ABSTRACT
Throughout the nineteenth century the British ignored the reality of Trafalgar as a subject for study and reflection, preferring to celebrate the mythic battle. On 22 June 1841, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert attended the launch of the first rate line of battle ship HMS Trafalgar at Woolwich. Trafalgar was pensioned off in 1865: the end of the ironclads arms race meant it had no place amidst the economic booms and internal reforms that dominated the next two decades of British political life. But this was only a temporary release. Trafalgar ended the nineteenth century on a high note. The real celebration of the Centenary of Trafalgar was not the noisy Navy League jamboree in Trafalgar Square, or the gala concert at the Albert Hall; it was the silent pressure of naval might on the diplomacy of Europe, leading to the preservation of the balance of power and peace.
