-2005 |
| Link: | http://www.nationalcapital.gov.au/ |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Friday 21st October, 2005 |
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On 21 October 1805 at Trafalgar, Admiral Horatio Nelson, his officers and sailors, destroyed the combined fleet of France and Spain. While the British fleet captured or sank 22 of the French and Spanish fleet , no British ship was lost.
This remarkable victory, involving great loss of life, ensured the Royal Navy's supremacy on the seas and oceans of the world for the next one hundred years.
The victory at Trafalgar had a significant impact on Australian history. For it was under the protection of the Royal Navy that the Australian colonies were able, throughout the nineteenth century, to grow in peace into a nation.
The enduring consequence of Trafalgar is that Australians have, uniquely, the good fortune to inhabit a continent with no borders.
This English oak was planted on 21 October 2005 to commemorate the Battle of Trafalgar.
